Phil’s love affairs were the entertainment of her coterie.
“Oh, girls, did you notice—well, I have a new name for them. ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ How devoted they were this evening!” broke in Louie Howe.
“Oh, you mean that Nevins girl? But do you call Miss Boyd handsome?”
“Well—she has a fine complexion—”
Louie wrinkled up her nose.
—“and lots of beautiful hair, a good figure and regular features. Maybe she lacks a certain style to make her noticeable—or something—”
“Money and position. I don’t just see why a common sort of girl who has to earn her living should be above the average, and that Nevins girl’s father is one of the firm of bankers in New York and London, and she’s horrid!”
“Oh, girls,” exclaimed May Gedney, “they kissed each other last night in the hall, a regular smack; I heard it. Fancy that pimply cheek being pressed against yours! and that lap-over tooth that sticks her lips out, and those pale gray-green eyes. Yes, Miss Boyd does look handsome by contrast.”
There was a great giggle. “We must watch the course of this ardent love. Perhaps she understands the worth of contrast.”
They went back to Zay Crawford, who was a general favorite. She and a brother nine years older than herself, a passed midshipman had gone to Germany in the summer, where her mother had been taking treatment. The Major had accompanied her. Miss Crawford had taken over the young people.