The play moves on to its close. The curtain falls, the lights come up, the pantomime is over.
Hattie and Sadie joined the box party at the door of the theater and all went home together on the street car. It was Christmas Eve and the shops and streets were alight and crowded. As the car reached the quieter sections the lights of the homes shone through the dusk.
Charlotte left the car at her corner which was reached first, to go home to her mother in the boarding house. Mrs. Pulteney and her group of three said good-bye at the next corner. At the third, Hattie, Sadie, and Emmy Lou got off together.
Hattie detained the others ere they could go their separate ways. Her voice was awed.
"Maybe Charlotte's father was like Florizel, once high-hearted prince——"
Emmy Lou and Sadie gazed at Hattie. They caught the point. No wonder Hattie was awed.
"—and maybe Mrs. Pulteney is beautiful Gabriella——?"
That night after supper Emmy Lou paused before the picture of "The Cavalier's Wedding." She was far from satisfied with Aunt Katie's choice.