Page:The Breath of Scandal (1922).djvu/287



ARJORIE had no warning of his arrival; indeed at this time she was without apprehension of the presence of any one belonging to her Evanston acquaintance; for the weeks which had passed since her abandonment of her father's home had emphasized to her the astonishing narrowness and paucity of the paths through the city which are trod by people concerning themselves chiefly with appearances for social position. She reckoned that they considered—for she had merely to count that she herself had once considered—hardly a score of public places as advantageous for them to visit; besides these, there were perhaps six or eight gardens and cabarets which were pleasantly "unusual" or attractively risqué for an adventurous evening; also there were the resorts where boys and men, from the better sections of the city and suburbs, went for frankly sensual companionship. But they seemed to know nothing of the great number of places which provided Jake Saltro and Sam Troufrie and Clara Seeley and their friends with food and entertainment.

Surprisingly attractive and bright Marjorie found these hitherto unsuspected places of dining and amusement; here she was to-night with Clara and Sam and Mr. Rinderfeld at a restaurant quite as well arranged and decorated and furnished as many a fashionable hotel dining room, and it was blest by a rather better than usual cook with an especially happy penchant for