The Woman in the Alcove | Page 3

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Etext prepared by Steve Crites of Everett, WA.

The Woman in the Alcove
by Anna Katharine Green

CONTENTS I THE WOMAN WITH THE DIAMOND II THE
GLOVES II ANSON DURAND IV EXPLANATIONS V
SUPERSTITION VI SUSPENSE VII NIGHT AND A VOICE VIII
ARREST IX THE MOUSE NIBBLES AT THE NET X I ASTONISH
THE INSPECTOR XI THE INSPECTOR ASTONISHES ME XII
ALMOST XIII THE MISSING RECOMMENDATION XIV
TRAPPED XV SEARS OR WELLGOOD XVI DOUBT XVII
SWEETWATER IN A NEW ROLE XVIII THE CLOSED DOOR XIX
THE FACE XX MOONLIGHT--AND A CLUE XXI GRIZEL!
GRIZEL! XXII GUILT XXIII THE GREAT MOGUL
I
THE WOMAN WITH THE DIAMOND
I was, perhaps, the plainest girl in the room that night. I was also the
happiest--up to one o'clock. Then my whole world crumbled, or, at
least, suffered an eclipse. Why and how, I am about to relate.
I was not made for love. This I had often said to myself; very often of
late. In figure I am too diminutive, in face far too unbeautiful, for me to
cherish expectations of this nature. Indeed, love had never entered into
my plan of life, as was evinced by the nurse's diploma I had just gained
after three years of hard study and severe training.
I was not made for love. But if I had been; had I been gifted with height,
regularity of feature, or even with that eloquence of expression which
redeems all defects save those which savor of deformity, I knew well
whose eye I should have chosen to please, whose heart I should have
felt proud to win.
This knowledge came with a rush to my heart--(did I say heart? I
should have said understanding, which is something very
different)--when, at the end of the first dance, I looked up from the
midst of the bevy of girls by whom I was surrounded and saw Anson
Durand's fine figure emerging from that quarter of the hall where our
host and hostess stood to receive their guests. His eye was roaming
hither and thither and his manner was both eager and expectant. Whom

was he seeking? Some one of the many bright and vivacious girls about
me, for he turned almost instantly our way. But which one?
I thought I knew. I remembered at whose house I had met him first, at
whose house I had seen him many times since. She was a lovely girl,
witty and vivacious, and she stood at this very moment at my elbow. In
her beauty lay the lure, the natural lure for a man of his gifts and
striking personality. If I continued to watch, I should soon see his
countenance light up under the recognition she could not fail to give
him. And I was right; in another instant it did, and with a brightness
there was no