Love in a Hurry

General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1913 Original Publisher: The Bobbs-Merrill Company Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: PART THREE TTLODIE'S mind having been, in the after- -- noon, thus somewhat diverted from preparations for the party, the decoration of the studio had devolved on the untutored taste of Alfred Smallish. Alfred's esthetic ideas, being primitive, ran to the severely geometric. Ropes of evergreen he stiffly festooned in regular curves along the cornice, and at each equidistant cusp a circular wreath was hung to a tenpenny nail. He was emboldened by the success of this satisfying uniformity to essay similar effects with the two large cameras, draping them carefully in loops of mathematical precision. In the end, his work left him profoundly pleased and proud. Poor Alfred! Flodie, arriving early, spent nearly an hour reconstructing his decorative scheme, patting and pulling it into something more careless, and more agreeable to her own sense of beauty. Alfred Smallish willingly acknowledged her superior taste; he was amazed to find that the yardstick was not the true measure of art For the occasion Mr. Smallish had also decorated himself. In his hired evening suit he looked, if possible, a bit more pathetic than usual. Flodie first howled at the sight, then mollified his confusion by assuring him that he looked like a real waiter. This, indeed, was to be Alfred's function to-night, for which, toward nine o'clock, he had a swift dress rehearsal, ending in Flodie's enthusiastic, Fine! But you be careful, she admonished him, and don't you spill any salad or ice-cream or anything on that dress suit, Alfred! I want you to be spick-and-span when the surprise o...