A Social Meteor — page 284: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

274 A SOCIAL METEOR. , A lady was reclining on a low chair on the bal- cony of one of the most charming villas just out- side of the city. Her bright hair rippled over her head in perfect harmony with the lilac gown with its front of priceless lace which she wore. Her waist was encircled by a broad antique girdle studded with jewels, and a heavy bracelet of sim- lar design clasped one fair round arm. She was ostensibly occupied with a book, the latest American novel, but every few minutes she put it down to share a bon-bon with the little dog lying in her lap. Occasionally she walked to the edge of the balcony, and shading her eyes with her hand looked out over the water, not anxiously, but as though she were expecting some one. Then she would turn and gaze in another direction, down along the path below, gently winding itself in and out around the verdure-covered rocks until it was hidden from sight by a neighboring orange grove. She was dimpled and rosy, with a forehead as unwrinkled as a child’s. Presently a footman, bearing a tray upon which were several letters, appeared at one of the long open windows. She took them and looked them carefully over. Finding two addressed to herself she sat down once more to read them, placing the others on a table at her elbow. Both bore Amer- ican postmarks, and were in feminine handwriting. CECOAN El oXe Ke} <Sq(eo)