It was suddenly borne in upon me for the first time that , when Miss Ponsonby was young , she must have been very pretty , with that delicate elusive fashion of beauty which fades so early if the life is not kept in it by love and tenderness . It seemed odd , somehow , to think of Miss Ponsonby as young and pretty . She seemed so essentially middle-aged and faded . `` Lovely night , Miss Ponsonby , '' I said brilliantly . `` A very beautiful night , dear Elizabeth , '' answered Miss Ponsonby in that tired little voice of hers that always seemed as drab-coloured as the rest of her . `` I 'm mopy , '' I said frankly . `` Jerry has concentrated herself on Stephen Shaw for the evening and I 'm left on the fringe of things . '' Miss Ponsonby did n't say anything for a few moments . When she spoke some strange and curious note had come into her voice , as if a chord , long unswept and silent , had been suddenly thrilled by a passing hand . `` Did I understand you to say that Geraldine was -- entertaining Stephen Shaw ? '' `` Yes . He 's home from the west and he 's delightful , '' I replied . `` All the Glenboro girls are quite crazy over him . Jerry and I are as bad as the rest . He is n't at all young but he 's very fascinating . '' `` Stephen Shaw ! '' repeated Miss Ponsonby faintly . `` So Stephen Shaw is home again ! '' `` Why , I suppose you would know him long ago , '' I said , remembering that Stephen Shaw 's youth must have been contemporaneous with Miss Ponsonby 's . `` Yes , I used to know him , '' said Miss Ponsonby very slowly .
She did not say anything more , which I thought a little odd , for she was generally full XXXXX mild curiosity about all strangers and sojourners in Glenboro .
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