Page 26 - 1920 Hartridge

A week later, over tea in Katharine’s boudoir, we were talking eagerly of our friends and 1 suddenly realized how much each had done in her own way and how widely separated they had become.
“ If you have not heard from Gertrude Belcher,” Katharine was saying, “ 1must tell you about her. A year after her graduation she became madly addicted to society— yes, I thought that she would become a business woman too, but no. She is quite a butterfly. 1 have an invitation here for her fifth debut. She has the names of her most intimate friends very carefully kept by a special secretary and T hear that she is preparing a home correspondence school in her spare moments on ‘How to Become a Social Success.’ She says that society is not so interesting as might be expected, and that she may lecture on the same subject next year.
“Please tell me all the details of Katherine Fite’s career,” I said “ her picture was in the Sunday Times.”
“Oh, Anna told me when I last saw her, that Katherine was a great success. She went to see her play. The IMldnight Frolic. Katherine takes the part of a character from the Arabian Nights. She wears quite a novel costume, made of pearls and peacock feathers. Yes, it is strange—very strange, but since her appearance as part of the chorus in Alcestis
she has been almost morbidly attached to the stage. That might have been what Helena was intended for, hut somehow Katherine— ! By the way, where is Helena ?”
“Well, Idelena did go on the stage after all. At first she decided to devote her time to the Alumnae Association of the Hartridge School, but as this failed to interest her she finally became an understudy of John Barrymore. Upon John’s unreasonable jealousy, Helena turned upon the stage altogether, not even deigning to notice the-handsome offer of a competitive firm to put her on as comedienne. She is now in Russia attempting to make the sympathies of America and Russia more close I have not heard from Ruth, though, although I have written two or three
times.J>
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