Gallegher and Other Stories/The Cynical Miss Catherwaight

The Cynical Miss Catherwaight

MISS CATHERWAIGHT'S collection of orders and decorations and medals was her chief offence in the eyes of those of her dear friends who thought her clever but cynical.
All of them were willing to admit that she was clever, but some of them said she was clever only to be unkind.
Young Van Bibber had said that if Miss Catherwaight did not like dances and days and teas, she had only to stop going to them instead of making unpleasant remarks about those who did. So many people repeated this that young Van Bibber believed finally that he had said something good, and was somewhat pleased in consequence, as he was not much given to that sort of thing.
Mrs. Catherwaight, while she was alive, lived solely for society, and, so some people said, not only lived but died for it. She certainly did go about a great deal, and she used to carry her husband away from his library every night of every season and left him standing in the doorways of drawing-rooms, outwardly courteous and distinguished looking, but inwardly somnolent and unhappy. She was a born and trained social leader, and her daughter's coming out was to have been the greatest effort of her life. She reg

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