She concentrated her ambitions upon her only child; sent him to a private

school patronized by the sons of the wealthy, and herself taught him

every ingratiating social art. She wanted him to go to college, but by

this time "Nick" was nineteen and as highly developed a snob as her

maternal heart had planned. Knowing that he must support himself

eventually, he was determined to begin his business career at once, and

believed, with some truth, that there was a prejudice in this broad field

against college men. He entered the brokerage firm of a bachelor who had

occupied Mrs. Doremus' best suite for fifteen years, and made a

satisfactory clerk, the while he cultivated his mother's old friends.

When Mrs. Doremus died he sold the house and good will for a considerable

sum, and, combining it with her respectable savings, formed a partnership

with two other young fellows, whose fathers were rich, but old-fashioned

enough to insist that their sons should work. Nick did most of the work.

His partners, during the rainy season, sat with their feet on the

radiator and read the popular magazines, and in fine weather upheld the

outdoor traditions of the state.

The firm had a slender patronage, as Ruyler happened to know, but Doremus

was a member of the Pacific Union Club, and although he dined out every

night, he must have spent six or seven thousand a year. It was amiably

assumed that his social services,--he played and sang and often

entertained exacting groups throughout an entire evening--his fetching

and carrying for one rich old lady, accounted for his ability to keep out

of debt and pay for his many extravagances; but Ruyler knew that he was

principally esteemed at the small green table, and he vaguely recalled as

he looked over his head to-night that he had heard disconnected murmurs

of less honorable sources of revenue.

As Ruyler turned away with a frown he met Gwynne's eyes traveling from

the same direction. "I didn't ask him," he said apologetically. "Hate men

too well dressed. Looks as if he posed for tailors' ads in the weeklies.

Never could stand the social parasite anyhow, but Aileen Lawton asked

Isabel to let her bring him, as they are going to open the ball to-night

with some new kind of turkey trot.

"Glad I'm off for Washington. California's the greatest place on earth in

the dry season, but I'd have passed few winters here if it hadn't been

for the work we all had to do, and even then it would have been heavy

going without my wife's companionship."




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024