human
There goes Mr. Doran to welcome her--of course! said an Omallaha girl lately back from New York.
gpt
I wonder if they really are engaged?
human
Why shouldn't they be?
gpt
Well, for one thing, she doesn't seem the sort of woman who'd care to give up her career. She's so self-conscious that she must be selfish, and then--she's older than he is.
human
Good heavens, no! She doesn't look nineteen!
gpt
On the stage.
human
Or off, either.
gpt
Anyhow, some people in New York who know her awfully well told me that she'd never see twenty-nine again. An actress of twenty-nine who can't look nineteen had better go into a convent! Though, when you notice, her mouth and eyes are hard, aren't they? What _would_ Max Doran's wonderful mother say if her son married Billie Brookton?
human
Miss Brookton's father was a clergyman in Virginia. She told me so herself,
gpt
She _would_---- Oh, I don't mean to be catty. But she must have a background that's a contrast--like that aunt of hers. I don't believe she'd want to marry for years yet--a man who'd make her leave the stage. She has the air of expecting the limelight to follow her everywhere through life, and I'm sure Max Doran's gorgeous mother wouldn't let her daughter-in-law go on acting, even if Max didn't mind.
human
Max would mind. He'd never stand it, Max's brother officer informed the girl who had been to New York.
gpt
Though he's so simple in his manner, he's proud, I guess. But whether she's nineteen or twenty-nine, I don't see how Billie could do better than take Max Doran, unless she could snap up an English duke. And they say there aren't any unmarried ones going at present. She'd be an addition to this post as a bride, wouldn't she?
human
Ye-es,
gpt
Merry Widow came to an end, and as soon after as could be, the
human
Tango Trance began. The band had practised it in Miss Brookton's honour; and it had been ordered as the first dance after her arrival. The aunt sat down, and Billie Brookton began