On hanging up the receiver, he turned with his invariable kindness to Dolores. “It is time you take another of those walks along the Drive that bring the roses into your cheeks. I have an important conference. Stay out in the air an hour or more.”
The girl put on her hat and coat. Although she suspected that these absences were not suggested entirely on her account, she was grateful for the half of a thought which made them serve two purposes. As one way of showing her appreciation, she tried always to time her strolls to his convenience rather than her own—to return not too late for the performance of her duties, nor soon enough to interrupt the “conferences” continually held with handsomely gowned women of the congregation. Never did she reënter the study until the limousine or touring car which had brought the visitor of the hour had purred away from the side door.
To-day she found the parkway paths delightful. A tinge of winter in the air showed in the white breath of the river craft scudding along against the tide. They always seemed a moral to Dolores, those boats scudding along against the tide.
A thought of the work piled on her desk cut her walk to a scant hour. To her disappointment a gray town-car stood at the annex curb. Inside she strolled up the corridors, wondering where she should wait. Around a turn she came upon Mr. Brill, the over-fleshed, over-moneyed and over-old “thorn” in Dr. Willard’s flesh. Evidently the deacon was taking a respite from the choir trial to enjoy a cigar. As he had been most affable on the several occasions when she had met him in the pastor’s study, Dolores greeted him pleasantly.
“Caught me, didn’t you, Miss Trent?” he returned, a bad-boy grin slinking up his baggy cheeks. “You won’t tell on a poor addict who prefers Lady Nicotine to some lady sopranos?”
“Would that be anything to tell, Mr. Brill? Dr. Willard fairly clouds the study. I don’t see any harm in smoking.”
“I suppose you don’t see harm in anything Dr. Willard does?” Although the “central pillar” shook with mirth, his eyes strained at her through the double-lens glasses fastened with a black ribbon to his lapel. “Wouldn’t you, now, join me in a puff or two or three?”
“No, sir. No, thank you,” said Dolores.
“Don’t be silly. You just said you see no harm in it. Everybody smokes nowadays, the women as much as the men.”
“I know, Dr. Brill, but——”