“So would I,” agreed Barclay cordially. “I have quite a number of questions to ask him,” and a mental vision of the girl of the miniature obscured for the moment the kindly, clever face of the naturalist.
CHAPTER V
RECOGNITION
“Please tell Mrs. Ogden, Rose, that I will join her at once.”
“Very well, Miss Ogden,” and the trim maid departed.
Ethel Ogden, conscious that she had made a hurried toilet, and feeling but half awake, paused before her cheval glass and took a final look at her costume and hair, patting a stray curl into place, then left her bedroom in search of her cousin. She had a dim impression that to be late for breakfast would rank with one of the crimes of the Decalogue in the eyes of Walter Ogden.
The climate in Washington that winter had proved too severe for Ethel’s father, and by the advice of his physician he had gone in December to winter with friends in Atlanta. Mrs. Ogden, torn between anxiety for her husband and her desire to be with Ethel, had thankfully accepted their cousins’ invitation to have Ethel spend the winter with them.
Walter Ogden had been a frequent visitor to the National Capital for a dozen years or more, and in times gone by, before he had made his not inconsiderable fortune, Commodore Ogden had assisted him financially on several occasions. Both Walter Ogden and his wife had urged Ethel to visit them in their western home, but she had never been able to accept. Their last invitation had solved many difficulties for it enabled her to remain in Washington and continue her work.
Commodore Ogden, who had retired before the age limit from the United States Navy on account of old wounds, had found, some years before, his modest savings swept away in unfortunate speculation, and outstanding debts had further crippled his resources. Ethel, to the horror of her mother, whose old-fashioned ideas did not include a tolerant view of the modern woman, had found her metier in teaching English to foreigners residing in Washington, and with the salary received from her pupils dressed herself and contributed to the household expenses.
During the forty-eight hours she had been with her cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Ogden, she had seen little of them, owing to her own business and social engagements, and had not had time to properly adjust herself to the household routine. The house was a large one, and reaching an intersecting corridor in the wide wall, Ethel paused in indecision. Had she turned to her right or to her left when leaving Mrs. Ogden’s pretty bedroom the night before? Debating the point in her own mind, however, did not settle the question, and Ethel, finding a bedroom door ajar on her right, laid her hand on the knob.
“Caught entering ‘Blue Beard’s chamber,’” said a soft languid voice just back of her, and wheeling about Ethel confronted her cousin. “Fie! Fie! Ethel.”