Viewing page 98 of 117

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

- 194 -

the models. When they were ready, I advised her by telephone and she replied, "Oh, good. I want Mrs. Cromwell to see them. We'll be right over." Presently, Florence arrived and introduced us to a tall, slim, blonde and very pretty young woman who seemed painfully shy. They went to the loom to see the models. The moment when a decorator, and especially her client, first examines a fabric woven to order can be a tense one. You stand there waiting for the verdict, hoping it will be favorable. Doris Duke passed her hand over the material on the loom, stroking it, and said, "I like it. It's stark and simple and I like that." Sighs of relief. It was she who observed that the loops created impression of a bas relief, which indeed they did.

Then Florence startled us with a request. "I must go now," she said, "but would it be all right if Mrs. Cromwell stays here in the studio today?" She explained that every newspaper reporter in San Francisco was searching for