Mrs. Courtney's appointment to meet the two young decorators in a business conference came at just the time when both Eleanor and Polly were half-persuaded to give up their art and turn aside to marriage, although neither girl really wanted to take the husband instead of the career, at that time. When Paul and Tom would be out of sight once more, and their magnetic presences removed so that calm business atmosphere might control again, both girls would see they had been wise in deferring their engagements for the present. Hence the visit of Mrs. Courtney came at just the critical time.

Polly and Eleanor were at the Ashby Shops a full hour before the lady could be expected. But they put in the hour in going over the latest samples of boudoir textiles, new ideas in furniture, and fascinating designs of cushions, draperies and other accessories for a boudoir.

Mrs. Courtney was very frank and pleasant in her cordial greeting. For all her fame as a social leader in New York and the fabulous wealth accredited to her, she seemed very plain and friendly. Eleanor could not help contrasting her with her mother and Barbara.

"Well, girls, how many millions of dollars have you made in your profession since I saw you at that farce of a sale in New Jersey," said she smilingly after they had seated themselves in the small reception room.

"That _was_ too bad, wasn't it?" said Eleanor.

"We mean, it was too bad for that nice old auctioneer to be used by the city man as he certainly was. We met old Mr. Van Styne before that sale, you know, and he was so honest!" said Polly.

"So I learned. But I was annoyed at the city man's methods of getting his regular customers so far from the city in order to make money out of them; I went down to his office and told him very plainly what I thought of such trickery as he had played on me. He apologised in every way when he learned that I would never buy another thing of him; but I knew his apologies were the result of his fear of losing a good customer. I told him frankly that I would not accept his regrets. I have heard from him several times since then, but I have paid no attention to his requests to allow him to explain the circ.u.mstance which ended in that sale in the country.

"I did take time to write to this Mr. Van Styne, however, and ask for the truth, as I did not want to condemn the city man if there might be extenuating reasons for the sale. The old man in Morristown answered that he had been used as an instrument in the padded sale. He had known nothing of the manner in which the antiques had been brought from the City and placed in the house, until afterward. He had sent letters to his clientele who favored him with confidence, and many were at that sale, much to his discomfiture when he learned the truth.

"Mr. Van Styne added that he had taken the trouble to find out from a few of his trusting customers that the articles they had purchased at that sale, and which were claimed in the catalogues to be genuine antiques, were clever imitations. In fact, a refectory table said to be of genuine Jacobean period, was manufactured in the man's factory on the East Side.

Even the worm-holes had been drilled in the wood and the worn slab of wood of the top was done by the plane. To keep himself out of Court, the clever fellow had to give back the buyer's money and send up to Morristown and get the articles of 'newly-made antique' furniture."

"I'm glad of that!" exclaimed Polly.

"But those buyers should have prosecuted the cheat!" declared Eleanor, impatiently.

"That's exactly what I said, but one of them wrote me she was going away for the winter; she could not postpone her trip to try the case at Court.

Thus she took the easiest way out." Mrs. Courtney's determined expression showed what she would have done had she been the dupe of such a clever dealer.

The subject was abruptly changed when Mrs. Courtney added: "Now we must talk business, young ladies. I am sure you cannot spare your valuable time in gossip."

Polly and Eleanor glanced at each other and smiled at the idea of their "valuable time," but Mrs. Courtney launched at once into the cause of her call that morning.

"I never felt at peace with the atrocious decorations in my boudoir, although one of the highest-priced firms in New York did the room for me.

I know it was a case of making me take the costliest materials without regard to harmony or temperament. Now I wish to have you girls see what _you_ would do with the suite. While I am here, I thought you might show me several suites exhibited on the floor and tell me which you would prefer for a woman of my age."

Polly immediately signified that she was ready to escort Mrs. Courtney to the elevator, thence to the exhibition rooms where every conceivable period and price of boudoir furnishings were to be seen and examined.

The three stepped from the elevator, and Polly was leading the way to the boudoir suites; Mrs. Courtney watched with deep interest as she spoke in a low voice, to Eleanor.

"Jack Baxter called on me, one evening before he went West; he told me that your remarkable young friend had everything in life to make a young girl want to have a good time, yet she chose a profession for herself in place of gayety and beaux."

Eleanor smiled and nodded affirmatively but said nothing.

"That is one of the reasons I wanted to meet you young ladies again. It is so gratifying to find any young girl, these days, who takes life in earnest. Of all the flippant, mothlike creatures I find flapping about at receptions or teas, I have yet to find one in every thousand who really thinks of anything other than cigarettes, matinees, and dress. It is positively revolting to me to have my rooms clouded with cigarette smoke, yet what can a hostess do? The women have gone mad over the habit. The danger lies in their not being able to break the influence as readily as they form it."

Polly overheard the latter part of this speech and smiled admiringly at her client. Then they came to the boudoir exhibit.

A very pleasant hour pa.s.sed while Polly and Eleanor told Mrs. Courtney of their visits to galleries in Europe, and in hearing Mrs. Courtney speak of her amusing excursions in quest of the antique. Finally the lady remembered an appointment, and in amazement found her wrist-watch told her it was twelve.

"Oh, oh! I had an imperative engagement at the dentist's at twelve-fifteen.

How could this hour have pa.s.sed so rapidly?" said she, hurrying to the elevator in advance of the girls.

While waiting for the man to come for them, the two young salesladies wondered if their customer would leave without an order, or word of encouragement regarding the future of her boudoir.

On the elevator going down, Mrs. Courtney said: "When you have time to come to my address and look at the suite, just let me know by telephone and I will make it a point to be at home to meet you, to go into the work in earnest. I am confident you can give the right atmosphere to my boudoir." Just as the elevator reached the ground floor, Mrs. Courtney handed Polly and Eleanor each a card upon which she wrote her private telephone number.

"Now, good-morning, my friends. Remember what I said to you about having chosen the right pathway, for the present. You will make all the better wives and mothers for having had a genuine business experience. How superior is your ideal to those of empty-headed society misses who live but to dance or drink or waste their true substance."

With such praise of their endeavors, the lady left Polly and Eleanor; and they stood where she left them, holding her cards in their hands, but still gazing at the revolving doors through which she had pa.s.sed and then disappeared.

CHAPTER XVII

BUSINESS

Ruth and Dodo had been sadly neglected during the Christmas Season, but after Paul returned to Denver and Tom accepted his verdict that Polly would give no valuable thought to lovers for the next two years, the two young decorators took time to encourage their younger partners in the work they had chosen.

Ruth and Dodo were not as deeply in earnest as Polly and Eleanor had been in applying themselves to the studies given at Cooper Union; they considered themselves martyrs to the cause of womanly work. Mr. Fabian often sighed in despair over Dodo's ideals in ancient architecture, or Ruth's recitations of applied designs. Polly and Eleanor laughed at these trials of teacher and student and kept urging both sides not to lose faith but to keep on until they won the prize.

Meanwhile, the two advanced students visited every exhibit or lecture given on their beloved work, and thus acquired more of the idealistic experiences in art. For business application of their understanding of decorating, Mrs. Courtney supplied one channel of such testing; and Mr.

Dalken offered another outlet for their wisdom, for he had decided to erect a magnificent office building on upper Fifth Avenue, and keep the entire top floor as a private apartment for himself.

The girls had many interesting mornings in Mrs. Courtney's home, listening to her accounts of trips to every country in quest of curios and antiques. Her residence was filled with the results of her travels, and her memory teemed with thrilling stories of adventure for the rare and beautiful trophies she secured.

"There is still one interesting spot on this globe which I am keen to visit, but I have never had the opportunity to go as I wish to go," said Mrs. Courtney, one day, after she had been showing the two girls the collection of Filipino curios she got during a six months' stay at the Philippines.

"I should have said there was no spot where you have not been," laughed Eleanor.

"But there is, and that is the South Sea Isles. I have----"

"Where?" gasped both the girls, unconsciously interrupting the speaker.

Mrs. Courtney laughed. "Yes, the South Sea Isles. Do not think them so cannibalistic as report has it, my dears. I know an American who has lived there more than twenty years and he says that for climate and interesting life, give him the South Sea Islands. He almost persuaded me to take the trip when he was here last."

"Is he an old friend?" asked Polly.

"No; he is a man I used to commission to find certain curios for me. He tells me that textiles woven and colored by the natives of those islands are the most beautiful things ever seen. The carvings and hammered bra.s.ses are more gorgeous than those of Benares or of the East. He has made quite a fortune out of exporting selected articles from the Isles to the United States, but the great difficulty in such trade is the uncertain transportation methods. His goods may reach their destination and again they may not. It depends on the character of the owner or captain of the vessel. He all but persuaded me to buy or lease a sea-going yacht and make the trip for a year's outing. He promised me that all costs would quickly be defrayed by the valuable cargo which could be stored away in very small s.p.a.ce on board the yacht."

"If you were so keen about visiting that place why did you renounce it?"

queried Eleanor, wonderingly.

"Because I could not induce any of my friends to accept my invitation to join my party for such an outing." Mrs Courtney laughed as she remembered the expressions on the faces of her friends when they heard of the proposed voyage.

"Actually, girls, some of my invited guests asked me to go to Monte Carlo, or to the Orient, instead. So that broke up the plan."

"Goodness!" sighed Polly, "I only wish I had been invited!"

"Would you have gone willingly?" asked Mrs. Courtney, eagerly.