And still she knew how much she disliked even the memory of his kisses.
Sometimes a wave of sheer terror overcame her.
"No one’s ever done such a thing," she thought, remembering all the stories she had read. "It can’t be done. Somehow—some day—it would be found out. It always is!"
But this she could combat.
"I don’t care if it’s never been done!" she would cry. "I’ll do it! I’ll marry Eddie, and he’ll never know, and it’ll all end happily. I’ll make it! I won’t be found out!"
CHAPTER NINE
I
Angelica’s new business suited her exactly. It absorbed her mind, and it trained and shaped and educated her to an extraordinary degree. Her bravado vanished when she no longer felt herself inferior; now that she was openly acknowledged to be a clever and rising young woman, she had no need of her old-time self-assertion. She throve in an atmosphere of praise. Miss Sillon and Miss Devery loved her and her brilliant hats. They lauded her, petted her, and took all possible means to advance her interests, because they liked her, and because her interests and theirs were inseperable.
Miss Devery, who was the artistic member of the firm, went outside in a purple linen smock one morning and put a crêpe paper hat on the peacock. As often as the rain soaked it, or the wind tore or carried it off, she fastened on another. It was very odd and whimsical, and it suited the unique character of their shop.
This unique character was their chief stock in trade, and they both knew very well how to use it to advantage.