We ought to keep up
with all the scandals concerning our friends and enemies. Otherwise
we lose many an opportunity to undercut the latter and we are
constantly annoying the former.
It was Mrs. Neff, of all people--and she loved Charity Coe
dearly--who caused her public shame and suffering. Mrs. Neff
had defended Charity from the slanderous assumptions of Prissy
Atterbury and had refused to listen to Pet Bettany's echoes.
She had, indeed, a bad reputation for rebuking well-meaning
disseminators of spice. This attitude discouraged several persons
who would otherwise have told her all sorts of interesting things
about Charity's husband's _entente cordiale_ with Zada.
Charity had dwelt in a fool's paradise of trust in Peter Cheever
for a while, then had dropped back into a fool's purgatory of doubt,
where she wandered bewildered. Now she was thrown into the fool's
hell. She knew that her love had been betrayed. Everybody else knew
it and was wondering how she would act.
Charity was sick. This was really more than she had bargained for.
As before, she felt it immodest to expose her emotions in public,
so she said:
"Yes, I've seen her. She is very attractive, isn't she? I don't know
if she is dancing in public any more, but I'll find out."
Mrs. Neff sat back triumphantly and let the meeting proceed. But
there was a gray pall on the occasion. Women began to look at their
wrist-watches and pretend to be shocked at the lateness of the hour,
and all of them shook hands solemnly with Charity.
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