Transvestia

I decided to leave her with her dream. As each Christmas came, and we interchanged our annual let- ters, I found it more and more difficult to maintain the pretence to which I was now committed, particul- arly when I had to say I had no good photograph of you to send to her, but I felt that, for your sake and the possibility of your being disinherited, I must keep it up. And now an unexpected crisis has arisen, for Amy has written to say that she is coming on a visit to England and bringing Mary with her. And, of course, she says how much she is looking forward to meeting her niece, Evelyn, at last, part- icularly as I had not long before written and said that "she" had developed into a fine young lady. She will be here in four weeks' time, and now I just don't know what to do. I can see from the look on your face how much of a shock this must be to you. see only one way out, but, before I speak on

that, what have you got to say, Evie?"

Evie, appreciating the terrible situation in which Uncle John had placed himself, felt he just could not bring himself to reproach him on his dupli- city, as, after all, it had all been done for him. He mumbled something like, "What a predicament!" and then lapsed into silence to await his uncle's further words.

"Evie, there's one way out of our trouble, and that is that you must become a girl for the duration of Aunt Amy's stay here. I know you'll jib against this idea, but hear me out. First of all, I know Amy and Mary will not be here long, for they intend touring the whole country, and their total stay in England is to be six weeks. So you wouldn't have to keep up your pose for long. Secondly, may I remind you of the great success you were in the college theatricals, when you played the female lead so well that many people thought you were really a girl. Last of all, may I appeal to you as the real sport I know you to be? Now what do you say?"

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