Nancy first and last

BY AMY E. BLANCHARD
AUTHOR OF BETTY OF WYE, GIRLS TOGETHER, ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILL F. STECHER
PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1917
COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY AMY E. BLANCHARD
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER, 1917
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.
SHE DREW THE RING FROM HER FINGER AND WITH AVERTED FACE HELD IT OUT
The garden was too peaceful and fair for a scene of discord. From behind the sun-warmed box hedges came the odor of clove pinks, hundred-leaf roses and heliotrope, while breezes, passing by the porch of the old-fashioned, high-pillared house, brought the cloying sweetness of honeysuckle and jessamine blooms. Along the gravelled paths paced a man and a girl, both young and good to look upon. The girl, slender, brown-eyed, fair-haired, white-skinned, discoursed passionately; the man, with steady blue eyes, broad brow and firm chin, listened, turning toward her once in a while a half-bewildered look.
You do not understand, you cannot, the girl was saying excitedly. You are nothing but ice and snow, a creature of marble. If you had ever met love face to face, had ever felt its real power I would not need to question you, but it has to filter through your body and never reaches your soul. There is so little spiritual essence in what you offer that it is valueless to me.