The paper read by Mrs. Potts--who was not at all ineffective in her
black--was on "The Lake Poets," with a few pointed selections from
Wordsworth and others.
Whether or not Miss Caroline was rightly impressed by the furniture
exhibit was a question not easy to determine. True, she stared at it
with something in her eyes beyond a mere perception of its lines; but
whether this was the longing passion of an awakened soul or the simple
awe of the unenlightened was not to be ascertained at the moment.
Testimony as to her enjoyment of the President's paper was more
circumstantial. In the midst of this, as the listeners were besought to
"dwell a moment on this exquisite delineation of Nature,"--expertly
pronounced "Nate-your" by Mrs. Potts,--Miss Caroline turned her head
aside as one deeply moved by the poet's magic. But Marcella Eubanks,
glancing at that moment into a mirror on the opposite wall,--a mirror in
a plush frame on which pansies had been painted,--caught the full and
frank exposure of a yawn. It was a thorough yawn. Miss Caroline had
surrendered abjectly to it, in the belief--unrecking the mirror--that
she could not be detected.
The discussion that followed the paper--as was customary at the
meetings--proved to be a bit livelier.
Pages:
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235