She gave a bitter laugh, as she thought how easy it was to
hoodwink them.
* * * * *
Wednesday happened to be Arthur's birthday, and he asked her to dine with
him alone.
'We'll do ourselves proud, and hang the expense,' he said.
They had arranged to eat at a fashionable restaurant on the other side of
the river, and soon after seven he fetched her. Margaret was dressed with
exceeding care. She stood in the middle of the room, waiting for Arthur's
arrival, and surveyed herself in the glass. Susie thought she had never
been more beautiful.
'I think you've grown more pleasing to look upon than you ever were,' she
said. 'I don't know what it is that has come over you of late, but
there's a depth in your eyes that is quite new. It gives you an odd
mysteriousness which is very attractive.'
Knowing Susie's love for Arthur, she wondered whether her friend was not
heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty
that was before her. Arthur came in, and Margaret did not move.
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