Lydia was taken up to her office. A doctor was called in and he quickly gave her some tranquilizer. The transition from the victories of the previous night to the horrible scene she’d just looked at was too much for her. He strongly suggested a vacation.

The police ruled that the death was a suicide. The Temple had clearly aggravated the poor woman but she was solely responsible for her own death. They decided she must have come for the gala and found a way to hide herself somehow. After everyone else had left, she pulled out her note and her knife.

The Temple’s security staff developed a new nighttime routine to make certain that no one else could hide out that way. They were thoroughly embarrassed about the entire thing. Privately they were glad that she had only attacked herself. The damage she could have done with her knife would have been enormous.

The media had a field day. Every station in New York sent reporters to cover the scene. It quickly became a national news story. More editorials were written. Men and women who had used their looks to get high paying jobs reading the news, clucked over the way society had failed this poor woman.

Lydia followed the advice of the friendly therapist and took that vacation. She hoped that the time away would bring her some perspective. Maybe she would understand why this woman felt so personally wronged. She doubted it.

If nothing else, some distance would certainly help. She couldn’t stand the accusatory looks. Every person around her became an enemy and she didn’t know how to handle it.

Someone at the staff suggested that they build a memorial to the poor Bag Lady. They could make a plaque for her. Maybe a small poem saying something about inner beauty.

When Lydia heard about this she carefully considered it. She requested a meeting with the man who suggested it. He walked in and was summarily fired. There would be no memorial.

In a perverse way, the publicity only brought in more people. Everyone wanted to see what was so beautiful that it would cause someone to commit suicide. Submissions for the pictures of the beautiful increased fivefold. There was a hunger for beauty in the world and Lydia would climb over anyone to provide it.