Besides, it looked well to have the head of the
household represented in the church. To the Baroness, also, there
was added satisfaction in attending divine service, now that Preston
Cheney sat in the pew. All hope of winning the love she had so
longed to possess, died many years before; and she had been cruel and
unkind in numerous ways to the object of her hopeless passion, yet
like the smell of dead rose leaves long shut in a drawer, there clung
about this man the faint, suggestive fragrance of a perished dream.
She knew that he did not love his wife, and that he was disappointed
in his daughter; and she did not at least have to suffer the pain of
seeing him lavish the affection she had missed, on others.
Mr Cheney had been called away from home on business the day before
the new organist took her place in St Blank's Church. Nearly a month
had passed when he again occupied his pew.
Before the organist had finished her introduction, he turned to
Alice, saying:
"There has been a change here in the choir, since I went away, and
for the better. That is a very unusual musician. Do you know who it
is?"
"Some lady, I believe; I do not remember her name," Alice answered
indifferently. Like her mother, Alice never enjoyed hearing anyone
praised. It mattered little who it was, or how entirely out of her
own line the achievements or accomplishments on which the praise was
bestowed, she still felt that petty resentment of small creatures who
believe that praise to others detracts from their own value.
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