and in the jealousy thus created the
appraisers of Violet's beauty grew bolder. Her thinness was condoned,
and her refinement insisted upon. Nor were May Gould and her chances
overlooked by the gossips of Merrion Square. Her flirtation with Fred
Scully was already a topic of conversation.

Alice knew she was spoken of pityingly, but she hungered little after
the praise of the Dubliners, and preferred to stay at home and talk to
Harding in the ladies' drawing-room rather than follow her mother and
sister in their wild hunt after Lord Kilcarney. Through the afternoon
teas of Merrion Square and Stephen's Green the chase went merrily.

XVII

On the night of the Drawing-Room, February 20, 1882, the rain rushed
along the streets; wind, too, had risen, and, threatening to tear every
window from its sash, it careered in great gusts. Sky there was none,
nor sight of anything save when the lightning revealed the outline of
the housetops. The rattling and the crashing of the thunder was
fearsome, and often, behind their closely drawn curtains, the girls
trembled, and, covering their faces with their hands, forgot the article
of clothing they were in search of. In their rooms all was warm and
snug, and gay with firelight and silk; the chaperons had whispered that
warm baths were advisable, and along the passages the ladies'-maids
passed hurriedly, carrying cans of hot water, sponges, and
drying-sheets.

Alice and Olive slept in two rooms on the third floor, on either side of
their mother; May and Mrs. Gould were on the fourth, and next to May was
Fred Scully, who, under the pretext of the impossibility of his agreeing
with his mother concerning the use of a latch-key, had lately moved into
the hotel. May was deeply concerned in Fred's grievance, and, discussing
it, or the new Shelbourne scandal--the loves of the large lady and the
little man at the other end of the corridor--they lingered about each
other's bedroom-doors. Alice could now hear them talking as they
descended the staircase together; then a burst of smothered laughter,
and May came in to see her.

'Oh, how nice you look!'

'If you don't "mash" Mr. Harding to-night, he'll be a tough one indeed.
Did I tell you I was talking to him yesterday in the ladies'
drawing-room? He is very enticing, but I can't quite make him out: I
think he despises us all; all but you; about you he said all kinds of
nice things--that you were so clever, and nice, and amusing. And