Mildred was the first down. She wore a pretty _robe a fleurs,_ and her
straw hat was trimmed with tremulous grasses and cornflowers. A faint
sunshine floated in the wet garden.
A moment after Elsie cried from the door-step:
'Well, you have got yourself up. We don't run to anything like that
here. You're going out flirting. It's easy to see that.'
'My flirtations don't amount to much. Kisses don't thrill me as they
do you. I'm afraid I've never been what you call "in love."'
'You seem on the way there, if I'm to judge by last night,' Elsie
answered rather tartly. 'You know, Mildred, I don't believe all you
say, not quite all.'
A pained and perplexed expression came upon Mildred's face and she
said:
'Perhaps I shall meet a man one of these days who will inspire passion
in me.'
'I hope so. It would be a relief to all of us. I wouldn't mind
subscribing to present that man with a testimonial.'
Mildred laughed.
'I often wonder what will become of me. I've changed a good deal in
the last two years. I've had a great deal of trouble.'
'I'm sorry you're so depressed. I know what it is. That wretched
painting, we give ourselves to it heart and soul, and it deceives us
as you deceive your lovers.'
'So it does. I had not thought of it like that. Yes, I've been
deceived just as I have deceived others. But you, Elsie, you've not
been deceived, you can do something. If I could do what you do. You
had a picture in the Salon. Cissy had a picture in the Salon.'
'That doesn't mean much. What we do doesn't amount to much.'
'But do you think that I shall ever do as much?'
Elsie did not think so, and the doubt caused her to hesitate. Mildred
perceived the hesitation and said:
'Oh, there's no necessity for you to lie. I know the truth well
enough. I have resolved to give up painting. I have given it up.'