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Bennett, Arnold, 1867-1931

"The Pretty Lady"

It was about the time when Christine usually went from her
flat to her Promenade. Without admitting a definite resolve to see
Christine that evening he had said to himself that he would rather
like to see her, or that he wouldn't mind seeing her, and that he
might, if the mood took him, call at Cork Street and catch her before
she left. Having advanced thus far in the sketch of his intentions,
he had decided that it would be a pity not to take precautions to
encounter her in the street, assuming that she had already started but
had not reached the theatre. The chance of meeting her on her way
was exceedingly small; nevertheless he would not miss it. Hence his
roundabout route; and hence his selection of the chaste as against
the unchaste pavement of Coventry Street. He knew very little
of Christine's professional arrangements, but he did know, from
occasional remarks of hers, that owing to the need for economy and the
difficulty of finding taxis she now always walked to the Promenade on
dry nights, and that from a motive of self-respect she always took
the south side of Piccadilly and the south side of Coventry Street in
order to avoid the risk of ever being mistaken for something which she
was not.


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