ord--"

The most immediate result of this first public success of Sylvia's was
the call paid to Mrs. Marshall on the day following by Mrs. Draper,
the wife of the professor of Greek. Although there had never been any
formal social intercourse between the two ladies, they had for a good
many years met each other casually on the campus, and Mrs. Draper,
with the extremely graceful manner of assurance which was her especial
accomplishment, made it seem quite natural that she should call to
congratulate Sylvia's mother on the girl's skill and beauty as shown
in her prowess on the evening before. Mrs. Marshall prided herself on
her undeceived view of life, but she was as ready to hear praise of
her spirited and talented daughter as any other mother, and quite
melted to Mrs. Draper, although her observations from afar of the
other woman's career in La Chance had never before inclined her to
tolerance. So that when Mrs. Draper rose to go and asked casually if
Sylvia couldn't run in at five that afternoon to have a cup of tea at
her house with a very few of her favorites among the young people,
Mrs. Marshall, rather inflexible by nature and quite unused to the
subtleties of social intercourse, found herself unable to retreat
quickly enough from her reflected tone of cordiality to refuse the
invitation for her daughter.

When Sylvia came back to lunch she was vastly fluttered and pleased
by the invitation, and as she ate, her mind leaped from one possible
sartorial combination to another. Whatever she wore must be exactly
right to be worthy of such a hostess: for Mrs. Draper was a
conspicuous figure in faculty society. She had acquired, through
years of extremely intelligent manoeuvering, a reputation for choice
exclusiveness which was accepted even in the most venerable of the old
families of La Chance, those whose founders had built their log huts
there as long as fifty years before. In faculty circles she occupied
a unique position, envied and feared and admired and distrusted and
copiously gossiped about by the faculty ladies, who accepted with
eagerness any invitations to entertainments in her small, aesthetic,
and perfectly appointed house. She was envied even by women with
much more than her income:--for of course Professor Draper had an
independent income; it was hardly possible to be anybody unless one
belonged to that minority of the faculty families with resources
beyond the salary granted by the State.

Faculty l