For C. B. who listened to it...

Little Jane Ward sat at her father’s left hand at the family breakfast table, her sleek, brown pigtailed head bent discreetly over her plate. She was washing down great mouthfuls of bacon and eggs wit...

Little Jane Ward sat at her father’s left hand at the family breakfast table, her sleek, brown pigtailed head bent discreetly over her plate. She was washing down great mouthfuls of bacon and eggs wit...

Little Jane Ward sat at her father’s left hand at the family breakfast table, her sleek, brown pigtailed head bent discreetly over her plate. She was washing down great mouthfuls of bacon and eggs wit...

Jane had no time to read La Dame aux Camellias that night. Her homework was very long. She looked it over, translating a line here and there, hoping in vain for pictures, before she went to bed. She l...

“I don’t see why you want to go to college,” said Muriel, “at all.” Jane was taking lunch with Muriel. And Jane was very different. Her sleek brown pigtails had vanished, turned up in a knot on her ne...

“I don’t see why you want to go to college,” said Muriel, “at all.” Jane was taking lunch with Muriel. And Jane was very different. Her sleek brown pigtails had vanished, turned up in a knot on her ne...

Jane woke next morning in a state of great excitement. For a minute she couldn’t quite recollect, as she lay in her big walnut bed with the early sunshine streaming in her east window, just what was g...

“I don’t know why you want to go,” said Jane’s mother, “anyway.” “Just to the Thomas concert,” said Isabel. “And down in the street cars,” said Jane’s mother, “in your pretty frock.” “Well⁠—I do,” sai...

“I don’t know why you want to go,” said Jane’s mother, “anyway.” “Just to the Thomas concert,” said Isabel. “And down in the street cars,” said Jane’s mother, “in your pretty frock.” “Well⁠—I do,” sai...

“Don’t get oil on that coat!” called Jane’s mother from the dining-room window. Jane was oiling her bicycle under the willow tree. “Don’t worry!” retorted Jane with a grin. The coat was made of tan co...

Jane came downstairs, next morning, a little late to breakfast. The family were all at the table. Isabel was talking of Robin Bridges. He had invited her to go to the theatre with Rosalie and Freddy W...

The October sun was shining brightly down on the Bryn Mawr maples when Jane and her father first walked under the arch of Pembroke Hall, where Agnes was awaiting them. Jane thought Bryn Mawr was very ...

The October sun was shining brightly down on the Bryn Mawr maples when Jane and her father first walked under the arch of Pembroke Hall, where Agnes was awaiting them. Jane thought Bryn Mawr was very ...

“It’s funny,” said Jane to Agnes. “All the years you’re trying to get into college you think it’s the work that counts. When you get there you see it’s the people.” Jane and Agnes were sitting on thei...

“Next year,” said Agnes lazily, stretching her long limbs beneath the budding cherry tree, “I’m going to begin Greek.” Jane thought she would like to begin Greek, too. It made her feel awfully illiter...

“It’s grand,” said Agnes, “to think you’re really here. I can’t get used to it.” “I felt like a dog to leave them,” said Jane. They were sitting out under the maple row in the bright October sunshine....

“My Gawd!” said Agnes. And Agnes never swore. She was staring at the letter held open in her hand. Jane had just brought it upstairs, as she came in for tea. Marion was kneeling on the window-seat, lo...

The Commencement procession was forming in front of the gymnasium. The day was hot and sultry, with the promise of rain in the air. Jane and Agnes and Marion were all Sophomore marshals. They were dre...

“You’ll need,” said Jane’s mother reflectively, “at least four new evening dresses. The blue can be made over in the house.” She was standing in the doorway of Jane’s closet, regarding Jane’s depleted...

“You’ll need,” said Jane’s mother reflectively, “at least four new evening dresses. The blue can be made over in the house.” She was standing in the doorway of Jane’s closet, regarding Jane’s depleted...

“You’ll need,” said Jane’s mother reflectively, “at least four new evening dresses. The blue can be made over in the house.” She was standing in the doorway of Jane’s closet, regarding Jane’s depleted...

The November air felt very cool and bracing as they stood on the front steps. It was very luxurious, Jane thought, to be driving over to Muriel’s in a cab when it was only four blocks away. Everything...

Jane stood in Flora’s bedroom, smoothing her hair before the long mirror, while Flora’s maid sewed up the torn net flounces of her pink dancing-frock. Lots of other girls were there, too, repairing th...

The Christmas tree spread its green boughs in the darkest corner of the library. The little pink wax angel at its top almost touched the ceiling. The little pink wax angel had always crowned the Chris...

“There!” said Isabel, with a last reassuring pat at Jane’s blue muslin train. “You look lovely.” Jane tried to peer through the bevy of bridesmaids into the tall mirror that was hung on the dim brown ...

“There!” said Isabel, with a last reassuring pat at Jane’s blue muslin train. “You look lovely.” Jane tried to peer through the bevy of bridesmaids into the tall mirror that was hung on the dim brown ...

Jane woke next morning a little weary from the festivities of the wedding. The reception had ended in a buffet supper for the nearest friends of the family. Later there had been dancing. Mr. and Mrs. ...

Jane sat beside Flora on the little rosewood sofa in Mrs. Furness’s bedroom. They were listing the contents of the bureau drawers. That morning they had gone through the closets. Mrs. Furness’s wardro...

Jane sat beside Flora on the little rosewood sofa in Mrs. Furness’s bedroom. They were listing the contents of the bureau drawers. That morning they had gone through the closets. Mrs. Furness’s wardro...

“He’s crazy about you,” said Muriel lightly. “It’s ridiculous for you to say you haven’t noticed it. Isn’t he crazy about her, Isabel?” Muriel was sitting on Jane’s window-seat, looking out into the l...

“Marion,” said Agnes confidently, “is surely going to get the European fellowship.” “Why not you, Agnes?” asked Jane. They were sitting side by side on the brown velvet sofa in Mr. Ward’s little libra...

Jane was waiting with her skates in the hall, when Stephen rang the doorbell. She opened the door herself. He smiled down at her. “Prompt lady!” he said. He tucked her skates under his arm. Jane ran d...

“This,” said Mr. Ward, “means war.” He looked very seriously across the dining-room table at his wife and daughter. On the shining damask cloth at his elbow several copies of the evening papers flaunt...

“This,” said Mr. Ward, “means war.” He looked very seriously across the dining-room table at his wife and daughter. On the shining damask cloth at his elbow several copies of the evening papers flaunt...

“It’s only a question of days, now,” said Mr. Ward. “There can be only one outcome.” “We’re awfully unready,” said Robin. “Roosevelt was right,” said Stephen. “He’s been right all along. We ought to h...

“Miss Jane,” said Minnie, “Mr. Carver has called.” “Mr. Carver?” questioned Jane. It was only four o’clock on a weekday afternoon. Why wasn’t Stephen at the bank? “Tell him that I’ll come down,” said ...

Jane stood before her mirror, gazing incredulously through her snowy veil at the slim white reflection that was herself. Fancy dress, it seemed to her, this paraphernalia of bridal finery. Isabel stoo...

The midsummer willow stood motionless in the late August sunshine, not a grey-green leaf stirring, and Jane was sitting at her window looking out at it and thinking of Stephen, when André’s second let...

Jane Carver opened the screened door that led from the living-room of her father-in-law’s house at Gull Rocks, Seaconsit, to the verandah that commanded a view of the sea. She closed it quietly behind...

Jane Carver opened the screened door that led from the living-room of her father-in-law’s house at Gull Rocks, Seaconsit, to the verandah that commanded a view of the sea. She closed it quietly behind...

Jane Carver opened the screened door that led from the living-room of her father-in-law’s house at Gull Rocks, Seaconsit, to the verandah that commanded a view of the sea. She closed it quietly behind...

“If the wind hadn’t dropped at the second buoy,” said Alden, “we should have come in third.” “You made a mistake,” said Mr. Carver, “splitting tacks on the second leg.” “We only missed that puff by fo...

Jane sat at her dressing-table, brushing the long straight strands of her brown hair, looking critically at her reflection in the glass as she did so. For more than a year, now, Jane had been endeavou...

“I’d go, if I were you,” said Silly. “It’s only for a week, of course,” said Jane. “The children will be all right with Miss Parrot,” said Silly. “Oh, yes,” said Jane. “It’s just moving them back West...

Nevertheless, seven days later, as Jane stood on the platform of the Bay State Limited in the Boston South Station, waving goodbye to Stephen and the children and Miss Parrot, she felt her eyes fill s...

Nevertheless, seven days later, as Jane stood on the platform of the Bay State Limited in the Boston South Station, waving goodbye to Stephen and the children and Miss Parrot, she felt her eyes fill s...

The heat of the September day still pervaded the city streets as Jane descended from the top of the Fifth Avenue bus and turned, a trifle uncertainly, under the arch, to walk south and west across Was...

The waiter’s hand, which touched Jane’s accidentally as he placed her demitasse before her, felt damp and warmly clammy. His collar was wilted and great drops of perspiration beaded his swarthy brow. ...

“I thought you’d be more enthusiastic,” said Flora. “I am enthusiastic,” protested Jane. “It’s just that I’m not used to the idea yet⁠—” They were sitting on the edge of Flora’s bed at the Belmont. Th...

“Well⁠—I guess this is goodbye,” said Agnes. “I hate to say it,” said Jane. They were sitting on two high stools in a Broadway Huyler’s and had just finished a luncheon composed of a sandwich and a so...

Jane sat beside Flora in their compartment on the Twentieth Century, watching Flora and Mr. Furness play cribbage. She was thinking how much Mr. Furness looked like her mother-in-law and how much he l...

The Twentieth Century was pulling slowly into the La Salle Street Station. Jane stood in the vestibule, knee-deep in luggage, looking eagerly for Stephen beyond the little crowd of porters that lined ...

“They say it wasn’t a stroke,” said Isabel, “but of course it was.” “Mrs. Lester told me it was acute indigestion,” said Mrs. Ward. “And Rosalie told me it was brain fatigue,” said Isabel. “I don’t kn...

“They say it wasn’t a stroke,” said Isabel, “but of course it was.” “Mrs. Lester told me it was acute indigestion,” said Mrs. Ward. “And Rosalie told me it was brain fatigue,” said Isabel. “I don’t kn...

“Let’s play parcheesi,” said little Steve. “I have to telephone Aunt Isabel,” said Cicily. “I haven’t done my practising,” said Jenny. They were all sitting around the living-room fire. Jane was presi...

It happened just seven weeks later. It happened Thanksgiving afternoon, out beneath the apple tree beyond the little clump of evergreens at the foot of the garden. Jane was very much surprised when it...

Mrs. Lester’s living-room was in festive array for a very gala occasion. The occasion was Mrs. Lester’s seventy-fifth birthday. When Jane entered the room with Stephen and the children, she could not ...

Motoring out to Lakewood when the party was over, tucked in beside Stephen in the front seat of their little Overland, with the children asleep in the tonneau behind them, Jane felt very happy over th...

The April sunshine was slanting in Jane’s open bedroom window. The pale, profuse sunshine of early April, flickering through the bare boughs of the oak trees. The crocuses were blooming in the garden....

The April sunshine was slanting in Jane’s open bedroom window. The pale, profuse sunshine of early April, flickering through the bare boughs of the oak trees. The crocuses were blooming in the garden....

“You wouldn’t think it was so funny,” said Isabel scathingly, “if you’d heard Muriel talking about it yesterday in Flora’s hat shop. She didn’t even stop when I came in.” “I don’t think it’s funny,” s...

Jane could not, however, keep her angry thoughts on Isabel. The April afternoon was very warm and fair. The elm trees were budding down the stretch of Pine Street. The bushes in the park around the Wa...

That evening Jimmy played parcheesi with the children. Jane sat at Steve’s elbow and advised him on his moves. Stephen lounged in his armchair and read the Evening Post. Stephen was no parcheesi fan. ...

Next morning Stephen had his eighteen holes of golf with Jimmy. The April day had dawned very bright and fair. The men came home from the links just a little late for luncheon with Jane and the childr...

When Jane opened her eyes next morning, the cold light of the April dawn was breaking over the garden. She had come into the house with Jimmy some four hours before. They had turned out the lights in ...

Five days later, Jimmy returned to Lakewood. He turned up, early in the afternoon, and found Jane superintending the gardener, who was spading up the rose-bed in the garden. She looked up from the roo...

Jane stood staring at the map of Europe that Stephen had tacked up on the living-room wall. She was staring at the little irregular row of red-and-blue thumbtacks that marked the battle-line in easter...

Jane stood staring at the map of Europe that Stephen had tacked up on the living-room wall. She was staring at the little irregular row of red-and-blue thumbtacks that marked the battle-line in easter...

“He was killed instantly,” said Agnes. “He was shot in the trenches. He was shot through the head. This German saw it happen.” She handed Jane a creased and wrinkled paper. It was the letter of the Pr...

“Karo,” said Isabel, “is just as good as sugar. In case you can’t tell the difference.” The morning sunshine was slanting in the wide dusty windows of the Chicago skyscraper. The big bare room was hun...

“Karo,” said Isabel, “is just as good as sugar. In case you can’t tell the difference.” The morning sunshine was slanting in the wide dusty windows of the Chicago skyscraper. The big bare room was hun...

“Karo,” said Isabel, “is just as good as sugar. In case you can’t tell the difference.” The morning sunshine was slanting in the wide dusty windows of the Chicago skyscraper. The big bare room was hun...

“But you’re children,” said Stephen. “Oh, Dad,” said Cicily, with a tolerant smile, “be your age!” Jane looked from Stephen to her twinkling daughter. Stephen was sitting in his armchair in the Lakewo...

“I don’t see why,” said Isabel, “you object to Cicily’s marrying Jack. Poor child, he’s going to war next month. He may be killed⁠—” Her lip was trembling. “Well,” said Muriel, “I don’t see why you ob...

“The older I grow, Papa,” said Jane very seriously, “the more I admire your technique as a parent.” “That’s very flattering of you, kid,” said Mr. Ward with a twinkle. “Why, Isabel and I never gave yo...

“Jenny’s really so homely,” said Cicily frankly, “that I think we ought to feature it.” “Feature it?” questioned Flora. “Yes,” said Cicily, “make her look quaint, you know; as if she were meant to be ...

Jane stood at Isabel’s side in the front row of the little congregation that had gathered in the rose garden. On her other hand, pressed close against the tightly drawn white satin ribbon, stood littl...

“Muriel thinks,” said Isabel, “that Belle should go into mourning.” “I’m not surprised,” said Jane. “The Lesters always had a lot of family feeling.” “Just the same,” said Isabel, “I’ve just bought al...

“Muriel thinks,” said Isabel, “that Belle should go into mourning.” “I’m not surprised,” said Jane. “The Lesters always had a lot of family feeling.” “Just the same,” said Isabel, “I’ve just bought al...

Last week it had been a bad cold. The morning after Mrs. Lester’s funeral it had turned into bronchitis. Yesterday it was a touch of pneumonia. Today⁠— Jane stood in the doorway of Mr. Ward’s library,...

Jane sat in a rocking-chair, drawn closely to her father’s bedside. Beyond the bed, on a little walnut sofa, her mother and Isabel were sitting. At the farther end of the room, in two chairs by the fi...

Jane sat in the sunny corner of Cicily’s room in the Lying-in Hospital, holding the week-old twins in her arms. How ridiculous, how adorable of them to be twins, she was thinking, as she gazed down at...

“Flora,” said Jane, “they’re the cutest things I ever saw! It was too dear of you to make them!” “The last hats,” smiled Flora, “that I’ll ever make. I sold the goodwill of the shop today.” “And you’r...

Jane sat on the brick parapet of her little terrace, wondering if the soft October air was too cool for her mother. It was a lovely autumn afternoon. An Indian summer haze hung over the tanned stretch...

Jane stood by the piano in the Lakewood living-room, looking fixedly at the flowers that the children had sent her. Fifty Killarney roses in a great glass bowl. Time was when Jane had regarded a woman...

Jane stood by the piano in the Lakewood living-room, looking fixedly at the flowers that the children had sent her. Fifty Killarney roses in a great glass bowl. Time was when Jane had regarded a woman...

“I get awfully fed up with it,” said Cicily. “With what?” asked Jane. “With this,” said Cicily. Jane’s eyes followed her daughter’s around the drawing-room of the little French farmhouse. It was a cha...

“Muriel,” said Isabel, “looked amazingly young.” “She certainly did,” said Jane. “And wasn’t she wonderful with Pearl and Gertie?” “My heart rather warmed to Gertie,” said Jane. “She was crying all th...

Jane sat at the wheel of her motor, absentmindedly threading her way through the congested traffic of Sheridan Road. She had just returned to the West from her so-called holiday at Gull Rocks and was ...

Jane sat at the wheel of her motor, absentmindedly threading her way through the congested traffic of Sheridan Road. She had just returned to the West from her so-called holiday at Gull Rocks and was ...

“I want to talk to you,” Isabel had whispered. “Don’t say anything in front of Mamma.” She was handing Jane her teacup as she spoke, in the little brown library. Mrs. Ward, preoccupied with misgivings...

It was one o’clock on a late November morning and the first Assembly ball was in full swing in the ballroom of the Blackstone Hotel. The room was brilliantly lighted. Its gilded walls were hung with s...

Jane was walking briskly down the main street of Lakewood, enjoying the first winter snowfall. The air was damply mild. Great feathery flakes were drifting all around her. The ground was covered with ...

Jane sat in a corner of Cicily’s French drawing-room, waiting for Cicily to come home. Walking with the twins through the snowy streets of Lakewood, withdrawn from their artless prattle in the sanctua...

Jane did not tell Stephen that night, however. When she rang her front doorbell, Stephen, himself, opened the door. His face looked strangely shocked and very, very serious. “I’ve been waiting for you...

Jane sat, relaxed and weary, in the arms of a wing chair in the front parlour of the Carvers’ house on Beacon Street, thinking soberly of the perfect end of her father-in-law’s life. Sudden death, at ...

Jane sat, relaxed and weary, in the arms of a wing chair in the front parlour of the Carvers’ house on Beacon Street, thinking soberly of the perfect end of her father-in-law’s life. Sudden death, at ...

On looking back on the first few weeks that followed her father-in-law’s death, Jane was always most impressed by the astounding efficiency of her children. The explosive efficiency of her children. J...

It was on the Twentieth Century, three days later, that Jenny issued her ultimatum. The female Carvers in the rising generation yielded nothing in determination to the male. Jane and Stephen were sitt...

Jane sat in the window of the Lakewood living-room, cross-stitching little brown and scarlet robins on a bib that she was making for Robin Redbreast’s fourth Christmas. The Skokie Valley was a plain o...

“But Cicily,” said Jane, half an hour later, “have you never heard of conduct?” She was sitting hand in hand with her daughter on the sofa in the little French drawing-room. “I have,” said Cicily firm...

New York was shining and shimmering in the first summer heat. Jane stood at her window in the Plaza Hotel, looking out over the feathery green treetops of Central Park at the long grey line of skyscra...

New York was shining and shimmering in the first summer heat. Jane stood at her window in the Plaza Hotel, looking out over the feathery green treetops of Central Park at the long grey line of skyscra...

Agnes lived on Beekman Place in an old brownstone front house that she had bought twelve years ago. She had spent the proceeds of her third play upon it, figuring that it would be as good an investmen...

Jane tried to remember it that very evening, as she sat by Stephen’s side on a black-and-silver divan in the shrimp-pink drawing-room of Jenny’s East Seventy-Ninth Street penthouse. The penthouse was ...

Paris, thought Jane⁠—the city of joy! She glanced across the railway carriage at Stephen’s face. It looked rather grim. Stephen was rested, however. The six days at sea had been good for him. Stephen ...

Jane and Flora were sitting side by side on the Empire sofa of Jane’s little green sitting-room in the Chatham Hotel. The sitting-room was rather small and rather over-upholstered. It was extremely Em...

Jane and Stephen and Cicily and Albert were strolling down the Rue Vaugirard on their way to the Luxembourg Museum. They had just lunched at Foyot’s on a perfect sole and fraises à la créme. Five of J...

“I think,” said Stephen, “I’ll try to take a nap.” “Why don’t you, dear?” said Jane. Jane herself was far from feeling sleepy. She had been sitting in silence for the last half-hour on the Empire sofa...

Three days later, when Jane entered Flora’s drawing-room with Stephen, she had no particular sense that she was going to witness the consecration of a marriage. The civil rites of France that they had...

“I didn’t think you’d come,” said Jane. “Of course I came,” said André. They were sitting side by side in a taxi that was rolling down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Half an hour before Jane had seen ...

But Stephen had lived and he was still very much alive. That consoling thought struck Jane the moment that she entered the little green sitting-room in the Chatham Hotel, and she felt distinctly cheer...