“Trouble? trouble? Is his impression unfavorable? Heavens, how unfortunate!” exclaimed the director airily. “Surely, my application—Does the room fail to meet his approval, or—”
“Yes, it does,” she interrupted. “He says it's no place for a man to be in; and he says the pictures are—are—well, he says they are improper!” glancing at the Venus.
“Ah!” responded the director with a suspicious sweetness. “He does not care for the nude, then?”
She sighed deeply. “Oh, Mr. Welles!”
“It is indeed to be regretted that Mr. Waters's ideals are so high—and—shall we say—so elusive?” proceeded the director smoothly. “It is so difficult—so well-nigh impossible—to satisfy him. One devotes one's energies—I may say one slaves night and day—to win some slight mark of approval; and just as one is about to reap the well-earned reward—a smile, a word of appreciation—all is forfeited! It is hard indeed! Would you suggest the rearrangement of the Rooms under Mr. Waters's direction? Thompson is at his service—”
“Oh, Mr. Welles!” she sighed hopelessly. “It isn't only that! It's not alone the room, though Mrs. Underwood wonders that I should think she would be able to conduct the Band of Hope in here, and Mrs. Rider says that after what her husband told her she should no more think of sitting here for a mothers' meeting than anything in the world. It's the whole thing. Why did you treat them all to lemonade the first day? Surely you knew that our one aim is to prevent miscellaneous charity. And Tom says you smoked in here—he smelt it.”
“I smelt him, too,” remarked the director calmly. “That was one reason why I smoked.”
“And—and having Kitty and Annabel here all the time! The Girls' Club are so j—— Well, the Girls' Club like the old rooms better, they say, and it's so difficult to get them to work together at best. And now we shall have to work so hard—
“And the men think it's just a joke, the lemonade and everything, and the room gave them such a wrong impression, and they don't seem to want it, anyway. Tom Waters says he can't abide sarsaparilla—”
“Great heavens!” the director broke in, “is it possible? A point on which Mr. Waters's opinion coincides with mine? I have not lived in vain! But this is too much; I have not deserved—”