be inflicted on a creator for Diaghilev or Reinhardt. If only one could work as Gordon Craig said was best in the theatre, with marionettes instead of human beings.
"I missed you, did you miss me?" Lyle said, giving Lucy's hand a squeeze in the taxi to her apartment.
"Oh sure," she jested to keep him from getting sentimental.
"Wish I could believe that."
She withdrew her hand and gave his cheek a playful slap. "Oh you get out, I'll bet you had one big time in Europe."
"Big time! I've done nothing but play mah-jongg," he protested, the frieze of girls with whom he had tried to forget her fading from memory.
"I saw a photograph in Mode of a mah-jongg party in Biarritz."
"I was there. Everyone dressed in Chinese costumes. It was given by a fabulous woman, a Mrs. Cornwallis. I want you to meet her when she comes to New York, you'll like her."
"What does she look like?" It was easier to tell from a person's looks if you wanted to meet her. That French singer Simone must know a lot about men.
Lyle laughed. "Like a crow with a crown on its head. I've invited her to Palm Beach next winter for a lark. She'll make the stuffed shirts come to life."
"That's not a nice way to speak about your mother and her friends," Lucy said. Meeting some old woman didn't seem inviting.
"It's nice to see you again," Mae greeted Lyle with soft diffidence.
Neither Lucy nor Mae had bothered to make the furnished apartment homelike, preferring its impersonality.
Lyle noted the apartment's transient appearance and had an idea. "You two girls could do me a favor," he said carefully, looking at Mae.
She blushed. "Of course, Mr. Bigelow."
He owned a new apartment building on Park Avenue which was slow in renting. They would do him a favor by selecting the furniture for and living in one of the front apartments, to make the building seem more occupied.
Some trick! He certainly knew how to get around Mother. Anyone could see she had quite a crush. A boyish bob and a henna rinse to liven up her hair would take away that dead fuzzy look; a course of facials at Primrose House and she would be prettier than most
