Beside her, as flat as if glued to the inlaid floor,
were Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Thornton, Coralie Geary, Mrs. Brannan, another old
friend of Maria, and--yes--Tom's sister, Susan Delling, austere in her
virtues, kind to all, conscientiously smart, and with a fine mahogany
complexion that made even a merely powdered woman feel not so much a harlot
as a social inferior.
What on earth...what on earth....
The thin loquacious stranger clapped her hands. Up went six pairs of legs.
Two remained in mid-air, Mrs. Geary's and Mrs. Brannan's having met an
immovable obstacle shortly above the hip-joints. Three bent backward slowly
but surely until they approached the region of the neck. Maria's flew
unerringly, effortlessly, up, back, until they tapped the floor behind her
head. Alexina almost shouted "Bravo." Maria was a real sport.
Six times they repeated this fascinating rite, and then, obeying another
peremptory command, they rolled over abruptly and balanced on all fours.
Alexina could stand no more. She dropped down the ladder and ran after
Joan, who was disappearing round the corner of the house.
III
"Well, I never!" she exclaimed. "Maria! Your mo--"
"She gained three pounds, for the first time in her life, and you know her
figure is her only vanity. This woman came along and the whole Peninsula is
crazy about her. She's taken the fat off every woman in New York, and came
out with letters to a lot of women.
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