Honduras mulched the strawberries, and set new teeth
in his lawn rakes. The days passed without feature, or word from
Mariana, and Howat Penny fell into an almost slumberous monotony of
existence. It was not unpleasant; occupied with small duties, intent on
his papers, or wandering in a past that seemed to grow clearer, rather
than fade, as time multiplied, he maintained his erect, carefully
ordered existence. Then, among his mail, he found a large,
formal-appearing envelope which he opened with a mild curiosity. His
attitude of detachment was soon dispelled.
Mrs. Corinne de Barry desired the pleasure of his attendance at the
wedding of her daughter, Harriet, to James Polder. Details, a church and
hour, were appended. The headlong young man, he thought, with a smile,
Mariana was well out of that. He had been wise in saying nothing to
Charlotte; the thing had expired naturally. But, irrationally, he
thought of Polder with a trace of contempt--a man who had,
unquestionably, possessed Mariana Jannan's regard marrying the
pink-faced understudy to a second-rate emotional actress! In a way it
made him cross; the fellow should have shown a--a greater appreciation,
delicacy. "Commonplace," he said decisively, aloud. The following day
Mariana herself appeared, with a touch of sable and a small, wickedly
becoming hat.
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