CHAPTER XX
PAPER LACE
It was two days after Jane promised to marry Frederick Towne that Evans bought a Valentine for her.
The shops were full of valentines—many of them of paper lace—the fragile old-fashioned things that had become a new fashion. They had forget-me-nots on them and hearts with golden arrows, and fat pink cupids.
Evans found it hard to choose. He stood before them, smiling. And he could see Jane smile as she read the enchanting verse of the one he finally selected:
“Roses red, my dear,
And violets blue—
Honey’s sweet, my dear,
And so are you.”
As he walked up F Street to his office, his heart was light. It was one of the lovely days that hint of spring. Old Washingtonians know that such weather does not last—that March winds must blow, and storms must come. But they grasp the joy of the moment—masquerade in carnival spirit—buy flowers from the men at the street corners—sweep into their favorite confectioner’s to order cool drinks, the women seek their milliner’s and come forth bonneted in spring beauty—the men drive to the links—and look things over.
Oh, what a world it is—this world of Washington when Winter welcomes, for the moment, Spring!