t her flowers and invited her to supper; women envied her, and said
spiteful things. Portraits of her in various attitudes appeared in the
newspapers and magazines. In a single night she was carried high on the
top wave of sensational popularity.

The outcome was only logical. Even a virtuous woman could not stand the
strain, and Laura was not virtuous. Of neurotic temperament, inherently
weak, if not actually vicious in character, with the spirit of the
courtesan strong within her from an early age, fond of luxury and
personal adornment she could not legitimately afford, it was not
surprising that she listened to the flatterers and went to the devil
quicker than any woman before her in the whole history of gallantry. At
the end of her first season, her reputation was completely in tatters.
Accepting the situation philosophically, she did not pretend to be
better than she was, but she was clever enough not to cheapen herself
by entangling herself too promiscuously. She had lovers by the score,
yet none could boast of having really won her heart. A woman of
superficial emotions, she was entirely without depth, yet so long as it
suited her purpose, she was able to conceal this shallowness and
profess for the admirer of the moment the greatest affection and
devotion. This is an art and she was an adept at it. Sensually she
quickly attracted men, and it was not long before she became a prime
favorite in the select circles that made such resorts as "The Yellow
Poodle" and "Moreland's" famous, yet in her dissipations she was always
careful not in any way to indulge in excesses which would jeopardize
her physical attractiveness, or for one moment diminish her keen sense
of worldly calculation.

One day, obeying a foolish impulse, she married. The venture was, of
course, a failure. Her selfish vacillating nature was such that she
could not remain true to the poor fool who had given her his name. To
provide the luxuries she incessantly demanded, he embezzled the funds
of the bank where he was employed, and when exposure came, and he was
confronted with a jail sentence, she was horrified to see him kill
himself in front of her. There was a momentary spasm of grief, a tidal
wave of remorse, followed in a few brief weeks by the peculiar
recuperation of spirits, beauty and attractiveness that so marks this
type of woman. Gradually she became hardened and indifferent. She began
to view life as a hunting field, in which the trophy we