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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41010 ***
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
+
+
+
+
+     A Colony of
+     Girls
+
+     By
+     KATE LIVINGSTON
+     WILLARD
+
+     New York
+     Dodd, Mead and Company
+
+
+
+
+     Copyright, 1892, by DODD, MEAD & COMPANY. All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+
+     I.  THE LAWRENCES AND OTHERS,                     1
+
+     II.  NAN'S SHIP ARRIVES,                         11
+
+     III.  A LEAF FROM HELEN'S PAST,                  24
+
+     IV.  A SAIL ON THE "CYCLONE,"                    38
+
+     V.  SUNSET-HOUR ON THE CLIFFS,                   51
+
+     VI.  A DINNER AT THE MANOR,                      59
+
+     VII.  A WALK IN THE SHRUBBERY,                   69
+
+     VIII.  NAN REBELS,                               88
+
+     IX.  A FLYING MACHINE AND WHAT CAME OF IT,       97
+
+     X.  MISS STUART'S ARRIVAL,                      118
+
+     XI.  DULL DAYS,                                 131
+
+     XII.  EDDYING CURRENTS,                         139
+
+     XIII.  AN INVITATION,                           156
+
+     XIV.  A DANCE AT CRESCENT BEACH,                171
+
+     XV.  HELEN IS PUZZLED,                          184
+
+     XVI.  "IT WAS ONLY MY IMAGINATION,"             193
+
+     XVII.  THE "VORTEX" DEPARTS,                    206
+
+     XVIII.  A RIFT IN THE CLOUDS,                   224
+
+     XIX.  A CABLEGRAM,                              244
+
+     XX.  "PEACE ON EARTH--GOOD WILL TO MEN,"        259
+
+
+
+
+A COLONY OF GIRLS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE LAWRENCES AND OTHERS.
+
+
+"I cannot understand why the children do not return from the beach.
+They have been gone so long."
+
+"None too long," sighed Nathalie Lawrence, swinging lazily to and fro
+in a hammock which was hung across one end of the veranda. "What a
+heaven it is without them. I declare, Helen," she continued,
+addressing her sister in aggrieved tone, "we do get a lot of those
+children, somehow or other. For my part, I cannot see why you let them
+stay about with us all the time, when they are a thousand times better
+off with Mary," and she gave a vindictive tug at a rope fastened to
+the railing, which sent the hammock back and forth with the utmost
+rapidity.
+
+"Take care, Nat; you will be out next, and there will be a hubbub
+worse than the children would think of making in their wildest
+moments."
+
+The young girl who thus spoke laughed a low, musical laugh, and looked
+up from her book with a pair of wide-open blue eyes.
+
+"Nathalie, as usual, thinks only of herself," said Helen with a frown,
+as she walked away.
+
+"I never can say one word about those children without raising Helen's
+ire. She spoils them, and she might as well admit it."
+
+"In my short and uneventful career," responded Jean smiling, "I have
+not found that people are over-fond of admitting anything, least of
+all their weaknesses. I don't see how you can expect Helen to be
+superior to all the rest of the world--yourself and myself included.
+Now, imagine," she continued tantalizingly, "if anyone insisted upon
+your admitting your weakness for Mr. Church----"
+
+"Oh, keep quiet, Jean; you are too stupid."
+
+"Dear, dear," cried Jean, jumping up and closing her book, "of course
+I am, and that is my weakness; so now we are quits."
+
+Nathalie tossed her head as much as her position would permit.
+
+"Jean Lawrence," she said solemnly, "you bore me."
+
+"What a catastrophe!" Jean flung back her head with a merry laugh.
+"Good-by, dear; you are the picture of injured innocence."
+
+"Jean, come back," cried Nathalie, struggling to obtain an upright
+position. "I do think you are too bad. Ah, well, some day,"--then
+breaking into song:
+
+     "Some day, some day, some day I shall meet you,
+           Love, I know not when nor how;
+     Love, I know not when nor how. Only this,
+           Only this, only this, that once you loved me;
+     Only this, I love you now----"
+
+"Rats!" called out a small voice from the lawn below.
+
+Nathalie raised herself on her elbow, and peered through the railing.
+
+"Larry, I am thunderstruck. What is the meaning of that weird
+expression?"
+
+"Nathalie singing a love song," cried Larry, scampering about on the
+lawn. "Oh, what fun!"
+
+"Larry," called Helen, coming out once more on to the veranda. "Where
+are Willie and Gladys? Why did you stay so long? I have been worrying
+about you."
+
+"Oh, they're coming along. Now, don't you worry, Helen, 'cause we was
+all right. You don't need never to send Mary with us," he added
+eagerly, "'cause we wouldn't get drownded, nor nothing, really."
+
+Jean strolled back from the other end of the veranda, and put her hand
+on Helen's shoulder.
+
+"Larry, love," she said, looking down at her little brother, "your
+grammar is something to be deplored."
+
+A fleeting smile lit up Helen's pale face and gentle brown eyes.
+
+"Ah, here come the little culprits," she cried, starting forward.
+"Gladys, my precious baby, I have been worried to death about you.
+What naughty chicks to have staid so long. Willie, I can never trust
+you."
+
+Willie was a grave little fellow, the eldest of the three children.
+
+"Why, Helen, we weren't gone long. Gladys was good, and so was
+Larry--that is pretty----" he added deprecatingly. "The moment I said
+'Come on, children,' we all started; only Gladys, she couldn't walk
+very fast, so Larry wouldn't wait for us. Oh," sighed Willie, his
+grave little face in a pucker at the recollection, "I would rather
+Mary went along with Gladys another time."
+
+"Anyhow I was awful good, sister," lisped little Gladys, trying to
+frown on Willie, "only----"
+
+"Only your short little legs would not carry you any quicker. Is that
+not so, darling? Well, since you were all good, there is nothing to
+scold you about."
+
+"Helen's faith is sublime," laughed Jean, in an aside to Nathalie.
+
+Helen took little Gladys in her arms, and sat down in a large rocker,
+which stood close to the front door.
+
+She was a slender, frail-looking girl. Her soft, brown hair was
+arranged close to her head with the utmost simplicity, and her rather
+pale face would perhaps have been plain, had it not been redeemed by a
+pair of beautiful sad brown eyes. She was the eldest of the Lawrences,
+and it seemed to her only a brief time since the Angel of Death had,
+twice in one short year, visited their home, leaving them bereft of
+father and mother.
+
+Her father had been a physician of undoubted skill, a man of wide
+learning and great culture. Had the lash of poverty given an incentive
+to his somewhat lagging spirit, he might have commanded the attention
+and the admiration of his fellow-men; but his was a nature of great
+shyness and reserve, and when his father died, leaving him a
+comfortable fortune, he had, with an almost unconscious sigh of
+relief, turned his back on ambition and withdrawn to the old homestead
+in the sleepy little town of Hetherford, content with a small country
+practice which left him undisturbed hours among his books and in his
+laboratory.
+
+Mrs. Lawrence's inclinations were thoroughly social; but so unbounded
+was her faith in her husband's judgment that it never occurred to her
+to complain of the narrowness and isolation of their life in
+Hetherford. As her girls grew older, however, she reproached herself
+with the thought that she was hardly doing them justice in thus
+secluding them from the advantages of contact with the great world
+which lay beyond their own pretty village. She appeased her conscience
+by giving them occasional visits to town and one long, happy summer in
+Europe, which they had enjoyed to their hearts' content.
+
+The winter following this last delightful holiday, Dr. Lawrence had
+been stricken with a fatal illness and, after weeks of suffering, had
+passed away.
+
+Mrs. Lawrence survived this blow but two months, and at little Gladys'
+birth had turned to Helen with a weary, heartbroken sigh:
+
+"My darling, I am so lonely--your father. Take care of the little
+ones--this wee lamb. God bless you, my----"
+
+Helen had sunk speechless at her mother's bedside, until the sound of
+a wailing cry brought her once more to herself.
+
+"My dear," said gentle Aunt Helen, leaning over her, "won't you take
+the poor little baby? Perhaps she will help to comfort you."
+
+And Helen took her little sister in her arms, and made her way into
+the nursery, where, in two small cribs, side by side, lay her little
+brothers, fast asleep.
+
+Jean and Nathalie stood by the nursery window, looking out into the
+night. At Helen's entrance they turned sharply.
+
+"O Helen, how is mamma?" Jean stopped short, appalled at the change in
+her sister's face.
+
+"Helen," she cried, a sharp ring of pain in her voice, "mamma is not--"
+
+"Yes, Jean--Nathalie--mamma is gone. Oh, what shall we do," Helen
+moaned.
+
+"My poor children," said Aunt Helen tenderly, crossing the room and
+putting an arm around little Nathalie, and clasping Jean's hand
+tightly in hers; "your dear mamma is gone. She was so sad and lonely
+without papa. Oh, darlings! do not grieve, but think of her as happy
+and at rest. You, Helen, must learn to be a mother to these little
+sisters and brothers, and teach them all your dear mamma would have
+them know. And Jean and even little Nathalie, too, can help."
+
+"Auntie"--Helen's tears were falling fast--"I will do all I can. Poor
+baby," she whispered, and she kissed the soft little face, which was
+nestled in her arms, and then she turned toward the cribs, and looked
+with loving eyes at the sleeping children. "God bless them, and help
+me."
+
+Since that sad night six years had rolled by. Nathalie was now
+eighteen, Jean her elder by two years, and Helen's twenty-third
+birthday was close at hand. Larry and Willie were respectively eight
+and ten, and little Gladys was fast outgrowing her babyhood.
+
+Aunt Helen, Mrs. Dennis, had since Mrs. Lawrence's death made her
+permanent home with her nieces and nephews. She was a sweet, gentle
+woman, a widow and childless, and her lonely life had been thus
+gladdened by the love of this household of happy-go-lucky children.
+She had always been delicate, and during the past few years had become
+so great an invalid that she rarely left her room.
+
+Thus Helen Lawrence had been obliged to assume unusual cares and
+responsibilities for so young a girl, and these were not without their
+effect on her mind and character.
+
+For years the manor house of Hetherford had been in the possession of
+the Lawrences, and no family in the town was better known, or more
+universally loved. The manor itself was a charming old park,
+stretching out far enough to make it no small walk to compass its
+grounds. Grand old trees shaded the well-kept lawns, and pretty
+graveled paths, lined with box-wood, led hither and thither.
+
+The house was old-fashioned in the extreme, large, square, and
+commodious. A broad veranda ran around three sides of it, and across
+the front there was an upper balcony, which, in the season, was
+covered with trailing vines of roses, honeysuckles, and passion
+flowers. During the warm summer days this was a favorite retreat of
+the girls. A few rugs were thrown down, comfortable wicker chairs were
+scattered here and there, and on the low round table in the center
+there was always a motley collection of books, writing materials, and
+work-baskets. Through occasional openings in the vines were revealed
+pretty vistas of lawn and flowering rosebeds, beyond which stretched
+the blue waters of the sound, sparkling in the sunshine as if strewn
+with a thousand jewels. It was, indeed, an Arcadian spot.
+
+Within doors everything was equally old-fashioned and comfortable.
+Opening on to the broad hall, which ran through the middle of the
+house, were four large airy rooms, simply but substantially furnished,
+and with an unmistakable air of being lived in. Upstairs, in addition
+to the rooms occupied by the family, each one of which was bright and
+cheery, and clearly revealed the individuality of its occupant, were
+several guest chambers, with heavy four-post bedsteads and quaint
+mahogany dressing-tables, and during the summer season these were
+rarely untenanted, for the Lawrences' hospitality was as old-fashioned
+as their home.
+
+Quiet Hetherford was almost unknown as a summer resort, but the few
+people who had once found their way there came again and again, and
+with them all the Lawrences were on intimate and friendly terms. It
+was not strange that young men came but rarely to this out-of-the-way
+little village, but a colony of girls thrived and were happy there;
+happier, perhaps, for this very lack of the masculine element. The
+girls often laughed merrily over it, and no one of them seemed to take
+it very much to heart, save pretty little dark-eyed Emily Varian, who
+spent her summers with her uncle, Dr. Evelyn Birdsall, the
+Presbyterian minister.
+
+"It is deplorable," she sighed, "and if the girls were not selfishly
+lazy they could quite easily get some men to come out here. Certainly
+town is not so far off as to make us quite out of the world. It is
+nothing but stupid nonsense and vanity on the girls' part. They think
+it is something fine and independent never to see anything of men. For
+my part, I should think they would be ashamed of it."
+
+There was one girl who always laughed good-humoredly at Emily's
+grumbling, and she was none other than charming Eleanor Hill. However,
+she had less cause to complain, for while Emily went from her winter
+home in one little country town to sleepier Hetherford for the summer
+months, Miss Hill for more than half of every year led the gayest of
+lives in New York. When June came with its warm sunshine and long
+days, she and her mother gladly turned their face toward pretty,
+dreamy Hetherford; to them the dearest spot in the world.
+
+Mollie Andrews said that, for her part, she didn't care. Taking it all
+in all, she did not see but that they had a pretty good time. The
+Andrews had been coming to Hetherford for years, and were all deeply
+attached to the place; Mollie's handsome, scatterbrained brother Dick
+had set the seal of his approval on their choice of a summer resort,
+and thenceforth Mollie would have deemed it nothing short of heresy to
+call the place stupid. To be sure, Dick rarely turned up oftener than
+once a week, but then her cousin Clifford Archer, nicknamed "the fatal
+beauty," was wont to put in an appearance for a few days, frequently
+with his great chum Wendell Churchill, whose yacht was quite a
+familiar object in Hetherford Harbor.
+
+"It is perfectly absurd of Emily," Mollie would end, with a toss of
+her head.
+
+Emily always looked scornful, and Nan Birdsall, happy-go-lucky Nan,
+who rarely went away from Hetherford, would laugh gleefully.
+
+"Poor Em," she exclaimed one evening, after one of her cousin's
+tirades, "you are man-crazy. Never mind, dear; you wait. I know a
+thing or two, and by and by when my ship comes in," looking around at
+the girls, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "you will be
+surprised. Perhaps we will have more men here than we have bargained
+for."
+
+"What do you mean, Nan?" they cried in chorus; but not a bit of
+satisfaction would Nan give them.
+
+The parsonage adjoined the manor, and an opening in the hedge made
+intercourse between the two families an easy matter. Just across the
+road was the inn, where all the summer visitors stayed, and a quainter
+retreat could not be imagined. They formed only a small circle of
+people, but many were the happy times they had together.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+NAN'S SHIP ARRIVES.
+
+
+"I wonder why we couldn't have a swim this morning, Jean?" Nathalie
+stood before her mirror, arranging her pretty brown tresses which, in
+spite of vigorous efforts with brush and comb, would curl, and refuse
+to be orderly. "Of course, Aunt Helen will say it is too early in the
+season."
+
+"Well, I think that is absurd. It is warm enough. 'Afric's sunny
+clime' is not a circumstance to it. Look out, Jean, at the sunlight on
+the lawn. When it has that pinkish tinge, you may be sure it's hot."
+
+Jean peeped through the half-open shutters.
+
+"Oh! what a sweet day. Yes, it is going to be hot, and, unless Aunt
+Helen objects seriously, we will surely go in."
+
+She crossed the room and, opening the wardrobe door, took out a pretty
+striped cotton gown. "Warm enough for this, isn't it?"
+
+Nathalie nodded.
+
+In a few minutes more the girls were both in the dining room. Helen
+and the children were already at breakfast.
+
+"How late you are," cried Helen, looking up from an open letter. "I
+wish you----"
+
+"Never mind, dear," interrupted Nathalie. "It will all be the same a
+hundred years hence."
+
+"Oh, yes, I suppose so," sighed Helen. "Gladys, don't beat on the
+table with your spoon. The noise is distracting."
+
+"And although your tones are dulcet, my love, suppose you give us that
+little song after breakfast," and Jean slipped into her place at her
+little sister's side.
+
+Gladys turned and threw her arms around her.
+
+"I didn't see you come in, Jeanie."
+
+"That is because you have not eyes in the back of your head, pet."
+
+"Of course I haven't. Nobody has, 'cept fairies and princesses, I
+s'pose," and Gladys straightened herself up, and, in so doing,
+overturned her glass of milk into her lap.
+
+"Gladys," cried Helen sharply, "look at your nice, clean frock. It is
+a shame."
+
+The little girl's lips trembled, and her bright blue eye overflowed
+with tears.
+
+"You don't s'pose I did it a-purpose--for nothing."
+
+"No, no, dear. Of course not. Don't cry. I didn't mean to scold you.
+There, get down and run up to Mary, like a good little girl, and have
+your frock changed," for the sight of tears always put an end to
+Helen's best efforts at severity.
+
+But Gladys' feelings had been hurt, and now that she was mistress of
+the situation, she had no intention of drying her eyes.
+
+"I think you were unkind, Helen," she began plaintively.
+
+"Don't be a baby, Gladys," interposed Nathalie irritably. "I declare,
+I think it a perfect nuisance to have our breakfast spoiled in this
+way. If you can't behave, you had better have yours in the nursery."
+
+The child's tears were about to begin afresh when a pleasant voice was
+heard at the door.
+
+"Good-morning. Can I come in?" And without awaiting permission Miss
+Hill crossed the room. In her pretty flannel gown and garden hat she
+made a very pleasing picture. "How are you, puss?" And she stooped and
+kissed little Gladys' tear-stained cheek, smiling meanwhile at the
+girls, as she divined the situation.
+
+"All right," said the little girl, her face brightening perceptibly,
+for she dearly loved Miss Hill.
+
+"Helen, here is a rose," said Eleanor, "and when you smell it you will
+realize that June is here."
+
+Helen smiled her thanks.
+
+"Well, Eleanor, what started you so early?" asked Jean, as she
+buttered her roll.
+
+"Early? You girls don't know what early means. Why it is after nine
+and I had my breakfast a good hour ago."
+
+"Horror!" shuddered Nathalie. "The very thought is pain."
+
+"They are spoiled," spoke Helen, "and even I am getting into bad
+habits. I simply gave up struggling, and set the breakfast hour a half
+hour later, with the desperate hope that it might bring them down on
+time."
+
+"Girls, you ought to be ashamed," said Eleanor, with well-feigned
+reproach in her tone.
+
+"What nonsense! You would do exactly the same yourself if Mrs. Moffins
+were not such a disciplinarian. You can't make me think you are so
+superior," laughed Nathalie.
+
+Helen rose, and, pushing open the blind door, stepped out on the
+veranda. It was a beautiful June morning, bright and sunshiny. The air
+was soft and warm, and the gentle south wind felt like a caress. The
+fragrance of roses and honeysuckles was almost intoxicating. Every now
+and then the delicious stillness was broken by the soft plaintive song
+of a bird. The old manor looked more beautiful than ever to Helen, who
+loved every nook and cranny of it. She stood for a moment, shading her
+eyes with her hand from the sun.
+
+"What a pretty day," she murmured to herself. "Oh, I wish----" but
+then a voice called her, and she went back into the house.
+
+"Helen," said Jean, coming out from the dining room, "ask Auntie if we
+can go in bathing. It is so warm, and we are wild to go in."
+
+"Very well," nodded Helen, as she went upstairs.
+
+Mrs. Dennis was in her chair by the window, with her breakfast tray on
+a small table at her side.
+
+"Good-morning, darling," she said cheerily. "Where did these delicious
+strawberries come from?" glancing at the pretty cut-glass dish which
+was filled with them.
+
+"They are the first out of the garden, Auntie, and I was determined
+that no one should have them but your own dear self."
+
+"Thank you, my dear, it was just like you to think of Auntie first. I
+shall indeed enjoy them."
+
+"Do please; and oh, Auntie! the girls want to go bathing to-day. Are
+you willing they should?"
+
+"I am afraid the water will be cold."
+
+"Well, we have had a good deal of warm weather, and I think it can't
+be very frigid. I suppose we might as well say 'yes,' Auntie?"
+
+"Of course," replied Aunt Helen laughingly. "Past experience has
+taught us that when Jean and Nathalie have set their hearts on a
+thing, we might as well surrender at once. You won't go in, dear?"
+
+"No, indeed," and Helen shivered at the idea. "I must go and tell the
+girls, for they will want to know."
+
+When the roomy buckboard came to the door, Nathalie jumped into the
+front seat and gathered up the reins.
+
+"Hurry and get in, girls," she called. "The horses are very fresh this
+morning," and in a moment more they were bowling down the avenue.
+
+"Stop at the inn, Nat," said Jean, "and we will get the letters, and
+ask Mollie to go down to the beach with us."
+
+As they pulled up before the inn, Mollie Andrews came running out on
+to the porch, with a package of letters in her hand.
+
+"Don't get out, Jean; I have your mail. Have you got room enough for
+me?"
+
+"Certainly. Jump right in," cried Nathalie. "The tide is just right
+now, so we must hurry. Oh! isn't this jolly? I love the delicious
+sense of excitement one always feels at the first swim of the season.
+Say, Moll, will you go in?"
+
+"I don't know. Yes, I think I will."
+
+It was quite a pretty scene, this bright June morning, down on the
+little stretch of sands which Hetherford dignified by the name of "The
+Beach."
+
+Little children were digging in the sand and filling their pails, and
+some of the small boys were running up and down, now in the water, and
+now out. The girls were in a group in front of the bathing houses, all
+chattering at once, and discussing the momentous question as to
+whether to make the plunge or not.
+
+In a brief time Jean and Nathalie were swimming far out, and Mollie
+came creeping timidly to the water's edge.
+
+"Oh! how I dread it," she laughed.
+
+"Nonsense, Moll; go ahead. It will do you good."
+
+Mollie walked off, and Helen and Eleanor, who had found a sheltered
+nook, watched the bathers for a while in silence. By and by Helen's
+gaze strayed from the bathers to the stretch of blue water beyond, and
+a slightly troubled look crept into her eyes. A sudden, deep sigh
+recalled Eleanor's thoughts to her companion.
+
+"Why, Helen, what world of melancholy does that sigh proclaim?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," evasively. "I am low-spirited this morning,
+somehow or other."
+
+"Can't you tell me the reason, dear?"
+
+Helen did not answer, and for a moment Eleanor watched her closely.
+Something in the delicate face and in the eyes, in which, of late, a
+shadow always lurked, touched her.
+
+"I would love your confidence, Helen," she said at last; "but unless
+you can give it to me freely, I would not wish to ask it of you."
+
+Helen stirred uneasily.
+
+"Ah, well, for a moment I thought to speak to you of something
+troublesome, but be glad, dear, that I have changed my mind. I am
+going to speak of something pleasant instead. Do you remember my
+friend Miss Stuart? She has visited me several times, but always in
+the winter."
+
+"Oh, yes! I remember Jean's writing me about her."
+
+Helen turned a questioning glance on Eleanor, but the girl's
+expression was perfectly non-committal.
+
+"Yes? Well, she is coming here to visit me later. The time is not set
+as yet, but I hope it will be early next month."
+
+"Indeed. How nice. But, Helen, I thought she was very gay and devoted
+to society. What will she do in this colony of girls, with scarcely a
+man to say a pretty thing to her?"
+
+"I don't know," replied Helen, a shade of annoyance crossing her face.
+"I think, perhaps, the girls may be mistaken about her. I feel quite
+sure she will be happy here."
+
+Just then Nan Birdsall came rushing down over the sands, warm but
+radiant.
+
+"Going in, Nan?" called Eleanor in greeting.
+
+"No, indeed," breathlessly. "I hate the water more than a cat does,"
+and Nan dropped down on the sand at Eleanor's side, and, taking off
+her hat, fanned her flushed face.
+
+"Where is Em this morning?" queried Helen.
+
+"What a superfluous question," laughed Nan. "Don't you see that the
+_Sylph_ is in the harbor? Of course, Em has Mr. Churchill in tow."
+
+"How will Nathalie like that?" asked Eleanor with an amused smile.
+
+"Oh, Nat won't care," replied Nan, picking up a pebble and sending it
+skimming across the water. "She is far too sensible."
+
+"Look over your shoulder, Nan, and see your prediction verified;" and
+surely enough, strolling across the beach, in their direction, came
+Emily Varian, with Wendell Churchill at her side.
+
+"Isn't Em in her element?" said Nan, lowering her voice.
+
+Nothing could have been more characteristic than the welcome the three
+girls gave Mr. Churchill. Into Eleanor Hill's courteous greeting was
+thrown just enough of personal interest as to be slightly flattering.
+Helen's "How do you do" was both shy and reserved, and Nan just nodded
+indifferently, and continued her occupation of skipping stones.
+
+"We ought to be going home," announced Helen presently.
+
+"I wonder if the girls are not ready yet? Oh, yes! there they come!"
+as the three girls came down from the bathing house and joined the
+little group. Suddenly Nan dropped her pebbles and sprang to her feet
+with an exclamation:
+
+"Oh, girls, what fun! My ship has come in at last!"
+
+"Why, Nan, are you going out of your mind?" cried Jean. "What ship?"
+
+"Look, girls, look! Don't you see that big schooner just rounding the
+point?"
+
+"Yes, but what of it?"
+
+"Why, that's the U. S. Coast Survey schooner _Vortex_, and she's going
+to be stationed here for a long time, and Dick knows all the officers
+aboard. How is that for a piece of news?"
+
+"This must be your secret," laughed Eleanor.
+
+"Of course, and didn't I keep it well? Dick told me weeks ago that
+they were coming."
+
+"I say, it is jolly. We will have some fun, won't we?" It was Nathalie
+who spoke.
+
+"It is a perfect god-send," declared Emily Varian, solemnly. "Nan, your
+secret is a success, and I congratulate you."
+
+"I wonder," ruminated Jean, "who the men are, and whether we will
+really like them."
+
+"Time will tell," spoke Helen, a bit indifferently. "Come, girls, we
+must be going. Here is the carriage."
+
+Almost every evening the young people gathered together on the
+Lawrences' broad veranda, and to-night was no exception to the rule.
+When the girls strolled out from the dining room, they found Nan and
+Emily sitting on the steps.
+
+"Why, we never heard you at all," said Jean. "You must have come over
+the lawn like--oh dear, I can't think of a comparison. The night is
+too warm for one to exert one's brain unnecessarily."
+
+Nathalie seated herself on the railing.
+
+"Here come Eleanor and Wendell Churchill."
+
+"Ah!" laughed Jean teasingly. Her sister looked around at her with
+heightened color.
+
+"Don't be silly, Jean."
+
+"Do you know I have hardly seen you to-day, Miss Nathalie," said
+Churchill, finding a place on the railing at her side. "Where have you
+kept yourself?"
+
+"Everywhere--anywhere. I have not been hard to find."
+
+Nathalie's eyes were smiling wickedly into his, and his gave her back
+a smile.
+
+"Now, let me explain," he began.
+
+"Oh, don't let me put you to any unnecessary trouble," she interrupted
+with mock formality.
+
+"You are very cruel to-night," said Churchill laughing. "By the way,
+Dick and I went down to the _Vortex_ this afternoon, and there are
+some awfully good fellows aboard. I hope you girls will give them a
+good time."
+
+"It seems to me that the responsibility ought to rest with them,"
+interposed Eleanor Hill.
+
+"Otherwise we should feel absolutely overwhelmed," said Nan comically.
+
+"Here comes Dick now," exclaimed Nathalie, "and he has a strange man
+with him."
+
+In a moment more Dick Andrews gained the veranda, and introduced his
+friend Beverly Dudley, of the _Vortex_.
+
+It was Jean who came forward and, extending her hand, bade him
+welcome.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Dudley, I fear you will feel yourself overwhelmed with such a
+bevy of girls, but let me help you. This is my sister Nathalie--my
+friends Miss Hill, Miss Birdsall, and Miss Varian. Unfortunately my
+elder sister is not here to receive you. She will join us presently.
+Emily, can't you make room for Mr. Dudley on the settle?" she added
+glancing about her.
+
+Emily smiled radiantly, and Dudley, who seemed to be a charming youth,
+made his way to her side.
+
+Leaving Nathalie and Em each happy in a _tête-à-tête_, the other girls
+formed a circle of which jolly Dick was the center, and much
+good-natured chaffing and light-hearted laughter were in order.
+
+After a while Helen appeared in the doorway with two mandolins in her
+hands.
+
+"What a good idea," exclaimed Eleanor enthusiastically. "Now we can
+have some singing."
+
+"I can't very well shake hands, Mr. Dudley," said Helen, in response
+to Jean's introduction.
+
+"Let me relieve you, Miss Lawrence."
+
+"Thanks. Will you give this mandolin to my sister Nathalie?"
+
+They all joined in a song, and their voices, with the mandolin
+accompaniment, sounded wondrously sweet in the soft night air.
+
+It was growing late when Nan at last jumped up.
+
+"I am sorry to break up the party, but Emily and I must be going.
+Father will have the town crier out pretty soon."
+
+There was a general move, and Mr. Dudley crossed to Helen's side.
+
+"I have had a charming evening, Miss Lawrence. I hope you will honor
+us with your presence on the _Vortex_ very soon." He spoke with the
+soft drawl peculiar to Southerners.
+
+"It will be a great pleasure, and indeed we will."
+
+"Won't you let me walk home with you, Miss Varian?" he asked. "It is
+rather late for you to go alone."
+
+Emily's answer was lost in a merry peal of laughter from Nan.
+
+"Mr. Dudley evidently appreciates the dangers lurking in that desolate
+stretch of lawn between here and the parsonage," she said with
+good-natured sarcasm.
+
+The girls joined in a general laugh, in spite of themselves, but Emily
+frowned portentously.
+
+After "good-night" had been said all around, and Helen found herself
+alone in her room, she took out from between the leaves of a book the
+letter she had received in the morning. As she re-read it she glanced
+up from time to time at a likeness which stood on the table close at
+hand. It was the face of a very beautiful woman--a face delicate, oval
+in shape, with straight eyebrows, from under which looked out a pair
+of eyes with a world of witchery in their depths; the whole crowned by
+a halo of soft hair.
+
+Helen dropped the letter in her lap, and folding her hands over it,
+fell into a deep reverie. Rousing herself at last, she slowly crossed
+the room, and opened a little drawer in her writing desk. There,
+hidden among some papers, lay another photograph--a man's face this
+time. As she looked at it steadily a heavy sigh escaped her lips, for
+it seemed to her that the grave eyes looked at her reproachfully. With
+a half-impatient exclamation she tossed it back into its hiding-place
+and closed the drawer sharply, and not until sleep claimed her did
+these two faces fade entirely from her mental vision.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A LEAF FROM HELEN'S PAST.
+
+
+Many years before the opening of this story the Lawrence children
+counted among their dearest friends a certain pleasant-faced, sturdy
+little chap, Guy Appleton by name, who never considered a day quite
+complete unless at least a part of it was spent at the hospitable
+manor. His own pretty home, Rose Cottage, lay only a stone's throw
+away, and there the little Lawrence girls passed many a happy hour.
+Mrs. Appleton and Mrs. Lawrence had been schoolgirls together, and the
+flight of years had but strengthened their friendship. Mrs. Appleton
+was delighted that her shy little son had found such pleasant
+companions, and in every way encouraged his intercourse with them. The
+Lawrences were all dear to Guy's boyish heart, but none held quite the
+same place as Helen. She had been especially kind and friendly to him,
+and for her his affection was particularly deep and adoring.
+
+The years, as they rolled by, served but to increase his love for his
+little playmate, and from his allegiance to her he never swerved. When
+his college days were over and he was about to sail for Europe on an
+extended tour, he found it impossible to say farewell without
+speaking to her of the subject which lay nearest his heart.
+
+Helen was very young and inexperienced, and these were the first words
+of love to which she had ever listened. Her tender heart was deeply
+touched, and Guy went away gladdened by her shy expression of sorrow
+at his departure, and by the whispered "Yes" that her lips spoke
+falteringly.
+
+Helen had accepted her youthful lover, and many were the rejoicings
+among the small Hetherford circle over what they termed Helen's
+engagement; although the girl herself looked a little grave over so
+serious a term. At the manor the new relationship was accepted gladly,
+for it seemed only a fitting ending to Guy's long friendship in their
+family.
+
+Three years slipped by; years in which Guy bent every energy to the
+study of architecture, which he had chosen as his profession. He had
+decided talent, and by continued assiduity was making a name for
+himself among his colleagues.
+
+Little change had taken place in Hetherford except such as the flight
+of time must necessarily bring. Helen was now quite a woman, with a
+pretty air of gravity which the new cares had lent to her.
+
+When finally, one crisp October day, Guy walked in upon them, his face
+bronzed by the recent ocean trip, his slender figure grown broad and
+strong, his blue eyes beaming with happiness, he was welcomed with the
+greatest warmth of affection, and as they sat about the crackling
+flames in the manor hall his long absence seemed almost a dream.
+
+It was during the following winter that Helen had her first
+misgivings as to her real feeling for Guy. Indeed, sometimes, her
+engagement oppressed her strangely, and she was assailed by an
+overwhelming longing to be free.
+
+Women are indeed incomprehensible, and when the largess of their love
+is not given, it is rare, save through some sharp lesson, that they
+appreciate to the full the men whose hearts they possess. In this
+Helen was, perhaps, in nowise different from the rest of her sex. Be
+this as it may, Guy's unchanging love and devotion sometimes wearied
+her, and failed to call forth an answering love in her own heart. Yet
+the months glided by, and she had not the courage to tell her lover
+the truth. She was not always successful in hiding it from him,
+however, and once or twice a faint suspicion of her indifference came
+to him.
+
+The summer came and went, and almost a year had drifted by since his
+return. Guy finally broached the subject of marriage.
+
+At his first words Helen was filled with dismay, and as she listened
+with down-bent head and averted eyes, Guy was suddenly conscious of a
+great lack in her love for him, and a sense of foreboding swept over
+him. To his long and pleading request that a time might be set for
+their marriage, Helen put forth the children's claim upon her; and
+when he gently urged her to reconsider her determination, she answered
+him so sharply and curtly that he yielded, convinced that it would be
+unwise to press the matter any further.
+
+Helen's lips had almost formed the words "Guy, I do not love you as I
+should," but her lover's face, pale with grief at her all too evident
+reluctance, robbed her of the needful courage.
+
+Guy was not a man of half measures, and, having accepted Helen's
+decision, resolutely put out of his mind his painful doubts, and
+trusted to the future to strengthen her love for him. She was greatly
+touched by his generosity and half ashamed of the stand she had taken,
+and now that the question of marriage was indefinitely postponed,
+persuaded herself that she was deeply attached to him, and that it
+would have been both cruel and unwise to have broken her engagement.
+
+In September Guy took his vacation and, his mother having volunteered
+to go to the mountains with him, he induced Helen to accompany them.
+She had many qualms of conscience at leaving the children, but the
+invitation was a tempting one, and she had not the heart to disappoint
+her lover a second time. So, after strict injunctions to Mary, and
+urgent entreaties to Jean and Nathalie, she started off.
+
+It was a delightful holiday for all three. Mrs. Appleton, who had no
+thought for anyone but her son, was overjoyed to see him in such high
+spirits, for of late she had thought him both sad and depressed; and
+Guy felt that his happiness was quite complete, for never had he had
+Helen so much to himself, and never had she been so frankly
+affectionate and sweet with him. The days glided by like a dream, even
+to Helen. She had thrust all worry and anxiety from her, and entered
+with eager interest and zest into all the plans for their pleasant
+journeyings. If now and then she found herself a bit wearied by Guy's
+unceasing attentions, she strenuously hid the fact from him and called
+herself strictly to account for the unworthy thought.
+
+It was at a hotel on the borders of a beautiful lake that Helen first
+saw Lillian Stuart. One morning Guy had gone off fishing, and as Mrs.
+Appleton was writing letters in the seclusion of her room, Helen took
+her book and wandered out into the grounds in search of a cool, shady
+spot where she could read in peace. Coming at length upon a retired
+nook, she found herself forestalled, for, comfortably ensconced under
+the shade of a great willow, was a woman so beautiful that, as Helen
+caught sight of her, she could scarce repress an exclamation. The girl
+looked up, and their eyes met. Helen shyly dropped hers and passed
+quickly on, but that brief glimpse left a vivid impression upon her
+mind of a well-poised head, crowned with the most wonderful auburn
+hair, of a face dazzlingly fair, and a pair of deep violet eyes.
+
+All day long Helen's thoughts reverted to this vision, and that
+afternoon, when Guy returned from his fishing, she gave him a glowing
+description of her encounter.
+
+Just before dinner, while they were standing together in the corridor,
+the girl came toward them on her way to the dining room. Helen laid
+her hand impulsively on her lover's arm.
+
+"Please look, Guy," she whispered. "Here she comes. Isn't she
+beautiful? Why, Guy," excitedly, "do you know her? She is bowing to
+you."
+
+"Is that the woman you mean?" he asked, when he had gravely returned
+her bow.
+
+"Why, yes. Where did you ever know her?"
+
+"I met her at Baden, when I was over there."
+
+"How strange," said Helen musingly. "Why did you never tell me about
+her?"
+
+"Because I never liked her," he replied with decision, "and I trust
+you and she will not meet."
+
+A curiously unaccountable feeling of resentment swept across Helen.
+
+"I don't suppose there is much chance of it," she returned coldly.
+
+It is the unexpected that happens; for one afternoon, only a few days
+later, as Helen stood talking with some friends on the broad hotel
+veranda, Miss Stuart joined the group and, before Helen had hardly
+appreciated the situation, an introduction had ensued.
+
+In spite of Guy's protests a friendship sprang up between the two
+girls. It seemed to him that there was something almost pointed in the
+way Helen ignored his request, and followed up this acquaintance, to
+which he had so strenuously objected. Helen was not only fascinated
+and charmed by Miss Stuart's meteor-like brilliance, but felt,
+moreover, the keenest annoyance at the masterful way in which Guy had
+laid his injunctions upon her. He had maintained a strict reticence
+concerning his reasons, giving her no further explanation than that
+the friendship ran counter to his wishes. Helen's defiance was
+aroused, and perhaps a growing sense of _ennui_ in her lover's society
+increased the temptation to welcome eagerly any new interest.
+
+Meanwhile Miss Stuart had a well-defined motive in trying to secure
+Helen's friendship, and an even stronger desire to lessen Guy's
+influence with the girl. Whatever her past acquaintance with Guy had
+been, it would have been apparent to anyone less easily deceived than
+Helen, that she bore him no good will.
+
+The rest of the holiday time, which had begun so happily, was spoiled
+for Guy, and he was relieved when at length their faces were turned
+toward home, feeling sure that a separation from Miss Stuart was all
+that was necessary to awaken Helen's loyalty to him and to put an end
+to what he considered a most unfortunate episode in the girl's life.
+To his deep sorrow their return did not accomplish his expectations,
+for not only had a correspondence been begun between the girls, but
+Helen's whole bearing toward him changed completely, and her manner
+was both cold and distant. Finally, one evening, she came to him, and,
+after a few preliminaries, announced her intention of visiting Miss
+Stuart at her home in town. This brief announcement aroused Guy's
+quick temper, and before he realized what had happened, bitter words
+had been spoken, and Helen had swept out of the room.
+
+The following day she left for town. When a week had passed without a
+line from her, Guy could endure it no longer and sought an interview,
+battling with his indignation at the thought that it must take place
+under Miss Stuart's roof.
+
+Many a time afterward he tried to recall the exact words that were
+spoken on that memorable occasion, but everything seemed unreal to
+him, save Helen's face, pale with the determination not to accede to
+his wishes. Finally, he could recall asking her if she desired her
+freedom. Alas, poor Guy! The quick spontaneity of her response
+shattered his last hope.
+
+"Ah, yes, Guy, please. We will be so much better friends, then."
+
+"Friends!" he echoed bitterly; "after all these years."
+
+Helen put her hand on his shoulder, but he gently pushed her from him.
+
+"It is as well I should know the truth now as later. You do not love
+me, Helen. There is nothing left now, but for us to part."
+
+When he was leaving a sudden recollection came to him of the cause of
+all this unhappiness, and crushing down his own bitterness, he
+endeavored in quiet and carefully chosen words to dissuade her from a
+friendship which he feared she would rue, but she maintained an almost
+unbroken silence, and the expression of her face told him that his
+warning was of no avail. So they parted.
+
+Guy was more than justified in his distrust of Lillian Stuart. Had he
+been a man of less delicate sense of honor he could have righted
+himself in Helen's eyes by simply relating to her some incontrovertible
+facts; but the circumstances which had given him his knowledge sealed
+his lips.
+
+While at college, the name, Lillian Stuart, had grown familiar to him,
+through hearing her praises sounded by his chum Nelson Leonard. The
+year after their graduation they ran across each other at Baden, and
+their college friendship was resumed. Guy was not long in discovering
+that there was something radically wrong with his friend, and the
+cause, which all Baden apparently understood, was soon made clear to
+him.
+
+Among the most noted people frequenting Baden at this time, were a
+Mrs. Ogden-Stuart and her beautiful daughter. It had been understood
+on their arrival that Miss Stuart was engaged to the good-looking
+American, Mr. Leonard, who was traveling in their party. This fact,
+however, did not seem to stand in the way of her flirting openly with
+every eligible man in the place, nor prevent her from receiving their
+constant homage. Leonard was evidently wretched, and there was a touch
+of recklessness in his manner, which, Guy felt, boded no good to a man
+of his highly strung, sensitive nature. For a week after Guy's arrival
+things drifted on, but there was something in the air that seemed to
+foretell a crisis. Guy had been presented to Miss Stuart, but in spite
+of her beauty and fascination found nothing in her to like or respect.
+This Miss Stuart felt instinctively, and as she was accustomed to
+admiration, it stung her into a desire to win something more than
+indifference from Leonard's friend. Her efforts were totally
+unsuccessful, and, as her treatment of her lover became less and less
+loyal, Guy withdrew altogether from her society, showing her no
+further courtesy than an occasional bow of recognition. In the
+meantime Miss Stuart's latest affair, with a certain Frenchman of
+unenviable reputation, was giving Baden food for gossip and keeping it
+on the _qui vive_ for a scandal.
+
+Late one afternoon, while Guy sat on the veranda reading letters from
+home, Miss Stuart and Leonard passed him. The girl's face wore a
+mocking smile, her eyes a taunt; Leonard was white as death, and his
+lips twitched piteously. Guy's own face grew stern as he looked up at
+them, and when Miss Stuart threw him a careless word in salutation he
+could scarcely frame a civil reply.
+
+That evening Leonard went to Guy's room, and flinging himself down in
+a chair, gave voice for the first time to his misery.
+
+"I tell you, Appleton," he exclaimed, with a hard laugh, "I shall
+throw up the game pretty soon. I may be a coward; but it takes more
+courage than I have to face this thing any longer."
+
+Guy was more startled than he cared to reveal by his friend's
+passionate, despairing vehemence; and he made an effort to treat the
+matter lightly and to divert Leonard's thoughts, but his efforts were
+not crowned with success. When Leonard had left him he paced up and
+down the room, revolving in his mind what step he should take. At
+length he determined to go to Miss Stuart, and appeal to her, hoping
+that so direct a course would result favorably.
+
+He began the interview awkwardly, feeling that his presumption was
+almost unwarrantable, but when she met his earnest plea for his friend
+first with indifference, and then with undisguised amusement, he found
+his anger rising.
+
+"I do not think you can realize Leonard's condition of mind, Miss
+Stuart," he said darkly. "If you would only put an end to this once
+for all, I am sure that he is man enough to go away from you and try
+to live down his disappointment; but he has a peculiarly excitable and
+sensitive temperament, and if you continue to torture him in this way,
+I fear you will have his death at your door."
+
+"I am sorry to say," she replied lightly, "that our friend is a fool
+now," looking up at him with a glance strangely deep and subtle, "if
+he were half the man you are----"
+
+"I have nothing further to say," Guy interrupted, flushing with
+indignation and disgust, and without another word he abruptly left
+her.
+
+Two days later all Baden was shocked by the startling news that young
+Nelson Leonard had accidentally shot himself and was lying at the
+point of death.
+
+Those melancholy hours of watching by Leonard's bedside, in that
+dreary hotel room, lived in Guy's memory. When the doctor's sad
+verdict was pronounced, the dying man pleaded to be left alone with
+his friend.
+
+"Ah, dear old fellow," he said gently, when they were alone, "pretty
+well done--for an accident? Forgive me," he murmured, as he caught a
+sharp look of pain in Guy's face. "Forgive----" his voice faltered,
+and his head fell wearily back on the pillow.
+
+Then the poor boy's mind wandered, and Lillian Stuart's name was
+constantly on his lips. In broken, halting sentences a pitiful story
+of deception and disappointment was revealed to Guy--a story which
+would be sacred to him to his life's end, and, as he listened, his
+whole soul revolted against the woman who had so willfully trifled
+with this man's tender, loyal heart. Before morning dawned, Nelson
+Leonard's eyes had closed forever on a life which he had found too
+difficult for him. When the sad affair was over, Guy would fain have
+left Baden at once, but he was obliged to await there the arrival of
+Leonard's family from America.
+
+In the days that ensued Lillian Stuart was markedly subdued, but if
+she had any suspicion of the real truth concerning Leonard's death she
+never betrayed it by word or look. She did all in her power to
+overcome Guy's aversion for her, but he sternly repulsed her. To
+attempt conciliation was a new rôle for Miss Stuart, and his cold
+disregard of all her efforts was the severest wound her vanity had
+ever received.
+
+Such a slight is not readily forgiven or forgotten by a woman of her
+type. So when Guy Appleton once more crossed her path, and she found,
+in his deep love for Helen, his vulnerable point, she felt that her
+day of triumph had come.
+
+It had been an easy task to secure Helen's friendship, and then to so
+use her influence with the girl as to effect the annulling of the
+engagement. Miss Stuart knew Guy's nature well enough to feel almost
+sure that, however sorely he might be tempted, he would probably never
+betray his knowledge of that unpleasant episode in her past; so,
+trading on the man's very uprightness, she revenged herself for the
+bitter sting of wounded vanity that rankled in her memory.
+
+Her well-planned scheme had been marvelously successful, but one
+unlooked-for element had entered into it; for Helen's simplicity and
+purity of nature, her lack of vanity, coquetry, or duplicity, above
+all, her entire confidence and trust, had touched a tender chord in
+the heart of this cold and worldly woman, and were in themselves a
+power so great she felt herself held by them. Could she have foreseen
+the future, she would, perhaps, have struggled against this most
+disturbing element.
+
+Guy's return to Hetherford with the announcement that his engagement
+was at an end, and that he was going immediately abroad, created quite
+a ferment among the good people at the manor and Rose Cottage, and
+many were their fruitless conjectures as to the cause of Helen's
+sudden change of feeling. Across at the parsonage, happy-go-lucky Nan
+puckered up her jolly face, pondered long over this vexatious
+question, and hit at last upon the correct solution of it, but wisely
+kept her own counsel.
+
+Mrs. Appleton took her son's disappointment very much to heart, and
+when Helen came home again Rose Cottage was closed and its occupants
+once more gone abroad. When the buckboard rolled by the deserted
+little place Helen drew her breath sharply, then, catching Jean's
+reproachful eyes upon her, began hurriedly to speak of other things.
+The Lawrences frankly avowed to her their regret and disappointment,
+but not one word of explanation did the girl vouchsafe to them, so
+after a little they accepted the inevitable, and Guy's name was no
+longer spoken among them.
+
+And thus it was that of the Lawrence girls, Helen alone had the proud
+distinction of having had a genuine love affair, the memory of which,
+however, was tinged with deep regret, and caused her naught but pain.
+Perhaps she felt intuitively that she had done wrong. What was a
+pleasant friendship compared to the love of a true man's heart? Yet
+the thought of a marriage with Guy was out of the question.
+
+So the foolish girl reasoned. Time brings many changes, however, and
+perhaps what once seemed to Helen a catastrophe may one day seem to
+open the very gates of Paradise.
+
+And now that we have taken a leaf from Helen's past, let us resume our
+way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A SAIL ON THE "CYCLONE."
+
+
+"They have hired the dear old _Cyclone_, Helen, because the men
+thought the wind was bound to be light to-day and we would have so
+much more sport in a small boat than on the _Vortex_."
+
+Nathalie stood in the doorway, gesticulating eagerly with her slender
+brown hands. Her pretty face was quite flushed with excitement, and
+her hurried words tripped over each other in their anxiety to be
+spoken.
+
+"You see we must make haste, for Dick says we must be at the dock at
+eleven, or we won't catch the tide."
+
+"But what about luncheon?" interposed Helen quietly.
+
+A comical expression of dismay crossed Nathalie's face.
+
+"Oh, dear, I suppose you will want to kill us; but Jean and I, in a
+sudden fit of enthusiasm, said we would attend to that, and not one
+thing have we done yet."
+
+"Did you think to provide any cold meat for sandwiches?" demanded the
+young housekeeper.
+
+"Oh, yes; there are three stout chickens, some cold corned beef, and a
+'bit of ham bone,' as Bridget puts it, gracing your larder."
+
+"Well, we haven't a moment to spare, so call Jean, and let us get
+right to work."
+
+The pile of sandwiches grew rapidly under the girls' deft hands, and
+little Larry, wandering in from the veranda, looked longingly at these
+interesting preparations.
+
+"Wish I could go with you," he ventured, with sudden courage.
+
+"Don't speak of it," replied Helen emphatically, as she ran out of the
+room to get a fresh supply of bread.
+
+"Guess you'll all be drownded, anyway," and Larry eyed them with a
+superior and triumphant mien.
+
+"That's right, my cheerful little brother," laughed Jean. "Always look
+on the bright side of things."
+
+"Now, when shall we tell Aunt Helen we will be back?" asked Nathalie,
+as they were fitting the cover down on the well-filled hamper.
+
+"Not later than five, I should think."
+
+"Don't let's commit ourselves, Helen," suggested Jean. "It is such a
+bore, and we will be troubling about it all the afternoon."
+
+"We must be home by five; I am not willing to leave the children any
+longer than that."
+
+"Perhaps you can manage the wind to suit your own purposes. You know
+it generally plays more or less of a part in sailing," and Jean gave a
+vicious tug at the last unfastened strap.
+
+"Don't be impertinent, Jean," Nathalie called out, as she ran swiftly
+upstairs. "Never mind, Helen, her youth is her only excuse."
+
+"All the same, we shall be home on time if possible, dearie."
+
+Jean laughed good-humoredly.
+
+"I am always disagreeable," she admitted, "when anyone speaks with
+decision. I don't know why, but it sets my teeth on edge."
+
+Dudley met them at the wharf with the cutter from the _Vortex_, and
+soon they were pulling swiftly out to the _Cyclone's_ mooring. As they
+rounded the stern of the old oyster sloop, a young man was seen
+standing at the wheel, his slender figure held firmly erect, one hand
+shading his eyes as he scanned the blue waters of the sound.
+
+"Who is that?" whispered Mollie.
+
+"Up oars!" cried Dudley, intent on bringing the cutter up in good
+form, and in a moment more they were clambering up the gang-steps, and
+Mollie's question went unanswered.
+
+"Hullo, Farr," called Dick cheerfully, and thus addressed, Lieutenant
+Farr left the wheel and moved leisurely forward.
+
+"You will have to individualize for yourself, old fellow, for it would
+be impossible for me to name all these charming people."
+
+"Time enough," spoke Farr, in a well-modulated voice, as he raised his
+cap and glanced at the group before him.
+
+"Come, let us get off," he said, turning abruptly to the men, and soon
+the _Cyclone_ was sailing lazily away before a light breeze.
+
+"How delightful!" sighed Eleanor Hill, as she settled herself
+comfortably to windward. "This is my idea of bliss."
+
+Farr paused an instant on his way aft and glanced interestedly at the
+girl's earnest face, then proceeded to his place at the wheel.
+
+"For pity's sake, let somebody go and talk to that man," said Jean,
+dropping her voice.
+
+"I fancy he doesn't care much about it," replied Eleanor quietly.
+
+"You go, Em," Mollie suggested.
+
+"Certainly!" and, nothing daunted, Emily started up.
+
+"Who doubted her willingness?" laughed Nan saucily.
+
+Eleanor shook her head at the speaker.
+
+Dick threw himself down in the midst of the group of girls and kept up
+an incessant chatter.
+
+One voice was lacking in the general interchange of nonsense, for
+to-day Jean Lawrence, who was usually the merriest of them all, found
+her interest flagging strangely. Sitting somewhat apart from the
+others, her eyes wandered persistently to where Farr was courteously
+and patiently initiating Emily Varian into the art of steering. There
+was something about the man that caught her attention and held it
+almost against her will. She noted with what an air of distinction his
+rough yachting flannels were worn, and how beautifully shaped were the
+long slender hands which moved so lazily, yet with such a suggestion
+of strength. His cap was drawn down over his face, so that only the
+lines of a well-molded mouth and chin were revealed, and Jean found
+herself waiting with almost childish interest for a glimpse of the
+eyes so tantalizingly hid from view. A sudden shout of boisterous
+laughter from Dick brought her sharply to herself, and with a keen
+sense of shame, and a passionate hope that her defection might have
+passed unnoticed, she turned and plunged into the conversation.
+
+"Let us have some songs, girls," suggested Eleanor. "We are getting
+very much demoralized, and I don't know what that strange man will
+think of us."
+
+"Oh, if I were a little bird how happy I would be," began Jean, with
+more energy than correctness.
+
+"Hold on, Jeanie," interrupted Nathalie, catching up her mandolin,
+"the other words have lots more flavor."
+
+     "Oh, the first that came a-courting was little Tommy Green,
+     The finest young man that ever was seen,
+     But the words of my grandmother ran in my head,
+     And I would not listen to a word that he said."
+
+"There, that will do, Nathalie," interposed Helen with decision.
+
+"Not at all," cried Jean.
+
+     "Says I to myself there must be some mistake,
+     What a great fuss these old folks make,
+     If the boys and the girls had all been so afraid,
+     Why grandma herself would have been an old maid."
+
+Jean sang the foolish words recklessly, and when she had finished shot
+a half-defiant glance from under her long lashes in Farr's direction.
+His eyes met hers with a long, steady look. Somewhat disconcerted,
+Jean flushed hotly and turned hurriedly away.
+
+"That was a daisy, Jean," and Dick roared with laughter.
+
+When the merriment had subsided a little:
+
+"Farr," said Dudley, rising and making his way out of the circle, "I
+think you have had your turn at the wheel. Suppose I take your place
+for a while."
+
+"I hope you are not very much bored, Mr. Farr," ventured Jean shyly.
+
+"Quite the reverse--much entertained," he replied quietly.
+
+Jean wondered if there were a touch of sarcasm in this reply, but his
+face was impenetrable.
+
+"Charming accent he has," smiled Eleanor in an aside to Nan.
+
+"I wonder where he got it, don't you?"
+
+"Have you lived very much abroad, Mr. Farr?" queried Eleanor, turning
+politely to him.
+
+"And why do you ask?"
+
+"Why, your accent is so un-American."
+
+A broad smile crossed Dudley's face as he caught Miss Hill's words. It
+amused him not a little to hear reticent Farr thus catechized.
+
+"Where are you from?" asked Nathalie, coming to the front in her usual
+outspoken fashion.
+
+Farr glanced at her, and then, after an instant's hesitation, answered
+languidly.
+
+"From New Jersey."
+
+At this the little group, throwing manners to the winds, burst into
+merry laughter.
+
+"Doesn't look a bit like a mosquito," said Nan to Mollie in an audible
+whisper.
+
+Poor Mollie looked quite horror-struck, for she felt sure that the
+saucy words had reached Farr's ear.
+
+If the man felt any annoyance he was most successful in concealing it,
+for his expression remained quite unchanged. Not so with poor Jean,
+who had flushed hotly at what she considered Nan's unwarrantable
+impertinence. She made a swift, angry little movement, and the book
+she had been holding slipped to the deck. Farr leaned forward, and
+picked it up. As he returned it to her his eyes met hers with a quiet,
+reassuring smile, for he had been quick to notice the girl's silent
+championship, and it had greatly touched him. The color in Jean's face
+deepened, and with sudden shyness she dropped her eyes.
+
+"Have a cigar, Farr?"
+
+To these two Clifford Archer's question came almost like an
+interruption, although no word had been spoken between them.
+
+"No, thanks," taking from his pocket a silver case of curious design,
+"but, if no one objects, I will light a cigarette!"
+
+"I can't help it," cried Nathalie, laughing until the tears were in
+her eyes, "did you hear the way he said that word 'cigarette,'--with
+such a lingering over each syllable? I am sure you are a Spaniard, Mr.
+Farr, in spite of New Jersey."
+
+"I knew it," Nan put in, "the moment you spoke."
+
+"Ah," exclaimed Nathalie, drawing back in mock affright, "you are an
+exile."
+
+"How interesting," spoke Nan. "Do tell us all about it."
+
+"About what?" queried Farr coolly, and Nan subsided, feeling suddenly
+very much embarrassed.
+
+Eleanor Hill caught an expression half impatient in Farr's eyes, and
+turned warningly to Nathalie.
+
+"You will be sorry."
+
+"When I'm sober," interrupted the young girl merrily.
+
+"What a rowdy you are, Nat; Helen is looking at you most
+disapprovingly."
+
+A shrug of the shoulders was Nathalie's only answer, and starting up
+she crossed over, and stood before Farr, where he sat at Jean's side.
+
+"You have been very good and patient," she assured him with a
+mischievous twinkle in her brown eyes, "and now I am going to reward
+you by unpacking the luncheon hamper."
+
+"That's a good idea," cried Dick; "I am almost starved to death."
+
+"What delicious salad," exclaimed Churchill a few moments later, as
+they sat about the open hamper. "Miss Helen, you are a culinary
+artist."
+
+Helen smiled her thanks.
+
+"May I not sit by you, Eleanor," pleaded Clifford Archer, dropping
+down on the deck at her side. "With you near me I could never know
+hunger or thirst."
+
+"Nonsense," frowning on him in seeming disapproval. "I think your
+appetite is one which stands you in good stead."
+
+He was a handsome youth, graceful in the extreme. It was a constant
+source of annoyance to Eleanor Hill that she found him so charming,
+for, she often assured herself, there was nothing to the boy but his
+good looks and perfect manners. But who will dare to say that these
+are nothing?
+
+"I do hope there are plenty of sandwiches," sighed Nan, as she sat
+eating her fourth.
+
+Dick tipped up the plate, depositing a dozen or more in her lap.
+
+"That enough?" he asked innocently.
+
+"You idiot!" cried Nan.
+
+"Do say something new, Nan," called Mollie from the other side of the
+boat. "That is the third time to-day you have given Dick that
+appellation."
+
+"How can I help it," groaned Nan, "when it characterizes him so
+perfectly?"
+
+"You can't," said Nathalie consolingly, "and if I were you I would not
+attempt to."
+
+Dick looked at both girls with withering scorn, then glanced by them
+as if their existence were a matter of small import.
+
+"Helen, can I open the beer and ginger ale now?"
+
+"If it will be any comfort to you, Dick, you have my consent."
+
+"I think I will try another sandwich, if Miss Birdsall can spare me
+one."
+
+"Then catch, Mr. Farr," and Nathalie tossed him one, with unerring
+aim.
+
+"O Nathalie," protested Jean, with changing color.
+
+"Well, I am glad to know he is not a muff," said Nathalie, as Farr
+caught the sandwich. "What is the matter, Jean? I didn't know you were
+so easily shocked."
+
+"Look out for the boom," called Dudley most opportunely, and the
+_Cyclone_ came swiftly about.
+
+"What an unfortunate move. Now the sun is right in our eyes," and Jean
+looked up at Farr appealingly. "Won't you please have it removed?"
+
+"Why, certainly. Are not your wishes my law?" and even as he spoke the
+sun slipped under a cloud.
+
+"What a wonderful man," Eleanor Hill laughed softly.
+
+The afternoon sped away all too rapidly, and the hours were as minutes
+to the happy young people skimming the waters of the beautiful sound.
+Nature was at her very best this sunshiny summer afternoon. Light
+fleecy clouds scudded swiftly across the delicious blue of the vaulted
+sky above, and in the distance the low, far-stretching, Long Island
+shore was bathed in a soft, violet haze, broken here and there by
+patches of white, glistening sand.
+
+The _Cyclone_, with every yard of canvas set, was running gayly before
+the breeze, which since noon had grown strong and steady. The swash of
+the water against the boat, the slight straining and creaking of the
+rigging, the sighing of the wind in the sails, were sounds sweet as
+music to the ear of every true lover of the sea.
+
+And now the summer day began to wane, and in the western sky the sun
+was shining with a brilliant radiance.
+
+"Ah!" sighed Jean softly, as they dropped anchor in Hetherford Harbor,
+"why do all pleasant things come to an end?"
+
+"But they invariably do," and there was a touch of genuine regret in
+Farr's voice, which was quite sincere; for in this last pleasant hour,
+he had thoroughly enjoyed a delightful _tête-à-tête_ with his pretty
+companion, and had every reason, in spite of the merry chaffing of
+these gay young strangers, to vote the day a great success.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+SUNSET-HOUR ON THE CLIFFS.
+
+
+The following morning the girls were collected together in the upper
+balcony of the manor, where the clustering vines afforded a welcome
+shelter from the sun's hot rays. A wicker table, laden down with books
+and work baskets, occupied a central position, and the low rockers
+which surrounded it were tilted swiftly back and forth as the girls
+worked and chatted in an easy, desultory way. On the wide
+old-fashioned settle in the background sat Eleanor Hill and Nan
+Birdsall; Eleanor lounging lazily back among the cushions, her hands
+resting idly in her lap, Nan all curled up in a heap, her sketchbook
+on her knee, her deft fingers making rapid strokes with a long,
+well-sharpened pencil.
+
+"Do you know," spoke Eleanor Hill, "I fear we behaved very badly
+yesterday. I have had qualms of conscience ever since, and a growing
+conviction that we made perfect fools of ourselves in the eyes of
+those two strange men."
+
+"Better that than dullards," laughed Nan lightly.
+
+"Hobson's choice," said Jean dryly.
+
+Just then Helen, with a somewhat preoccupied air, pushed back her
+chair and passed into the house, her mind evidently intent on some
+domestic question. Nathalie's eyes followed the retreating figure,
+until it was quite lost from view in the shadowy hallway, and then
+were bent thoughtfully on her work again.
+
+"To change the subject, girls," she began, after a moment, devoting
+herself energetically to the threading of her needle, and tossing her
+head impatiently at every unsuccessful effort; "have you heard the
+news? Helen's friend, Miss Stuart, is coming down upon us for a
+visit."
+
+"Yes, indeed we have." Emily's sigh came from the depths of her heart.
+"I can't imagine what we will do with another girl here."
+
+"What she will do with us may be more to the point," and Jean raised
+her eyebrows expressively. "I don't know how it is, but I am
+apprehensive about this visit. I suppose," with a sort of honest
+protest in her voice, "that I have never really liked Miss Stuart."
+
+"Nor I," agreed Nathalie. "There is something about her that I do not
+trust. And the worst of it is," with a grimace, "that she winds Helen
+around her little finger. It always makes me so angry."
+
+"Nonsense, Nat. You do Helen an injustice," objected Eleanor
+pleasantly. "However, I frankly confess to a fear that the harmony of
+our own little circle will be somewhat marred by the advent of a
+stranger."
+
+"That's so, and then you know she is such a swell that she will
+probably look down upon us poor country girls with the utmost scorn,"
+and Nathalie gave a vindictive tug at her knotted thread.
+
+"Of course she is devoted to men?" queried Emily lugubriously.
+
+"Oh, I should judge so, although I have never seen her with them. You
+know she has only stopped with us in the winter season, when we have
+been alone."
+
+"Let us do her the justice to suppose that the men are equally devoted
+to her," added Jean generously.
+
+"It amounts to about the same thing, whether she is devoted to men, or
+they to her," and there was in Emily's tone such a note of tragic
+melancholy that the girls could not refrain from laughing.
+
+"Oh, what a happy nook and cranny of the great world this dear old
+Hetherford is," cried Eleanor, clasping her hands behind her head, and
+looking out with dreamy eyes over the sweep of softly undulating lawn
+that stretched away toward the manor gates. "It all seems so idyllic
+to me. There is so much petty jealousy and miserable heartburning
+beyond the confines of this little haven of rest. People's motives are
+so often selfish that one grows strangely doubting, even of one's
+friends. Do you know," leaning forward impulsively and speaking with
+deeper earnestness, "I think we girls have found the secret of true
+friendship--mutual trust and respect. These are what have made our
+long intercourse such a happy one."
+
+"Indeed you are right, Eleanor, dear," Jean replied gently.
+
+"The bother of it all will be," interrupted Nathalie following out her
+own train of thought "that Mademoiselle will come here with trunks
+full of fine clothes, and we will be obliged to dress up."
+
+"I would like to see the girl who could make me discard my shirt and
+blazer," laughed Nan defiantly.
+
+"How would we look _en grande toilette_ with such hands as these,"
+said Jean, thrusting forward her own little brown ones.
+
+"Attractive, but from a different standpoint," Nan asserted with a
+fine assumption of authority. "Everything depends upon your point of
+view, according to Henry James. Now, from my artistic pinnacle,"
+tilting her head to one side, and surveying the group with critical,
+but approving eyes, "I declare I prefer brown hands to white ones."
+
+"By the way," asked Jean, with well-feigned indifference, "what did
+you think of the naval officers?"
+
+"To return to our muttons," murmured Nathalie, with a sidelong glance
+at her sister.
+
+"Mr. Dudley was very pleasant and agreeable," replied Emily, "but I
+thought Mr. Farr rather uninteresting."
+
+"Well," laughed Eleanor demurely, "Nan is right. Everything does
+depend upon one's point of view. Now I thought Mr. Farr decidedly
+attractive, and Mr. Dudley just a good-natured boy."
+
+"That reminds me of something I saw in the paper the other day," Jean
+observed smilingly. "To the question 'What is taste?' the answer was
+given, 'There is no such thing, except on the principle that some
+people haven't any.'"
+
+"That is a fine way of disposing of one," and there was an expression
+of quiet amusement in Eleanor's eyes. "Never mind, dear," leaning
+forward and pinching Jean's cheek, "I will forgive you. Besides,"
+dropping her voice, "you know that you agree with me."
+
+"Now, what are you girls whispering about?" complained Nathalie. "Oh,
+bother this sewing," she went on irrelevantly; "I have had enough of
+it for to-day," and the bit of work was tossed impatiently into her
+basket.
+
+This was the signal for a general uprising, and then, as they were
+dispersing, Nathalie made the announcement:
+
+"Helen has asked Mr. Dudley and Mr. Farr to dinner to-morrow night."
+
+"Yes," answered Mollie, turning back from the open doorway, "and
+Captain Dodd and his wife, too. Dick says," with an air of profound
+conviction, "that they are delightful."
+
+"That settles it," laughed Nan, "Dick can't be wrong. Come on, Moll,"
+linking her arm in Mollie's, "I am going to take you home to luncheon
+with me to-day."
+
+It was late that afternoon when Jean, who had been reading for hours
+on the quiet veranda, suddenly jumped to her feet, with a little sigh
+of weariness, and tossed her book into a neighboring chair. She was
+tired of sitting still so long and felt in the humor for a walk.
+Slowly she made her way down the broad steps and across the grounds of
+the manor. Strolling on in a reverie, and heeding but little in which
+way her steps were taking her, she came upon the great iron gates
+which opened out into the roadway. Passing through them she wandered
+listlessly on toward the water.
+
+It was the loveliest hour of the bright, sunny June day. Already the
+shadows were lengthening, and a little whiff of cooler air was
+stirring after the warmth of the noonday. The sun was nearing the
+western horizon, now shining out in bright radiance, now obscured by
+some light passing cloud. The murmur of a little brook which followed
+the roadside, and the whispering of the wind among the leaves, made a
+soft music. Now and then a bird darted by overhead, singing out a
+shrill note in some high key, then dropping into a soft coo. A
+squirrel ran out from the thicket, sped across the road, and
+disappeared over a low stone wall.
+
+"Oh, you foolish little chap," exclaimed Jean, half-aloud, as Master
+Squirrel gave her one glance from his bright eyes, before dropping out
+of sight. "You are the swiftest little fellow I have ever seen."
+
+It was growing rough and heavy underfoot now, and in a moment more
+Jean had reached the beach, and was strolling down toward the cliffs.
+
+The water was alive with boats, their white sails glimmering in the
+sunlight, as the dying breeze bore them slowly on their way.
+
+At the foot of the cliffs Jean paused a moment. The glory of the
+golden light fell on her slender, girlish figure, and illumined her
+wistful, upturned face. As her eyes rested lovingly on the beautiful
+scene that lay before her a deep sigh of pleasure escaped her slightly
+parted lips, for to-day the old familiar sights and sounds seemed
+strangely new and sweet. A narrow beaten track led temptingly to the
+summit of the cliffs whence a magnificent view could be obtained, and
+after an instant's hesitation she began the steep ascent. Turning the
+corner of a sharp rock, which reared itself boldly into the air, she
+came suddenly to a standstill, uttering a stifled exclamation, for
+almost at her feet, stretched at full length in a sheltered cranny of
+the rocks, lay Valentine Farr, his hat drawn down over his forehead,
+his eyes thoughtfully intent upon the distant horizon. As Jean's
+exclamation reached him, he glanced quickly up and sprang to his feet.
+
+"Why, Miss Lawrence, this is indeed an unexpected pleasure. You stole
+a march on me. I did not hear your approach at all."
+
+"Indeed, I am equally surprised, Mr. Farr, and I assure you you really
+startled me. I came upon you, so suddenly."
+
+Farr's eyes rested admiringly on the soft color in the girl's face as
+she went on:
+
+"And may I ask how you hit upon my particular retreat in these rocks?
+Let me warn you. You can only make yourself happy in it with my
+especial permission."
+
+"I had no idea I was trespassing. Pardon my curiosity, but by what
+right do you hold your title to this spot?" he queried with an amused
+smile.
+
+"By the right of priority. Do you know of any better, Mr. Farr?" with
+a pretty air of defiance. "When I was a little girl in pinafores I
+played here with my doll; when I was a schoolgirl I studied my lessons
+in this dear spot; and now that I am a grown woman," drawing herself
+up to her full height, and glancing at him merrily, "I come here to
+read, to ponder, and to think."
+
+"A sacred spot indeed," spoke Farr laughingly, but with just a little
+lowering of his voice. "I yield at once, for I see that no one could
+dispute your right."
+
+"No one." She threw out her hand with a pretty gracious gesture. "But
+won't you let me extend to you an invitation to occupy it whenever you
+feel inclined?"
+
+"Thanks, ever so much," he rejoined heartily, "You are very good. And
+now, can't I persuade you to rest a little after your climb, Miss
+Lawrence?"
+
+She slipped down on the rocks, and he threw himself at her side.
+
+"What delightful times you all seem to have here," he went on. "Do you
+know I think this is a most charming place, quite an Elysium." Jean's
+soft eyes lighted up with pleasure.
+
+"I am so glad you like it, but I fear you will find very little to
+interest you in so sleepy a place."
+
+Farr was about to make answer in words of conventional flattery, but
+something in the girl's tone of sincerity and good faith deterred him
+and impelled him to reply in kind.
+
+"But I assure you I am delighted with it. You know we knock about a
+good deal, and some of our stations are almost unendurable. We have
+been on the Sound for several months now, and this is to me by far the
+pleasantest place in which we have cast anchor."
+
+"It does my heart good to hear you say that," she rejoined naïvely,
+"for naturally Hetherford is very dear to us."
+
+"You have lived here all your life, Miss Lawrence?"
+
+"Ever since I was a wee little girl. Of course we have been away from
+time to time, but we are always glad to get back again."
+
+"I can well understand your feeling so, although I have had very
+little of home life myself." Farr sighed as he uttered these last
+words.
+
+Jean looked at him with gentle sympathy. "You say that sadly," she
+said.
+
+"Do I?" He turned on his elbow, and his grave eyes met hers. His next
+words were prompted by a sudden unwonted impulse. "Perhaps I will tell
+you about it some day."
+
+Then a silence fell between them.
+
+The sweet stillness held its sway o'er land and sea, its perfect
+harmony emphasized by the soft lapping of the waves against the
+shadowy sands below. The breeze was dying with the dying sun. Just off
+the shore a little white-sailed cat-boat was drifting in with the
+flowing tide.
+
+Jean drew a long breath and started swiftly to her feet.
+
+"Why, how late it is growing," she exclaimed. "I must be going, Mr.
+Farr."
+
+"Already?" he said, and then they made their way down the rugged
+cliff.
+
+"Take care, Miss Lawrence," he cried, as she missed her footing and
+slipped a little. "Please let me assist you," and he extended his
+hand.
+
+Jean put her hand in his with a demure uplifting of her eyebrows, and
+just a fleeting smile on her lips. There flashed through her mind the
+thought:
+
+"How unmercifully Nan would chaff me, if she could catch a glimpse of
+me now."
+
+The descent was a brief one, and soon they had crossed the sands and
+were strolling along the road in the direction of the manor.
+
+"You are coming to dine with us to-morrow night, are you not, Mr.
+Farr?"
+
+"Your sister was good enough to ask us, and I shall be only too
+delighted to avail myself of her kind invitation."
+
+"I really will not let you come any further with me," she declared as
+they reached the manor gates. "I fear, as it is, I have taken you very
+much out of your way, and it must be late."
+
+"It is close upon seven," he told her after looking at his watch. "And
+you dine?"
+
+"At seven, and let me warn you now that to be late is to meet with my
+sister's ire."
+
+"I shall remember," he answered, with his pleasant laugh. "And now can
+I not see you to your door?"
+
+"No, indeed. I must hurry away," she said as they shook hands, "for
+time, tide, and dinner at the manor wait for no man. Good-by."
+
+"Until to-morrow," he said, as he turned away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A DINNER AT THE MANOR.
+
+
+It was the evening of the dinner given in honor of the naval officers,
+and even as the old Dutch clock in the corner of the manor hall struck
+the hour of seven, Farr was shaking hands with Mrs. Dennis.
+
+"I am so sorry," she said to him with a sweet smile, "that I shall be
+obliged to absent myself from the dinner table to-night, but my
+strength is not very great and I dare not overtax it. My niece Helen,"
+with a proud accent, which was not lost upon Farr, "has taken my place
+for so long that I feel no hesitation in leaving everything in her
+hands."
+
+"Oh, Auntie," cried Helen, with shy deprecation, "Mr. Farr will begin
+to think me that most tiresome of all things, a paragon of household
+virtue."
+
+Farr made a gesture of dissent, and then as Clifford Archer presented
+himself, he turned and followed Helen with admiring eyes. Very fair
+and womanly she seemed to him, in her gown of pale lavender crepe,
+moving about among her guests, greeting one and all with gentle
+courtesy.
+
+His gaze wandered on to where, in a further corner of the
+drawing-room, Nathalie was keeping up a merry chatter with Wendell
+Churchill. In spite of her eighteen years, she looked a very child
+to-night, in her white mulle gown, with a broad white sash around her
+waist, and one red rose in her brown hair. A spoiled child, too, she
+undeniably was; unused to restraint, somewhat willful and
+quick-tempered, but with a heart so true and generous that one could
+always trust this small maiden and know that the good would
+predominate.
+
+Eleanor Hill, standing very erect, her slender figure clad in a
+severely simple gown of India silk, her hair brushed straight from her
+fair face, her blue eyes alight with intelligence, her sensitive mouth
+revealing every passing shade of feeling, held his attention for a
+moment, for there was something patrician in the girl's mien and
+bearing which greatly charmed him.
+
+Involuntarily Farr smiled as he caught sight of Nan's jolly face
+beaming with an unending fund of good humor, and he was man enough of
+the world for one glance at dainty Mollie Andrews to suffice to tell
+him that she was an adept in the truly feminine art of dressing, for
+her white gown, covered with lace and embroidery, was made in a
+mysterious Parisian fashion, not easily imitated.
+
+What an arrant little flirt was dark-eyed Emily Varian. The smile that
+Nan had evoked deepened as Farr noted the rapt expression on Dudley's
+face as he bent over her. Her yellow gown, while not as modish as
+Eleanor's and Mollie's, nor as artistic as the Lawrence girls', yet
+showed a fine sense of color, and lighted up her pretty, piquant face,
+which was surmounted by a smooth coil of hair the color of a raven's
+wing.
+
+They were an unusually lovely group of girls, and, beyond this,
+unusually pure-hearted and intelligent. Farr appreciated this the more
+keenly, perhaps, in that he had seen much of the world in his thirty
+years of life. Sometimes the old ideals of his boyhood had suffered
+sadly; but his faith in the gentler sex was too deep-rooted to be
+easily dispelled, and now all that was noblest and most chivalrous in
+his nature was awakened by the atmosphere of honesty and sweetness
+surrounding him.
+
+He was brought back to the starting-point of his observations by
+Helen's voice saying, apologetically:
+
+"I am so sorry my sister is so late," and even as she spoke a little
+hand pushed the portières hastily aside, and Jean stood in the
+doorway.
+
+She glanced impulsively across at Farr, and caught a wicked gleam from
+his eyes as he advanced to meet her.
+
+"'Time, tide, and dinner at the manor wait for no man,'" he quoted
+maliciously.
+
+"That is one advantage in being a woman," she promptly retorted.
+
+She was radiant to-night in a gown of silver and blue. From under
+level brows her eyes shone like stars, and some slight inward tremor
+of excitement flushed her sweet face with unusual color. Her soft
+yellow hair was gathered up in a simple coil, little tendrils of it
+curling upon her forehead and on her neck.
+
+"What a bonny little lass she is," thought Farr, surprised by the
+sudden feeling of tenderness which took possession of him.
+
+Then dinner was announced, and, with a half cynical smile at his own
+susceptibility, he pulled himself together, and offered her his arm.
+
+"Why, I am quite in the navy, am I not?" she asked archly, as she took
+her place between Farr and Dudley.
+
+"You honor it," Farr returned.
+
+Jean's brows contracted with a slight frown. "That savors of flattery,
+Mr. Farr."
+
+"I especially dislike your accusation, Miss Lawrence."
+
+"Then I must be more careful not to run counter to your prejudices
+hereafter."
+
+"If you would be so good," he said to her dryly; then their eyes met,
+and they both laughed light-heartedly.
+
+"I hope you enjoyed the sail the other day. I meant to ask you about
+it yesterday afternoon."
+
+"Thoroughly. Your songs were particularly delightful."
+
+Jean blushed, and answered in some confusion:
+
+"They were very foolish. I really hope you will forgive our absurd
+behavior."
+
+"Charming folly needs no apology," Jean found the glance he gave her a
+trifle disconcerting.
+
+"But pray, Mr. Farr, do not----" she began, and hesitated.
+
+"Do not what?" he interrogated, with a faint show of eagerness.
+
+"Do not allow your soup to grow cold," she finished, with a merry
+glance at him from under her long lashes.
+
+"While you are in Hetherford," spoke Nathalie across the table to
+Dudley, "you should make a point of going up to the cemetery. There
+are some epitaphs there a hundred years old, and they are so funny."
+
+"So Andrews was telling us. Speaking of epitaphs I was very much
+amused by one I saw in a magazine the other day. Let me see. How was
+it?
+
+     "Here lies the body of Mary Ann,
+     With her head on the bosom of Abraham;
+     Pretty soft thing for Mary Ann,
+     But very hard lines on Abraham."
+
+"Here is a good one," cried Dick, when he had partially recovered from
+his ebullition of mirth:
+
+     "Here lies the body of Mary Bin,
+     Who having had her little fling,
+     Burst this outer shell of sin,
+     And hatched herself a cherubim."
+
+Helen shook her head at Dick in gentle protest.
+
+"What will Captain and Mrs. Dodd think of us." she said.
+
+"Suppose I should recall one to you all," suggested the captain, with
+a merry twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Please do," they cried in chorus.
+
+     "He heard the angels calling him,
+     From that celestial shore,
+     He flapped his wings and away he went,
+     To make one angel more."
+
+"Splendid," exclaimed Nathalie, with enthusiasm. "Mr. Dudley and Dick
+are quite in the background."
+
+"Dick saw his in that charming novel 'Comin' thro' the Rye.'"
+
+"Guess I did, Nancy. By Jove, girls," he whispered mischievously, "you
+are all stunning to-night," and he drew himself up with an air of
+pride and satisfaction.
+
+"You shine in a kind of reflected glory; don't you, Dick?" laughed
+Nathalie.
+
+After dinner they gathered about the great wood fire burning cheerily
+in the drawing-room. The evening had grown suddenly chill. The wind
+had veered to the southeast, and the strong sea breeze lowered the
+temperature by many degrees; a not uncommon occurrence in our American
+summers.
+
+Helen seated herself at the open piano, and her music did much to
+enhance the charm of the hour. She felt a bit sad to-night and
+something of her feeling crept into her music, as she drifted into a
+plaintive melody, with an oft-recurring refrain almost like a spoken
+regret. As her eyes wandered about the fire-lit room, with its far-off
+corners half in mystic shadow, there were awakened within her memories
+of happy childhood days when the love of her father and mother had
+been the sunshine of their home. Interwoven with these thoughts came
+the recollection of one who, in those days, had been near at hand and
+who was now far away, in strange lands, separated from her by more
+than the mere expanse of restless waters.
+
+She sighed a little and, bringing her music abruptly to an end, rose
+and crossed the room. After a few words of courteous explanation to
+Mrs. Dodd, she ran away upstairs to assure herself that the children
+were safely in bed.
+
+Just as she was passing through the doorway, she caught a glimpse of
+Jean, who, with earnest upturned face, was talking interestedly with
+Farr, and something she saw in her sister's blue eyes made her start.
+What was there in that upturned face, in those eyes, which made Helen
+feel so strangely, as if something were going to happen?
+
+And Eleanor Hill chatting gayly with Cliff Archer found her thoughts
+traveling in much the same direction.
+
+In all these summers they had been a very happy little colony of
+girls, and they had entered into a sort of compact in true girl
+fashion that no lover should be allowed in their midst, to break the
+spell. Helen had been engaged, but that relation had existed previous
+to the making of the bond, and she had been so little absorbed that no
+one had thought much about it. One other exception had to be made, for
+there was no use in trying to hold Emily strictly to any such
+agreement, for flirt she would whenever the opportunity offered.
+However, her digressions had been few and far between, for Cliff
+Archer and Dick were almost the only men who came to Hetherford, and
+they were so like brothers to her that a sentimental attitude toward
+either of them would have seemed supremely ridiculous.
+
+So this summer had come around as many others had before, and already
+a new element had entered into their midst, and that naughty little
+Nathalie was at the root of the matter; for ever since one bright day
+in May, when the _Sylph_ had come sailing along these pleasant waters
+and Wendell Churchill had called at the manor to pay his respects, the
+old order of things had been changed. Until that day the _Sylph_ had
+been better known to Hetherford than her good-looking owner; for
+rarely had he cast anchor in the harbor without having aboard his
+yacht a party of gay and fashionable people, who urgently claimed his
+whole attention. But now he no longer brought strangers to Hetherford,
+and when, as now and then occurred, he was obliged to absent himself
+for a few days, the _Sylph_ lay at the disposal of the girls. And all
+this that little minx Nathalie had brought about, laughing while she
+disclaimed emphatically any disloyalty to the vows of their bond.
+
+The worst of it was the mischief was spreading, and Eleanor's eyes
+falling just then upon Jean, she experienced a sense of keen
+annoyance, for warm-hearted Jean had been the most whole-souled, the
+most valiant of them all. It was a great pity that the _Vortex_ had
+been stationed here, and doubly a pity that there was no immediate
+prospect of her departure. It would not do to be introducing all sorts
+of folly into their circle.
+
+Eleanor had quite worked herself up to a pitch of righteous
+indignation when, on surveying the ground that had brought her to this
+point, she became uncomfortably conscious of some slight changes
+within herself; for here before her, looking into her eyes and saying
+all sorts of pretty things, which of course were nonsensical, was the
+"fatal beauty" whom she had always looked upon as a boy. Half-vexed,
+half-amused she rose to go, and when Cliff, after helping her with
+her coat, gently pressed her hand, she felt immensely like boxing his
+ears. It was idiotic and sentimental, his looking at her in that way,
+and there was no occasion whatever for his saying good-night like a
+lover in a play.
+
+There was quite a little excitement and bustle of departure in the
+hall-way, as coats and cloaks were sought for, found, and donned. Jean
+stood by the large open fireplace, where a log lay smoldering, its red
+ashes still giving out a grateful heat, and at her side was Farr, hat
+in hand, a light summer overcoat on his arm. He spoke a few words to
+her as he took her hand in parting, and she looked up at him smiling
+and defiant. The girl's blue eyes were dark with unwonted excitement,
+her cheeks flushed with bright color, and Eleanor noted all this and
+found her impressions of the evening deepened.
+
+When the last guest had gone, Helen dropped down on the foot of the
+stairs.
+
+"Oh, how tired I am," she exclaimed. "Do put out the lamps in the
+drawing-room, Nat, like a good girl." Then she rose to her feet with a
+little sigh of weariness. "I think I am sleepy too," she said.
+
+"I wish I were," spoke Jean from before the fire, her whole expression
+eminently wide-awake.
+
+"Come to bed, Jeanie," laughed Helen, "and court sleep. Perhaps it
+will come to you if you do."
+
+Jean paused a moment by the hall table to select one from out of the
+mass of books and magazines collected there, and then followed Helen
+up the stairs.
+
+When she had reached her room she threw herself down in an easy-chair
+and opened her book.
+
+"You won't mind if I read for a while, will you, Nat? There is no use
+of thinking of going to sleep yet."
+
+Nathalie whistled very softly, at which Jean glanced swiftly up at
+her.
+
+"Eh, Jean? Love at first sight?"
+
+Jean blushed to the roots of her pretty hair, and there was an angry
+light in her eyes.
+
+"I wouldn't be a goose if I were you, Nathalie," she said scornfully.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A WALK IN THE SHRUBBERY.
+
+
+It was Sunday and Nan and Emily were sitting together on the
+vine-covered porch of the parsonage, trying to while away the long
+hour between church time and the midday dinner.
+
+Nan gave a prodigious yawn, and stretched herself out in the
+comfortable steamer chair.
+
+"Oh, dearie me," she sighed, "I wonder if it would be a crime for me
+to admit how bored I was in church this morning."
+
+"Well, I don't think it would be in very good taste, considering your
+father preached," replied Emily severely.
+
+"I can't help it if he did. I was tired, and moreover," crossly, "I am
+always bored."
+
+Emily raised her eyebrows.
+
+"I am afraid, Nan, your soul longs for Gregorian chants and tapering
+candles."
+
+"Of course it does; and acolytes, incense, and embroidered altar
+cloths. Yes, I admit it frankly, I should have belonged to The
+Church," she ended, with great emphasis.
+
+"I know, Em," she continued, after waiting a moment to observe the
+effect of her last words, "you will think it absurd; but, I tell you,
+I really envy the Lawrence girls. To think that they attend that
+dear, delightful Episcopal chapel, while I----" and the sentence ended
+with a laugh. "Why, Em, of course you won't sympathize with me, but I
+do think it is bad form."
+
+Emily looked really shocked.
+
+"Nan Birdsall, I am ashamed of you. What would uncle think of you?"
+
+"Well," replied Nan, with a perverse expression on her face, "I don't
+intend that the ministers' sons shall have it all their own way. I
+have just as good a right to live up to the old saying as any of
+them."
+
+Emily would not stay to listen to another word, and with a great air
+of dignity, she arose, and swept into the house. Very soon the soft
+tinkling of a bell told Nan that the noonday meal was ready. Old Mr.
+Birdsall stood at one end of the table, his hands folded on the back
+of the chair before him, waiting for Emily and Nan to appear. When
+they were come the long grace was spoken slowly and impressively, and
+no one watching Nan's demure face would have guessed at her outbreak
+of the morning.
+
+They were a somewhat incongruous trio, and what little conversation
+there was consisted chiefly of good-natured banter of Emily by the
+irrepressible Nan, to which Mr. Birdsall listened somewhat
+abstractedly.
+
+The dinner hour had not as yet assumed a position of importance to
+either of the girls, and as soon as possible they pushed back their
+chairs, and once more sought the shady porch. Emily gave one furtive
+glance over her shoulder to assure herself that her uncle was not
+following them, and then picked up a novel from a neighboring table,
+and opened it with a great show of interest. Nan watched the bit of
+deception, and a smile spread itself over her face.
+
+"Puss," she cried, stooping to lift up a little white kitten which was
+brushing against her skirt, "it is now our turn to be shocked and
+horrified."
+
+Her remark being received in contemptuous silence, for a while she
+played languidly with the little creature in her lap, then her hand
+dropped at her side, her head fell back against the cushions, and Nan
+was fast asleep. The air was heavy and drowsy, all about the insects
+hummed so lazily and the very atmosphere lulled one into
+forgetfulness. By and by, the crunching sound of footsteps on the
+graveled path roused Nan to sudden consciousness.
+
+"Oh! dear, Nan," Emily was whispering in a tone of suppressed
+excitement, "please wake up. Here comes Mr. Dudley. I forgot to tell
+you that I was going for a walk with him."
+
+"That's all right," Nan interrupted her sleepily. "I am going in so he
+won't see me," and lifting herself lazily from her chair, she slipped
+into the house through one of the French windows.
+
+Within the house there reigned the solemn stillness of the Day of
+Rest. The door of the study stood part-way open, and Nan could see her
+father lying on his lounge, his white head shining like silver against
+the dark leather of the cushion. She stole in on tip-toe to avoid
+awakening him, caught up a bright-colored afghan and threw it over
+him.
+
+"How sweet he looks," she thought with great tenderness, as she
+stooped and gently kissed him. She paused a moment by the large
+writing table to find, amid a litter of papers, an old hymnbook,
+shabby from long usage, and opening it marked the hymns selected for
+the evening service. Then she passed out and closed the door softly
+behind her. She waited a few moments until she heard Emily and Mr.
+Dudley leave the porch, then put on her hat, and started across the
+lawn to the manor. Coming out upon the drive-way she met Helen walking
+briskly along.
+
+"Well," she cried, "where are you going?"
+
+"To evening prayers, Nancy. Won't you come with me?"
+
+"Yes, indeed I will. I thought you never left the children Sunday
+afternoon."
+
+"I don't usually, but to-day I felt just in the humor for church."
+
+There was a note of sadness in Helen's tone, which ordinarily Nan
+would have readily detected, but to-day the girl was possessed by a
+sense of personal dissatisfaction and restlessness, and so, absorbed
+in her own mood, this was lost upon her. There was a pause of brief
+duration, then Helen drew a long breath, and resumed more lightly:
+
+"How sweet and sunny it is, isn't it, Nan? I love these first early
+days of summer when everything is so fresh and green. The country
+doesn't begin to look so lovely later in the season."
+
+"I suppose so," returned Nan laconically. "I am such a country girl
+that I don't half see the beauties about me. When you are so used to
+things I don't think you are apt to be so keenly alive to them."
+
+"I dare say that is true; you see I go away just enough to appreciate
+this dear place when I come back to it."
+
+"While I," grumbled Nan, "have never been away from Hetherford but two
+or three times in my whole life. One year is just like another. There
+is always father, deeply interested in church matters, and looking
+upon me as an enigma; and cross old Bridget who runs the house and
+disapproves of me. I often long to dance a jig before father and to
+throw something at Bridget's head, just to relieve the monotony."
+
+Helen laughed softly as Nan's grievances multiplied, knowing full well
+how it diminishes one's annoyances to be able to give voice to them.
+
+"Then Emily comes," continued Nan, with a scowl, "and tells me that my
+clothes are awful and that I look like a fright, and wonders why I
+can't cultivate a slight interest in men. I tell her," laughing
+dubiously, "that I would if I found them eager to do their share."
+
+"You silly child," and Helen squeezed Nan's arm affectionately. "I
+won't have you depreciate your dear self."
+
+But Nan was not to be so easily diverted.
+
+"I do hope that some day I shall see something of the world," she
+replied. "I would like to lead an exciting life, full of incident and
+adventure, and oh, dear me, who could lead one less so. I wish
+something new and interesting would happen."
+
+"O Nancy," Helen said to her gravely, "don't be so anxious to have
+things happen. It is so much better when they don't, little girl."
+
+Nan looked up at Helen and felt rebuked for her egotism, as she saw
+the shadow clouding her friend's pale face.
+
+Dissimilar as these two girls were in character, a very warm
+friendship existed between them. Helen dearly loved Nan for her ready
+wit, easy-going ways, warm heart, and sunny nature, and Nan simply
+adored Helen, looking up to her with the greatest admiration, and
+deferring readily to her judgment in all things. There was a very
+romantic side to Nan's nature, hidden away though it was, beneath so
+much nonsense and jollity, and Helen's love affair and its sad ending
+had touched her keenly. She thoroughly liked Guy, and he, on his part,
+had always shown a preference for her above the other girls. Perhaps
+he had guessed at her strong love for Helen and partisanship for
+himself, for to her alone had he spoken of Helen on his return from
+that last unhappy interview. His words had been few, but Nan had seen
+the real grief in his honest eyes, and her heart had ached for him.
+She made a pretty shrewd guess at the real state of affairs, and she
+found her firm belief, that Helen's heart belonged to Guy and that it
+would all come out right in the end, greatly strengthened by her
+friend's present unhappiness and discontent. To-day she was full of
+sympathy for Helen, but she respected her reticence too deeply to
+broach the subject, so she consoled herself with the thought that this
+mood scored a point in Guy's favor. Her reverie was broken in upon by
+Helen's voice saying gently:
+
+"I consider it a most fortunate thing, Nan, that I am carrying you off
+to church; I am sure the service will do us both good."
+
+"Well, there's room for improvement in me," laughed Nan. "You should
+have seen Em's face this morning when I told her that my one ambition
+was to imitate the proverbial minister's son."
+
+"Nancy, I am ashamed of you," Helen remonstrated, with a reluctant
+smile. "Come, be a good girl, for we are just at the church door. Let
+us give our hearts and minds to the service," she added with sweet
+gravity, "and we will see how much peace will come to us."
+
+"I will, dear," Nan whispered as they started up the aisle to the
+Lawrences' pew.
+
+The rector of St. Andrew's leaned somewhat toward ritualism, and no
+form nor observance that to his mind lent beauty and solemnity to the
+service was omitted. As the girls took their places the solemn chords
+of the Stabat Mater inclined their hearts to reverential prayer. In a
+moment more the doors of the vestry swung open and the organ took up
+the sweet strains of the soul-inspiring hymn, "Hark, hark, my soul."
+Slowly the choristers filed by; first the cross-bearer, his young face
+full of dignity, then the singers, two by two, and as their numbers
+swelled their fresh young voices filled the church.
+
+The grace and beauty of the Episcopal form of worship appealed to Nan.
+The rhythmic lines of the confessional, "We have erred and strayed
+from Thy ways like lost sheep," etc., moved her to a heartfelt
+penitence for her shortcomings, and inspired her with an earnest
+desire to live more nobly and unselfishly. One by one her petty trials
+took their flight, and only a sense of great peace remained. When the
+benediction had been pronounced and the girls had left the church,
+they were both somewhat subdued and silent. The slanting rays of the
+sun fell softly athwart the quaint old churchyard, and on the faintly
+stirring breeze was borne the sweet perfume of roses and honeysuckle
+which grew in such profusion against the low stone wall. Passing
+through the gateway they strolled side by side along the road.
+
+"I wish I could always attend St. Andrew's," mused Nan, slipping her
+hand within Helen's arm. "I really believe I would be a better girl.
+The ritual impresses me so deeply, and seems to bring religion home to
+me in such a convincing sort of way."
+
+"I don't think that is at all unnatural; but as time goes on, Nan, I
+believe you will find that your love for outside things will diminish,
+in proportion as your dependence upon what is deep and vital grows."
+
+"I would not fret about it in the least if it were not for my dear
+father," and Nan's face grew tender as she spoke, "but I know that
+this disposition of mine toward forms and symbols is a source of
+sorrow to him. He would have me a strong adherent to the old school of
+Presbyterianism, and he feels that my tendencies are leading me
+rapidly along the highway to Rome," and Nan's puzzled eyes met Helen's
+with a frank appeal for advice.
+
+Helen was silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly and
+meditatively.
+
+"Of course, Nan, each person has to decide such a question for
+himself, but it seems to me that when two people love each other
+dearly yet differ in their views, each should be willing to make some
+concessions and thus grow more generous and lenient with each
+other--Love is such a great power."
+
+"Indeed it is," cried big-hearted Nan, "and I know that the larger
+share of yielding should be mine, for dear father has grown old in his
+opinions, and it must be very hard for him to have me branch out for
+myself."
+
+They had reached a turn in the road where their paths diverged, and
+Nan asked:
+
+"You will come over and sing hymns this evening, won't you, Helen?"
+
+"Certainly. Are they coming over from the inn?"
+
+"I suppose so," and then with a friendly nod each went on her way.
+
+It was close upon eight o'clock that evening when Helen and Nathalie
+started out for the parsonage. The lovely twilight hour was almost
+over. High in the heavens rode the crescent moon, and, as the slowly
+fading daylight vanished, its white light penetrated the soft gloom
+which lay like a shroud over the manor park, and trees and lawns and
+winding paths came suddenly to life, as by the touch of a fairy wand.
+A sighing breeze stirred the leaves, from a fountain near at hand came
+the soft splash of falling waters and the night air vibrated gently
+with the myriad sounds of insect life.
+
+There was a rush and a scamper, and around the corner of the house
+the children raced and threw themselves upon Helen, with a shout of
+delight.
+
+"You naughty youngsters," chided their sister gently. "You ought to be
+in bed this minute, everyone of you."
+
+"We's going right off," cried Gladys breathlessly. "On'y we wants to
+be kissed first."
+
+Helen stooped down to fulfill their clamorous demand.
+
+"Now, be off," she laughed, straightening herself up and shaking a
+mildly reproachful finger at them, "and don't forget to go in and say
+good-night to Auntie," and then she and Nathalie proceeded leisurely
+on their way.
+
+They found the vine-covered porch of the parsonage quite overflowing
+with people. Wendell Churchill and Farr stepped hastily forward, and,
+after an interchange of cordial greetings, found seats for them.
+
+"How late you are," called Nan, from somewhere in the background. "I
+thought you were not coming."
+
+Helen left apologies and explanations to Nathalie, and turned to
+answer an inquiry from Farr in regard to Jean.
+
+"I am sorry to say she is deep in a book," she said, looking up at him
+with a smile, "and we could not persuade her to leave it. However, she
+promised to follow us shortly."
+
+"And does Miss Jean always keep her promises?" Farr asked lightly.
+
+"I think she does," Helen rejoined, meeting his eyes for an instant.
+
+"Come, Helen. Start some of the good old hymns."
+
+At Mollie's suggestion Helen's clear soprano took up the refrain of
+"Lead, kindly light," and the others joined in heartily. From long
+practice their voices blended beautifully.
+
+They had been singing for nearly an hour when Farr rose quietly to his
+feet.
+
+"Miss Lawrence," he said, bending over her chair, "don't you think
+Miss Jean should be brought to a realizing sense of her delinquencies
+and coerced into making some reparation?"
+
+"Indeed, I do," she assented with a frank laugh, "but what are we
+going to do about it?"
+
+"I don't think my desertion would be noticed if I should go in search
+of her," Farr suggested, lowering his voice. "Do you?"
+
+Helen gave him a swift glance of amusement.
+
+"'I would not hear thine enemy say so.' But go and see what your
+persuasive powers can do."
+
+"You have put me on my mettle now," he rejoined, as he stepped over
+the low railing and dropped noiselessly on to the grass below, and it
+was with a sense of amusement that he recognized his own impatience
+and eagerness as he set out for the manor.
+
+He paused to light a cigarette, then strode on over the soft turf,
+revolving many and varied thoughts in his mind. The brightness died
+out of his eyes, and the lines of the mouth were stern and
+compressed, for to-night the past with its perplexities and
+disappointments rose vividly before him. In his thirty years of life
+fortune had dealt him some severe blows and had set him adrift with
+more doubts than beliefs, more cynicism than sentiment. His was a very
+reserved and sensitive temperament, and under the garb of laziness and
+indifference his troubles were jealously hidden from curious eyes. The
+man's best self lay dormant, and some influence was sorely needed to
+rouse him to the necessity of facing his difficulties and conquering
+them before they should conquer him.
+
+He had left the hedge behind him, and, as he came out on the
+drive-way, a gleam of light from the manor house shot out through the
+trees and brightened his path. Involuntarily he started, and a vision
+of Jean Lawrence's face came between his mind and all painful memories
+and robbed them of their sting.
+
+Reaching the veranda steps, he threw away his cigarette, mounted them
+and crossed to where the outer door stood hospitably open, revealing
+the wide hall within, its shadowy recesses softly penetrated by the
+light from a quaint lamp swung from the low, studded ceiling. He
+lifted the hand knocker, and let it fall, then pushing his hat back on
+his head, stared meditatively before him, while waiting for a response
+to his summons. Not a sound broke the stillness, and at length he took
+his hat in his hand and stepped across the threshold, and made his way
+to the entrance of the drawing-room, across which the portières were
+partly drawn. His footfalls on the soft rugs scarce heralded his
+approach. The scene which met his eyes was indeed a pretty one, and
+for a brief space he stood motionless.
+
+On a low divan in a far corner of the room, Jean had thrown herself
+with unconscious grace of pose. The warm coloring of the Oriental rug
+and bright-colored cushions made a charming background for the slender
+white-clad figure. A tall lamp shed a bright light across the open
+page of her book, on which her eyes were riveted. Her face was flushed
+with interest, her soft hair in fine disorder. Farr noted everything,
+from the golden head, resting upon the silken cushions, to the dainty
+slippered foot, just peeping beneath the hem of her gown.
+
+A slight movement on his part discovered him to Jean, and she started
+up in dismay.
+
+"Well, Mr. Farr, you did give me a fright," she cried, laughing
+confusedly, for his steady gaze disconcerted her somewhat. "I should
+think you would be ashamed of yourself for having startled me so."
+
+"I am," recovering himself with a slight effort, for the swift change
+that had swept over Jean's expressive face at his unexpected
+appearance had set his heart to beating with unwonted emotion. "You
+will forgive me, will you not?" he finished, as he stood at her side
+and looked penitently down at her.
+
+"Why, yes, but I don't advise your making a practice of strolling into
+people's houses, and appearing suddenly in their drawing-rooms; you
+might be mistaken for a burglar, and I have heard," with a malicious
+little laugh, "that it is unpleasant to be shot."
+
+"Oh, come now, Miss Jean, you are very unfair to me; if you only knew
+the real facts of the case."
+
+But Jean was still a little resentful, for she felt that she had been
+taken at a disadvantage.
+
+"Really?" she answered incredulously, with a mischievous shrug of the
+shoulders.
+
+"Yes, very," he protested, with a glance of amusement into her
+upraised eyes. "I did everything I could to gain admission in the
+regulation way, but was quite unsuccessful."
+
+"What a shame," she said, interrupting him with softened voice. "I
+suppose the maids were all out in the garden for a stroll this fine
+night, and I was so absorbed in my book that I didn't hear the
+knocker."
+
+"And then," he resumed, with a valiant disregard of the truth, "I came
+in making as much ado as I conveniently could, without calling out or
+overturning the furniture."
+
+"Under the circumstances I see that you must be forgiven. Won't you be
+seated, Mr. Farr? I don't know what I have been thinking of, to allow
+you to remain standing all this while."
+
+"Thank you, no. On the other hand, I want to persuade you to arise."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I am here on a mission. I have come to reproach you for not
+keeping your promise to join us at the parsonage."
+
+"And to whom am I indebted for this kind and flattering interest?"
+
+"None other than myself."
+
+"Oh, you are too good," she cried laughingly, springing to her feet,
+and making him a sweeping obeisance.
+
+"If that is your honest opinion, Miss Jean, suppose you prove it by
+going back with me."
+
+"I can't be a traitor to my words," and she tossed her book on to the
+table, and preceded him out into the hall-way.
+
+"Is it cool enough for a wrap?"
+
+Farr surveyed her muslin gown with a critical eye.
+
+"Indeed, it is."
+
+"All right," she yielded carelessly, "but I never take cold."
+
+She picked up a coat from the rack, and Farr helped her on with it,
+and then they wandered out into the night.
+
+"Is it not delicious?" Jean sighed, as they sauntered leisurely along.
+
+"It seems so to me," he returned, with a glance into the girl's eyes.
+
+"Miss Jean," he began, after a brief silence, "Did you not tell me
+once that there was a pretty walk through the shrubbery?"
+
+"Yes?" with a note of interrogation.
+
+"In which direction would it lead us, if we should take it now?"
+
+"To the parsonage, eventually, but," hesitatingly, "by a much longer
+way than by the path through the hedge."
+
+"The longer, the better--for me."
+
+"I don't know what they will think has become of us," she demurred.
+
+Farr laughed easily.
+
+"I never trouble myself too much about what people think."
+
+"I don't doubt that you are in no way different from the rest of your
+sex. I believe it is generally conceded that selfishness is its
+salient characteristic."
+
+"A popular fallacy. Do I not prove it to you, Miss Jean?"
+
+"Oh, of course you are the exception that proves the rule," she
+returned with gentle sarcasm.
+
+He stopped suddenly, midway in the path they were traversing, and
+looked straight down at her. There was a ring of deeper feeling in his
+voice as he spoke:
+
+"I want you to think just as well of me as you can, and I cannot
+imagine having a more earnest desire than that I might always prove
+worthy of your kindest thoughts."
+
+There was a tinge of defiance in Jean's manner as she answered him
+flippantly:
+
+"Don't you think I would be using my time rather aimlessly, Mr. Farr,
+were I to give it up to thoughts of you?"
+
+An expression of keen displeasure crossed Farr's face.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said stiffly.
+
+Instantly Jean repented of her foolish words, and was heartily sorry
+to have wounded her companion, but the slight tremor at her heart
+warned her that to confess would be unwise.
+
+"I think of you quite as much as you deserve," she ventured with a
+nervous little laugh, and she began to walk on toward the shrubbery at
+a brisker pace.
+
+Farr made no immediate rejoinder, and when he spoke again it was in an
+altered tone.
+
+"There is quite a fragrance to this box-wood, is there not?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, and a very pleasant one. The perfume is heavy these warm
+nights after the sun has been shining on it all day."
+
+"You have no idea what a charm the country has for me. I have really
+been in it so little since I was a boy."
+
+"But your home is in the country, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, but my family spend the winters in Washington, and our country
+home is only open during the summer months. I don't often get a chance
+to go down there. My mother keeps the house pretty well filled, for my
+two married brothers live at home."
+
+"And have you no sisters?"
+
+Farr's voice, which had sounded a little cold when speaking of his
+home, changed to sudden tenderness.
+
+"Yes, one, and she is the dearest little girl in the world."
+
+"I suppose you love her dearly, and do your best to spoil her?"
+
+"Well, Clarisse and I are certainly great chums," he assented.
+
+"How nice it must be to have an older brother. We girls have always
+regretted so that we did not have one, although," with a sad little
+sigh, "we used to have a dear old friend who was just as good as a
+brother; but he has gone away now."
+
+"I suppose that there are times when they are of some use," said Farr,
+"although men are so hopelessly selfish."
+
+"I would not think of contradicting you," Jean laughingly averred.
+"Come, we are talking a great deal, and not making much headway, and
+it must be growing late."
+
+"I am all tangled up in this maze of by-paths. In which direction is
+the parsonage from here?"
+
+"If you don't mind climbing a stone wall, we can turn to our right,
+and take a short cut, and we will be there in no time."
+
+Farr agreed, and they walked on in silence until they had emerged from
+the shrubbery into a small clearing, skirted on the further side by a
+wall, its line broken at a certain point where some stones had been
+thrown down. Farr sprang lightly across, and turned back to assist
+Jean. Just then the moon, which had slipped under a cloud, shone out
+again, its soft rays falling directly on the girl's face. She had one
+foot already on the first stepping stone when he put up his hand to
+stay her.
+
+"Well," she asked, as he did not speak. "What is it? Are you not going
+to help me?"
+
+"Of course I am, but," leaning a little toward her, "this wall is a
+sort of a Rubicon. Once crossed we cannot go back, for we are then in
+the parsonage grounds. It has been a pleasant walk, and one to be
+remembered, has it not?"
+
+"Yes," she murmured, with a quick indrawing of her breath.
+
+"I wish----" he began impetuously.
+
+"Mr. Farr," she interposed with gentle decision, "will you please help
+me over."
+
+He gave her his hand, and gravely assisted her to the ground on the
+other side.
+
+They were nearing the porch, and already the sounds of gay voices
+reached them through the stillness of the summer night, when Jean
+turned abruptly to the man at her side.
+
+"By the way, Mr. Farr, we are to have a visitor shortly, and I hope
+you men will help us to make it pleasant for her."
+
+He uttered some polite commonplace, and Jean went on:
+
+"Perhaps you know Helen's friend, a Miss Stuart of New York."
+
+A sudden recollection flashed through Farr's mind.
+
+"Not one chance in a thousand that it should be the same," he thought,
+as he answered indifferently, "I think not."
+
+"I thought possibly you might have met," she said carelessly. "She
+seems to know almost everyone."
+
+He half turned to put a question to her, but already they were at the
+vine-covered porch, and Nan's jolly greeting lost him the opportunity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+NAN REBELS.
+
+
+Into the days that followed were crowded more gay doings than the
+quiet village of Hetherford had ever seen before. Old Dr. Birdsall
+shook his head disapprovingly over all this unseemly frivolity, but
+Aunt Helen's gentle voice championed the young folks, and persuaded
+him to allow Nan to join in the good times. The naval officers were in
+constant demand whenever they were not on duty, and at the end of the
+week the other men came out from town, and their advent was the signal
+for a series of rides, drives, walks, tennis matches, and amusements
+of every description.
+
+Emily pronounced herself perfectly satisfied, and when Nan and Mollie
+grumbled over a few of the changes that had followed in the train of
+all these merry-makings, she declared them heretics and disdainfully
+turned her back upon them.
+
+It was after a day on the _Vortex_ that Eleanor, Nan, and Mollie sat
+together in Eleanor's box of a room in the inn, and held a council of
+war.
+
+They had had a beautiful sail. There was a "smoky sou'wester" blowing,
+and Uncle Sam's schooner, decked in holiday attire, had flown before
+the wind like a bird. Captain Dodd proved a genial, pleasant host, and
+Mrs. Dodd's heart had been quite won by Helen's notice of her
+three-year-old boy, a jolly little chap, whose tow-colored hair showed
+in strange contrast to his sunburned face. No stone had been left
+unturned to make the day successful, and as the girls were all good
+sailors, the stiff breeze and careening of the boat only added zest to
+their enjoyment.
+
+However, nothing in this world is quite perfect. Nan and Mollie
+scowled at the general tendency to wander off in pairs. Mollie termed
+it bad form, while Nan sniffed, and called it utterly ridiculous.
+Finally Nan was roused to action. She called to Jean, who, with Farr
+at her side, was leaning against the rail well up forward, and
+demanded a recitation. Jean complied somewhat reluctantly. She stood
+in the midst of the little group, one hand holding fast to the
+companion-way to steady herself, the other tucked away down into the
+pocket of her reefer. She hesitated a moment, searching about in her
+mind. Her choice at length fell upon one, dearly loved by all the
+girls, called "Sister Felicité."
+
+The beautiful lines were spoken with the greatest simplicity, but
+there was a depth of pathos in the girl's low voice that went straight
+to the hearts of her hearers. The short silence that followed her last
+words was more flattering in its import than would have been the
+loudest applause. There was a slight pallor in the girl's face when
+she had finished, and during the rest of the afternoon she was very
+subdued; and Farr, who had been deeply impressed by her rendering of
+this sad and beautiful poem, seemed to share her mood.
+
+Nan, and Mollie, who were both a little rebellious at the turn affairs
+were taking, noticed this incident, and so the council of war had been
+called. Nan's conscience was quite clear, and she plunged bluntly into
+the conversation.
+
+"Now that Jean has turned sentimental and emotional, I think it is
+high time for us to take matters in hand. Em always has been a
+backslider from the compact, but when Jean begins that sort of thing
+it is going a little too far."
+
+"Punning is sadly out of place, Nan, on such a serious subject,"
+laughed Eleanor, not sorry for an excuse to interrupt the discussion.
+
+Nan was thoroughly in earnest, and beyond a chuckle at her own
+discomfiture, she took no notice of Eleanor's frivolity.
+
+"I don't think love affairs are much fun, anyway," sighed Mollie.
+"Surely Helen's was miserable, and only resulted in making everybody
+unhappy and uncomfortable."
+
+"That strikes me as a trifle pessimistic, Moll," said Eleanor. "Happy
+marriages may be rare, but it can't be denied that they exist."
+
+"Oh! dearie me," groaned Nan, "when you talk like that you make me
+feel as if the world were turning upside down. I never dreamed of it
+being a question of love affairs, and marriages."
+
+"I was not referring to anyone in particular," Eleanor protested
+hastily, "we were merely arguing in an abstract way. Weren't we,
+Moll?"
+
+"All I meant was," Nan went on in a dolorous voice, "that we have lost
+our originality when we begin to act just like other girls--flirting,
+and all that sort of rot. We used to have fun in the good old days
+when we all staid together. There were never any discussions as to how
+we should walk or drive for everybody was willing to go with everybody
+else. _Tête-à-têtes_ were unheard of, and nobody was ever silly."
+
+Mollie's sentiments chimed in with Nan, but Eleanor's assent was
+somewhat slower in coming.
+
+"I suppose it is only a question of time," she said, "for the _Vortex_
+can't be here much longer, and Mr. Churchill always takes the _Sylph_
+back to town in September. Then we can settle down, and have a good
+old-fashioned time during 'the autumn.'"
+
+"When will Cliff go?" Nan asked, with a sly laugh.
+
+Eleanor turned her head away to hide the tell-tale color that rose in
+her face.
+
+"Oh! come, Nancy, your imagination is running away with you. Nothing
+will satisfy you short of the banishment of the sex."
+
+"Qui s'excuse, s'accuse," quoted Mollie in an undertone.
+
+Eleanor laughed in spite of herself. She pushed back her chair, and
+crossed to the open window. Along the dusty highroad Cliff came
+sauntering. When he was just in front of the inn he looked up, and
+caught sight of Eleanor. He raised his hat, and called out to her to
+come down, and go for a stroll before supper. She gave him a curt
+refusal, and turned back into the room.
+
+"You shouldn't punish Cliff for my impertinence," reproved Nan. "It
+was not his fault."
+
+Eleanor frowned and spoke impatiently:
+
+"Cliff is only a boy, and a rather foolish one at that. But to
+continue. All this nonsense, as you call it, Nan, will be of brief
+duration, and my advice is to make the best of it."
+
+"There is a worse time coming," Mollie declared. "The _Vortex_ has
+wrought changes enough, but I don't suppose we will recognize the old
+place at all when the magnificent Miss Stuart arrives."
+
+"Sufficient unto the day," said Nan. "Well, good-by, girls I must be
+off."
+
+When the door had closed upon her two friends, Eleanor went back to
+the window, and leaning against the casement, looked abstractedly out.
+She thought of Cliff, and the disappointed look his face had worn when
+she spoke to him so rudely. Certainly Cliff had come under the spell
+that was over them all this eventful summer. She had striven to deter
+him, but in spite of her best efforts, he had found a moment in which
+to tell her of his love. To this she had lent the coldest ear, holding
+out to him no hope whatever. Cliff had listened very patiently, but
+there was something in his quiet refusal to accept this answer as
+final that had made Eleanor, woman of the world as she was, feel
+singularly helpless. They had taken up life again just where they had
+left it before Cliff spoke, and since then no reference had been made
+to the matter.
+
+The smile had quite died out of Eleanor's face. She went over to her
+writing table and picked up a little note which Cliff had written her
+on some trifling matter. She looked at it for a moment, then half
+raised it to her lips. With a shame-faced laugh she dropped it back
+among the letters on her table and turned impatiently away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One sultry morning toward the end of July, as Helen sat sewing on the
+upper balcony, a maid came out through the French window with a small
+tray in her hand, on which lay a yellow envelope. Helen leaned forward
+and picked up the telegram.
+
+"Thank you, Susie. Is the boy waiting?"
+
+"Yes, Miss."
+
+"Well, you may go. I will bring the answer down myself when I have it
+ready."
+
+When the maid had withdrawn Helen tore open the envelope. The message
+read thus: "Can you come to town for the night? Want to see you.
+Please don't disappoint. L. S."
+
+Helen read it through twice.
+
+"Oh I should love to go," she thought. "I wonder if Auntie or the
+girls would object."
+
+She folded the telegram and fitted it into the envelope, and then sat
+looking absent-mindedly at the address, the while her face wore a
+puzzled look. Her indecision lasted for an instant only, and then she
+sprang up and ran through the hall-way to Mrs. Dennis' room.
+
+Aunt Helen met her request with a ready consent, and in a moment the
+little boy was riding off to the station with Helen's answer carefully
+stowed away in the pocket of his coat.
+
+As Helen entered her room a glance at the clock told her that a little
+celerity would enable her to catch the twelve forty-five express, and
+she went to work with a will to collect her traps. She was in the
+midst of packing when a knock came at the door, and Jean, without
+waiting for permission, entered. She looked around the disordered room
+with a questioning glance.
+
+"What is the matter?" she asked.
+
+Her sister answered from the depths of her closet:
+
+"I am going to town unexpectedly, and you are just the girl I want to
+see, Jeanie, for I have a lot of things to say to you before I leave."
+
+"Where are you going to stay?"
+
+"With Lillian."
+
+Jean's face fell, and she spoke coldly.
+
+"What train do you take?"
+
+"The twelve forty-five, and I haven't a moment to spare. It must be
+noon now."
+
+"It is. The village clock struck as I came in."
+
+"Oh, dear! Put those things in the valise, Jean, won't you, while I
+hunt for my hat and gloves. The carriage will be at the door in five
+minutes."
+
+Jean complied, and, as she was making room for the last few articles
+in the already crowded valise, Helen came and stood beside her.
+
+"Dearie," she said, as she drew on her gloves, "will you please be
+very attentive to Aunt Helen while I am away, and not leave her too
+much alone? And, oh, Jean, do look after the children. Don't have them
+off your mind for a moment. I am always so afraid that something will
+happen to them when I am not here."
+
+Jean laughed cheerily.
+
+"That is nonsense, Helen. Why in the world should you worry? Of course
+I will look after them."
+
+"I know you always do, dear; only I wanted to remind you."
+
+"Well, you need not be anxious. When will you return?"
+
+"To-morrow, I think. You might have the carriage meet the afternoon
+express. Now I must fly."
+
+Jean caught up the valise, and carried it downstairs, while her sister
+went to say good-by to Mrs. Dennis.
+
+The carriage was already at the door when Helen came out on the
+veranda. She stopped a moment to kiss the boys and charge them to be
+good, and caught Gladys up in her arms.
+
+"Do you want to go to the station with sister?"
+
+"Course I do," enthusiastically.
+
+Helen put the child in the carriage, and then stepped in beside her.
+
+"Is my valise in, Jean?"
+
+"Yes, dear. Good-by, and have a good time."
+
+"I will," replied Helen, as Nathalie took her place on the front seat
+and gathered up the reins. "Remember, Jean, you have the entire
+responsibility of the children, and do not let Gladys out of your
+sight."
+
+Jean nodded smilingly, and stood on the steps and watched the carriage
+until a turn in the road bid it from view.
+
+Then, as she slowly made her way into the house, the light died out of
+her face, and involuntarily she sighed.
+
+"I wish I did not distrust Lillian Stuart as I do," she thought. "It
+is so unfounded--as yet."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A FLYING MACHINE AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
+
+
+Early that same afternoon Eleanor and Nan dropped in at the manor and
+suggested a game of tennis. The Lawrences acquiesced, and after a
+search for balls and rackets they wandered down to the courts. Jean
+stopped behind for a moment to find the children and tell them to
+follow her, for nurse had begged a holiday and had gone off for the
+afternoon. The sun's hot rays beat down upon the unshaded courts,
+discouraging even Nan's enthusiasm; so, after one set played with
+flagging energy, they threw down their rackets and retired to a pretty
+little summerhouse, just at the foot of the terrace. By and by, when
+they were cool again, Eleanor arose and suggested that they should
+stroll down toward the station to meet Cliff and Dick, who were coming
+up early. Jean alone demurred. It was sweet and peaceful within the
+shelter of the little summerhouse, and the prospect of a long hot walk
+along the dusty road was not tempting. Most opportunely she remembered
+Helen's injunction in regard to the children, and pleading this excuse
+she sent the others off with a half-promise that she might join them
+at the inn later, if nurse should get home in good season.
+
+When Jean was alone, she leaned back in her comfortable corner with
+an air of great contentment. She rested her elbow on the ledge of the
+seat, and propping her chin in her hand gazed dreamily, unseeingly out
+across the sunlit lawn. The children were playing under the shade of a
+widespreading elm, and the clear treble of their young voices was a
+pleasant accompaniment to her happy thoughts. Now and again, as some
+look or gesture of Farr's recurred to her with peculiar distinctness,
+a shy and tremulous joy dawned in her face, and lingered there.
+
+Ah, Jean, such moments are indeed golden, when in your dreams all life
+seems sweet and fair. Do not hasten the inevitable awakening, for with
+the realization comes ever a sting to make the heart ache and throb.
+In after days this peaceful scene will live with you, the memory of
+its happiness haunt and mock you, until you fain would thrust it from
+you!
+
+Meanwhile Valentine Farr was making his way down the terraced pathway
+in search of Jean, his heart strangely stirred with the thought of the
+sweet voice that would speak to him, of the pair of blue eyes that
+would welcome him. Then, as he walked blithely on, there fell on him
+the shadow of a memory fraught with pain. He threw back his head and
+drew a deep breath, as he squarely faced the difficulties that lay
+before him. He knew that before he might dare to hope, before he might
+dare to speak to Jean, there was much that must be told her, and
+although his heart grew heavy within him, the look of resolution on
+his grave face betokened a strong determination to overcome all
+obstacles so far as lay within his power.
+
+He was descending the last terrace when little Gladys ran out from
+her shady playground and, holding out her arms to him, begged for a
+ride. He caught her up and swinging her on to his shoulder held her
+there securely as he hastened on toward the summerhouse, whence he had
+seen a flutter of Jean's white gown. Gladys was wild with excitement,
+and her shrill little cries of pleasure roused Jean from her reverie.
+She shifted her position a little to see what was going on, and then
+started up and moved forward to the arched doorway of the summerhouse
+and stood waiting for them. From her elevated position, Gladys waved
+frantically to her and then flung her arms tightly around Farr's neck.
+
+"That is hot work, little one," he declared with a laugh, as he
+deposited the child on the ground and raised his hat to Jean.
+
+"Oh, it was grand!" cried Gladys, capering around and shaking her
+golden curls into a tangled mass.
+
+Jean smiled and extended her hand to Farr, but her words were for
+Gladys.
+
+"I have not a doubt of it, darling," she said, "but I fear Mr. Farr
+found you a very heavy load to carry this hot day."
+
+Gladys' head drooped, and she gave Farr a shy glance from out of the
+corners of her eyes.
+
+"Was I vewy heavy?" she asked, in such a plaintive little voice that
+he had hard work to keep his face straight as he hastened to reassure
+her.
+
+"Is not this a sylvan retreat, and are you not glad you came?" Jean
+queried, looking over her shoulder at him as she led the way into the
+summerhouse.
+
+"Glad!" he echoed. "Glad does not begin to express it."
+
+"Wait until you see how sleepy and stupid I am before you make such a
+rash assertion. Evidently you are in no way disheartened," she added,
+as Farr, looking somewhat incredulous, took his place beside her on
+the low seat.
+
+"Not one whit," he replied softly. "It would be a very novel
+experience for me to find you stupid."
+
+Jean turned a quizzical glance upon him.
+
+"What an extravagant compliment. Where did you learn such gallantry?"
+
+"When first I saw you," he returned, and although he spoke lightly
+there was an undercurrent of earnestness in his tone.
+
+Gladys, who had been chasing a butterfly around and around the
+summerhouse, now stopped at the doorway and peeped in. She lingered a
+moment, tilting her head, first on one side and then on the other, and
+smiling encouragingly on the twain. Then, as neither Jean nor Farr
+took any notice of her, she twisted about and scampered off toward the
+playground. Larry and Willie hailed her with delight, and anyone
+watching the three little heads so close together would have known
+that there was mischief brewing.
+
+"I know some splendid fun," Willie was saying in a cautiously lowered
+voice. "I read lots about it in a book. It's all about flyin' machines
+an' human birds. Let's go over to the orchard, an' I'll tell you how
+to play it."
+
+"Me, too, Willie, please," piped Gladys.
+
+"Oh, yes. You can come along, 'cause you're just the person we might
+want," and Willie's air of importance was most impressive.
+
+"I guess Jean won't mind," said Larry.
+
+Willie was far too excited to vouchsafe a reply, and the children
+scurried along toward the orchard. Their route lay past the
+summerhouse, and when they were opposite it some pin-prick of
+conscience made them pause and look within. Jean and Farr were deeply
+absorbed in conversation, and it was quite apparent, even to their
+childish minds, that their sister would never notice their absence. Of
+one accord they broke into a run, and did not subside into a more
+demure pace until the shrubbery hid them from view.
+
+"You see," said Willie, when he had recovered his breath, "it is the
+greatest fun to play birds. All we've got to do is to use our arms
+right, an' then we can fly good enough. It said so in the book," he
+ended with a wise little nod of his head.
+
+Gladys' eyes grew big with wonder.
+
+"Can I fly, too?" she pleaded.
+
+"Course you can. You're just the most principal."
+
+Gladys beamed upon him, and her face wore a proud smile. To have
+Willie call her "the most principal" was a very deep and far-reaching
+compliment.
+
+Willie heaved a sigh of relief when, after scrambling over the stone
+wall, they were at last within the orchard.
+
+"Now, nobody can find us. We've all got to learn to fly. See, Larry,
+you just flop your arms so. They've got to be our wings."
+
+"Don't guess I'se got any wings," sighed Gladys, "'cause they don't
+f'y me a bit."
+
+Willie and Larry were racing around the orchard, swinging their arms
+in the air until they looked like animated wind-mills. Gladys trotted
+after them, striving to imitate their motions until her little legs
+and arms grew very weary. Then she stopped and stood watching them
+disconsolately.
+
+"I don't fink you games any fun at all," she exclaimed, in an
+aggrieved tone, as the boys ran up to her puffing and panting from
+their exertions. "You don't f'y a bit like birdies, any more nor I
+do."
+
+Willie eyed her with great scorn.
+
+"Oh, you're only a baby. Course you can't do anything."
+
+"You said I was most principal," Gladys reminded him, with quivering
+lips.
+
+"Oh, I say," Larry broke in, "I'll tell you what we'll do, Will. We'll
+play she's a baby bird, an' then we'll teach her to fly. We must put
+her up in a tree, an' then pretend to shove her out of the nest, just
+the way the mamma bird does."
+
+Gladys' face brightened, and she smiled sunnily.
+
+"P'r'aps," objected tender-hearted Willie, "she might tumble herself
+an' break her wings."
+
+Larry scouted the idea.
+
+"You're a regular muff, Will. Gladys ain't afraid; are you, Gladys?"
+
+"Course I aren't," cried Gladys stoutly.
+
+After an exciting and somewhat heated discussion, the boys finally
+arrived at a satisfactory decision as to the best way of getting
+Gladys up into a tree, and, in the midst of much chaffing and some
+wrangling, a rustic bench was drawn to the foot of a gnarled old apple
+tree, and the difficult task was begun. "Oh, dear!" ejaculated Willie,
+very red and very warm, "She's a terrible heavy bird."
+
+They were in a perilous position, and Gladys' burst of laughter nearly
+brought them all to the ground.
+
+"Guess I eated too many worms," she said.
+
+When at last she was safely perched on a projecting branch, Willie
+clambered down and drew away the bench, and Larry, sitting astride
+another branch, assumed the rôle of master of ceremonies.
+
+"Now, little bird," he said authoritatively, "I ain't goin' to bring
+you any more worms to eat, an' you just got to learn to fly yourself.
+You must flap your wings like this, an' when I count three you must
+fly away."
+
+Gladys' first attempt to follow these instructions nearly upset her,
+but she regained her balance and gripping tight hold of an overhanging
+limb turned a troubled face toward her brother.
+
+"I guess my wings is gwowed w'ong."
+
+"Cause there ain't any feathers on 'em, I s'pose," giggled Larry.
+
+This sally proved too much for Gladys, and flinging back her head she
+burst into a merry peal of laughter. In her sudden movement her little
+hands lost their hold on the limb, and plunging forward she fell
+heavily to the ground. One sharp cry and then the child lay still and
+silent, her little white face upturned.
+
+"Oh!" gasped Willie, "p'r'aps she's broke her wings."
+
+Larry slipped quickly down from the tree, and leaned anxiously over
+his little sister's prostrate form.
+
+"Get up, Gladys," he pleaded, and then, as the child did not stir, he
+began to cry piteously.
+
+For an instant Willie stood irresolute, his hands tightly clinched,
+his ruddy face grown pale with fear.
+
+"I'm going to find Jean," he said, and turned and started on a run
+toward the shrubbery.
+
+Larry caught hold of him and clung to him in an agony of fear.
+
+"I'm awfully scared, Willie. Please don't leave me."
+
+Willie shook him off impatiently, and pointed a reproachful finger to
+where Gladys lay in an unnatural stillness, and then, without another
+word, he was gone.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During all this time Jean had not once thought of the children, and
+Helen's injunctions had been completely forgotten. While Farr was
+waiting an opportunity to broach the subject that was uppermost in his
+mind, Jean herself opened the way for him. She had been telling him in
+her happiest vein of numberless incidents of her childish days;
+laughing outright at the memory of many a scrape and frolic, and
+speaking with a pathetic quiver in her voice as she showed him the
+reverse side of the picture, recalling those dreary days when to the
+poor little orphaned Lawrences, in their desolation, it seemed that
+the light of their lives had been forever darkened.
+
+As Farr listened to the innocent recital, told in Jean's own forceful
+dramatic way, he found his heart growing very tender, yet sad withal.
+It made him feel infinitely far away from her to hear her speak thus
+lovingly and trustfully of her family. Ah, yes, love was indeed the
+keynote of life at the manor. Farr had never realized this more
+strongly than he did to-day as he mentally contrasted the happy
+atmosphere, the tender relationships of Jean's home life, with his own
+unloved, unhappy boyhood. So deep was he in thought that he did not
+notice that Jean had ceased speaking, until she turned and called him
+by name.
+
+"Mr. Farr, I have been very egotistical and I want you to do me a
+great favor to prove that you have forgiven me."
+
+"I would find it hard to refuse you."
+
+"Do you remember that day down on the cliffs, so long ago?"
+
+Farr signified his assent, and she continued:
+
+"Well, that day you said that perhaps sometime you would tell me
+something of your life."
+
+Farr's face flushed with gratification, and he would have spoken but
+she stopped him almost imperiously.
+
+"I have thought that your 'perhaps' signified a great deal; that it
+was put in to save yourself in case, on further acquaintance with me,
+you felt that you did not want to give me your confidence, and I
+confess," looking up at him with a reproachful smile, "that I have
+been not a little hurt by your silence."
+
+"Please don't say that, Miss Jean; and do you know that, strangely
+enough, I came here to-day to tell you--to tell you that miserable
+story, but I scarcely knew how to begin it."
+
+He paused a moment, and then resumed bitterly:
+
+"I never knew half how miserable the story would sound to you until I
+listened to you this afternoon, and realized all that I had missed out
+of my life."
+
+Jean looked at him sympathetically, and her eyes urged him to
+continue, although she did not speak.
+
+"I am going to try not to bore you with any complaints, Miss Jean, and
+I must beg you not to be distressed if I speak plainly in regard to my
+family, with whom I am on exceedingly bad terms."
+
+"Surely that does not include Clarisse?"
+
+"Oh, no; not Clarisse, bless her heart. She and I have always stood
+faithfully by each other. My troubles began when my father died. I was
+quite a little chap at the time, but I loved my poor old governor
+dearly. My mother is a woman of great strength of character and with
+an unbounded love of power, and she and I were decidedly antagonistic.
+My father, who was the mildest of men, had the greatest admiration for
+her and in most things yielded readily to her stronger will, but where
+I was concerned he took a firm stand; so, although I was in great awe
+of my mother, I always had a refuge in my father. My older brothers,
+Lansing and Fred, never took to me at all. They were wise in their day
+and generation, and even when they were youngsters studied to please,
+and so in our quarrels and disputes my mother invariably took their
+part. I felt the injustice without being able to reason about it, and
+grew daily more surly and defiant. From the day my father died I had a
+very bad time of it, and was always in disgrace. I know I was by no
+means blameless, but there was something in my mother's cold disregard
+of me that roused a very demon of defiance in me. Clarisse was the
+only person in the world whom I honestly loved, and the first serious
+trouble with my mother was on her account," and even at this day
+Farr's face grew black at the remembrance. "It was a rainy day, and we
+children were all playing in the nursery. Clarisse was just recovering
+from an illness, and was not yet very strong. In some way she
+accidentally broke a new boat of Fred's. He was angry and, after
+scolding her until she began to cry, finally struck her across the
+face. I sprang toward him, my blind rage lending me unusual strength,
+and beat him unmercifully. Lansing, nurse, and Clarisse set up a great
+hue and cry, and in the midst of it all my mother walked into the
+room. Fred, who certainly did present a rather battered appearance,
+rushed to her and bawled out a garbled version of the affair and I
+slunk off into a corner, looking thoroughly guilty, I have not a
+doubt. My mother did not wait for any explanation, but summarily sent
+Clarisse and myself to Coventry. I might have forgiven her for the
+injustice to myself. I was so used to it as to have hardly noticed it,
+but I never forgave the unkindness to poor little Clarisse."
+
+There was a brief silence, broken at length by Jean.
+
+"I cannot understand it, Mr. Farr; surely a mother must love all her
+children."
+
+"I suppose my mother did in her way. I do not tell you this, Miss
+Jean, to prejudice you against her nor to exonerate myself, but only
+to, in a measure, explain subsequent events. There was never any
+sympathy between us. My manner, my character, my very looks were
+distasteful to her, and she made no attempt to conceal this from me.
+Up to the time of this occurrence I had had moments of feeling very
+contrite, when I had striven to overcome my faults; but from that time
+I hardened myself and never tried to break down the barrier that had
+been raised. Clarisse shared my feeling to a great extent, but she was
+far too gentle and loving to oppose my mother. She did her best to
+soften me and to prevent circumstances from embittering me. As I grew
+older my relationship with my family became more and more strained,
+and it was my great ambition to enter the navy and cut adrift from my
+home. When finally I broached the subject to my mother, I learned for
+the first time that my father had left his entire estate, which was a
+considerable one, to my mother, and that I was entirely dependent upon
+her. My mother was exceedingly generous in those matters, and in
+justice to her I must say that, however much she may have denied me
+her affection, she always treated me most liberally in a material way.
+I had been given every advantage without stint, and had been brought
+up in the greatest comfort and luxury, and without any adequate
+knowledge of the value of money. She did not favor the idea of my
+entering the navy, but I was troublesome at home, so she made a
+concession and I was allowed to go to Annapolis. In the meantime my
+brothers had obediently followed the careers my mother had marked out
+for them, and having furthermore married in accordance with her
+wishes, she provided each of them with a most liberal allowance,
+retaining, however, a controlling hand in their affairs. Those years
+at Annapolis were the happiest I had ever known. I had been very much
+touched by my mother's yielding, and when I was at home I did my best
+not to annoy or antagonize her in any way, and we really got along
+very smoothly."
+
+Farr had reached a difficult point in his story, and hesitated a
+moment to mentally review the past, and then began again in the same
+quiet voice that had characterized his telling of it so far.
+
+"The summer preceding my senior year I went home to find stopping in
+the house a distant cousin of mine, a very nice pretty girl, whom I
+shortly discovered my mother had selected to be her third
+daughter-in-law. Then I revolted. In the first place Carrie, poor
+girl, was quite ignorant of the scheme and felt no interest whatever
+in me, and----" He broke off undecidedly, and looked with thoughtful
+eyes out across the level tennis courts. There was one thing he could
+not quite make up his mind to recount to Jean. The memory of it was
+growing faint (he could not but smile a little grimly as he thus
+argued to himself), and why rake up that disagreeable part of his
+past. In truth, how could he tell clear-eyed, pure-hearted Jean of
+that other!
+
+"Well?" interrogated Jean, cutting short his brief reverie.
+
+His indecision was at an end. He straightened himself, squared his
+shoulders, and answered with almost a show of relief.
+
+"Well, the very fact that I was to be compelled to marry aroused such
+a tempest of resentment within me that I had no room for any other
+emotion. For several weeks the atmosphere was thunderous, and at the
+end of that time the storm broke. I boldly announced my determination
+to remain single. My mother--well, she did not spare me. She told me I
+had always been a most unnatural and ungrateful son; that I had
+deliberately and intentionally thwarted her in every possible way
+without once considering the duty that I owed to her. She gave me to
+understand most emphatically that, from the day I finished my course
+at Annapolis, she would consider her obligations to me at an end. That
+I might go where I pleased, do what I pleased; but, that her home was
+no longer mine."
+
+"Oh, how cruel!" escaped from Jean. Her little hands were tightly
+clenched, and her eyes flashed indignantly.
+
+"It did seem rather hard, especially just at that time," he returned
+slowly, some unexpected thought lending an expression peculiarly
+somber and grave in his face. "But since then I have often thought
+that I gave my mother a great deal of provocation."
+
+"By not marrying according to her desire?" asked Jean, a little
+quickly.
+
+Farr looked straight in her eyes for a moment before answering dryly:
+
+"That was certainly a great factor; you see Carrie was an heiress, and
+owned a lot of property adjoining ours."
+
+"Oh!" was all Jean said, but the monosyllable was most expressive.
+
+Farr laughed light-heartedly. He had been wrought up by this opening
+of a long-closed chapter in his life, and it was a relief to have the
+tension relaxed.
+
+"I have never for one instant regretted it, and certainly now----"
+
+"You haven't finished your story," Jean interrupted with but scant
+courtesy, "please go on."
+
+"There is not much more to tell, and I fear, too, that I am tiring
+you. No? well I took my mother at her word, and from that day to this
+I have never darkened her door. It came hardest on poor little
+Clarisse, I think," he went on sadly; "she had learned to depend upon
+me, and when she found that I was going to desert her she broke down
+completely. It wrung my heart to leave her, but it had to be done. I
+never like to think of that scene."
+
+"Poor Clarisse!" murmured Jean softly.
+
+"It was uphill work, at first," Farr resumed. "The lesson of poverty,
+with its grinding necessities, was bitter, and its bitterness
+redoubled by experiences that shook my faith in humanity." He flung
+back his head and drew a deep breath. "Somehow I lived through that
+first year, and then it grew easier; a maiden sister of my father's
+died and left me a legacy which, though small, is yet sufficient for
+all my needs. It is a good many years ago now, and I have only seen
+Clarisse once or twice, when I have happened to be in Washington in
+the winter. She is lonely, poor little girl; but we console each other
+by planning the good times we will have in some indefinite future."
+
+After a moment, he began speaking again:
+
+"I know how terrible this must seem to you, Miss Jean. A man at
+variance with his family is at a great disadvantage, and after all,
+you have only heard my side of the story. I almost dread," gloomily,
+"to have you tell me what you think of me now."
+
+"Oh, how unjust you are to me," cried Jean indignantly. "Do you think
+that your trouble could make any difference to me, except to make me
+sorry--oh, so sorry--for you, and to make me like you and want to be
+your friend more than ever."
+
+She stopped suddenly, half frightened by the look in Farr's eyes. He
+had grown very pale, and he spoke huskily.
+
+"You must not be so kind to me; you tempt me to tell you why----"
+
+"Jean! Jean!"
+
+This piercing cry, so fraught with terror, brought them to their feet.
+They started forward, and even as they did so Willie stumbled across
+the doorway and leaned up against the post, sobbing piteously.
+
+"Gladys, hurt," he panted, and then, his courage forsaking him, he
+burst into a storm of tears.
+
+Every bit of color faded from Jean's face.
+
+"What do you mean? O Willie, where is Gladys?"
+
+Farr put his hand on the boy's shoulder.
+
+"Come, little man," he said kindly, "don't cry, but take a long
+breath. There, that's a brave little chap. Now tell your sister where
+Gladys is, and what has happened."
+
+"We were playing birds in a tree, and Gladys fell, and she can't get
+up," faltered Willie.
+
+"Where?" Jean asked sharply.
+
+"In the orchard."
+
+Almost before the words had passed his lips, Jean pushed by him and
+was flying toward the orchard. Farr stopped a moment, to tell Willie
+to run up to the house and have them send down a couple of pillows to
+the orchard and to dispatch a man on horseback for the doctor; then he
+started in pursuit of Jean. He quickly overtook her, and they sped
+across the intervening space in silence. As they entered the orchard
+Larry's heartbreaking sobs indicated the scene of the accident, and in
+another instant Jean had fallen on her knees beside her little sister.
+The child's face was drawn, and the wide, distended eyes were
+strangely, unnaturally bright.
+
+"Gladys, precious, where does it hurt you?" But a moan was her only
+answer.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Farr, what can I do? How do you suppose she is hurt?"
+
+Farr bent tenderly over little Gladys, and laid his hand lightly on
+her arm. A wail of pain escaped from the child's white lips, and she
+again lost consciousness.
+
+Everything grew black to Jean and she swayed a little, leaning against
+the trunk of the tree for support. Farr's voice sounded very
+indistinct and strange to her.
+
+"Come, Miss Jean, you must not faint. Do you hear me? Now, take a
+mouthful of this," holding out his flask to her.
+
+Jean obeyed him unresistingly, and rallied at once, the color coming
+back into her face.
+
+"Gladys has broken her arm," he went on, in a quiet, even voice that
+somehow helped to steady her. "There, that is right. Now you look like
+yourself again."
+
+"Never mind me," she returned resolutely, straightening herself. "Is
+there nothing we can do for Gladys?"
+
+"I sent Willie to the house to tell nurse to come here with pillows
+and to send Barnes for the doctor. Now give me the flask and put your
+arm under her head and raise it a trifle, so that I can give her some
+brandy. There, she is coming to now."
+
+The white lids fluttered, and Gladys' eyes opened slowly.
+
+"Jeanie, I twied to f'y, but I was too little," she murmured weakly,
+and she smiled up at her sister, who was bending over her with so much
+tenderness.
+
+The sound of footsteps reached them, and nurse, a comfortable,
+motherly-looking woman, bustled up to them, her arms laden with
+pillows and restoratives.
+
+Her presence brought great reassurance to Jean.
+
+"Oh, nurse, I am so glad you are here. Gladys has been hurt."
+
+"My poor baby, Nana will make it all well. She shouldn't have left you
+at all. Whatever will Miss Helen say!"
+
+Jean's face contracted sharply, and she turned away to hide the tears
+that sprang to her eyes. Farr threw an angry glance at nurse, who, all
+unconscious of her offense, was petting and comforting Gladys.
+
+"This is no time for talking," he said. "We must get Gladys home as
+quickly as possible. Miss Jean, will you help me lift her?"
+
+Jean recognized the kindly intent in his words, and her eyes were
+eloquent with gratitude.
+
+"Little one," he went on to Gladys, "will you be a good, brave little
+girl and let me carry you? I will put you on this pillow, and I will
+be as gentle as possible. I can't promise that it won't hurt you some,
+but when you are once home you will be so comfortable."
+
+"All right," assented Gladys, looking up at him with touching
+confidence.
+
+But in spite of all their care, it was a very painful ordeal, and the
+poor child was quite spent before the manor was reached. As they
+mounted the steps of the veranda the doctor's gig drove up to the
+door. They carried Gladys up to the nursery, and Farr lingered there
+long enough to hear his opinion confirmed that the child had sustained
+no further injury than the breaking of her arm.
+
+"I will wait downstairs," he said in an undertone to Jean, and he went
+out and closed the door softly behind him.
+
+The moments dragged slowly, and he had almost renounced all hope of
+seeing Jean again, when he heard her footfall on the stair. She came
+down toward him, her white face showing the traces of tears. He sprang
+forward to meet her.
+
+"I can't stay but a moment," she said to him, "for I must go right
+back to Gladys. The doctor has set her arm and has given her something
+to make her sleep and he is going very soon now."
+
+He laid his hand on her shoulder and looked tenderly down at her.
+
+"You look worn out. Won't you try and rest a little?"
+
+She did not resent his action, but she moved a step away from him and
+his hand dropped at his side. Her lips quivered.
+
+"I don't care about myself. I shall never, never forgive myself for my
+wicked thoughtlessness. That poor baby's suffering haunts me."
+
+"I won't have you blame yourself," he declared vehemently. "I was more
+at fault than you, for I claimed your attention with my stupid story."
+
+"Don't talk nonsense," she returned gently, but, nevertheless, her
+face lost much of its misery.
+
+They were silent for a moment. The past hour had broken down the last
+barrier of reserve between them and had drawn them very close to each
+other. Of the two, Farr was perhaps the more conscious of the subtle
+change that had been wrought, and he was filled with unspeakable joy.
+
+"You must go now," Jean told him, "but you will come back to-morrow,
+won't you?" She was so sure of his answer that she did not wait for
+him to speak. "I don't know how to thank you for all you have done for
+Gladys--and me," she added very low.
+
+"If I have been the least help to you, Jean, it is more----" he began,
+when the outer door was pushed open, and Nathalie rushed in like a
+whirlwind.
+
+"What in the world has happened," she cried excitedly. "Larry says
+that Gladys is hurt, but he is too frightened to be clear about it."
+
+Jean hastened to give her an account of the accident, shrinking back a
+little from the light that streamed in from the open doorway, for fear
+of what her telltale face might reveal to Nathalie's keen eyes. Farr
+bade them good-by and went away, and then the two girls went directly
+to the nursery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+MISS STUART'S ARRIVAL.
+
+
+On this selfsame day, after a two hours' trip on the cars, Helen found
+herself at length at her destination. It was somewhat after three when
+she stood ringing the front-door bell of a substantial brown-stone
+house in a quiet side street. The city seemed hot indeed after the
+dewy freshness of the country, and the sun's rays beat relentlessly
+upon the stone flagging and cobblestones. The rumblings of carriages
+and wagons rolling by, the tinkling of the far off car-bells, the
+constant roar of the great city fell strangely upon the girl's ears so
+unaccustomed to the ceaseless din. Just then a street vender passed
+by, his shrill voice crying now and again, "Peaches! peaches! ten
+cents a quart!" Helen watched him pityingly until her attention was
+attracted by a hand-organ grinding away, "White wings, they never grow
+weary." Two poor little urchins sat on a neighboring doorstep pitching
+pennies, their small pale faces making her heart ache as she wondered
+what a glimpse of green fields and winding lanes would be to them. A
+feeling of sadness assailed her, as these sights and sounds, so
+familiar to city life, awakened within her a realization that outside
+of her sheltered life lay so many full of sorrow and suffering. Her
+reverie was cut short by the appearance of the maid, who immediately
+ushered her into the darkened drawing-room. Between the closed
+shutters crept a few rays of straggling sunlight which fell upon the
+furniture in its muslin slips, the bronzes and gas jets in their
+wrappings of tarlatan.
+
+Helen had hardly found a seat, when someone hastily descended the
+stairs, and pushing open the door, made a rush across the room and
+threw her arms about her.
+
+"You dear girl," Miss Stuart cried, "how glad I am to see you, and how
+good of you to come. You cannot imagine how overjoyed I was when I
+received your telegram."
+
+"But I wanted to come, Lillian. You do not seem to take that into
+consideration." Then, after a pause, "Ah! how lovely you look, but
+then it seems to me you invariably do."
+
+Helen was right, for Miss Stuart, gowned in a dainty peignoir of white
+silk covered with filmy lace, looked especially charming.
+
+At the compliment she laughed softly, and pinched Helen's cheek.
+"There is no curing you, is there, dear? I thought, perhaps, a
+separation from me might have improved you."
+
+"But you must not expect it," Helen maintained naïvely, "unless you
+grow less pretty."
+
+Miss Stuart kissed her warmly. "Let us talk sense now," she said
+reprovingly. "Were you surprised at my message? I must explain. I was
+obliged to come down for mamma on a matter of business, and as it was
+too long a trip to return again to Bar Harbor to-day, I thought it
+better to rest, and remain overnight in town."
+
+"And do you go back to-morrow?"
+
+"Well, no; not if you will take me to Hetherford with you."
+
+"Indeed I will, with the greatest pleasure."
+
+"And you are quite sure it is convenient now? I did not expect to be
+with you until the middle of August, but being obliged to come down at
+this time, I thought perhaps I had better go to you at once for my
+visit. Later I have several others to pay, and do not know that I
+could manage then to get to Hetherford at all."
+
+"I am delighted to have you at once, Lillian; you could not come too
+soon to please me, and you can always be sure of a welcome at the
+manor."
+
+"Yes, with you, but I am not so sure of those sisters of yours."
+
+Helen flushed. "Pray don't say that."
+
+"Ah, my dear, don't let it trouble you. I rest quite content in your
+affection."
+
+But whatever there was in Miss Stuart's words or tone, a shadow rested
+on Helen's face for some little while afterward.
+
+Perhaps Lillian Stuart saw it, for, by and by, she began to speak
+again of the manor.
+
+"You have no idea, Helen, how much I long to see your lovely home, nor
+with what pleasure I look forward to being with you, dearest."
+
+"You are good to say so, Lillian, and I will do all in my power to
+make you happy."
+
+"You will not have to try, dear, I am sure."
+
+Miss Stuart rose and touched a bell. A quiet middle-aged woman
+answered it.
+
+"Mrs. Perkins, Miss Lawrence remains with me overnight. See that
+dinner is prepared for us."
+
+"Yes, Miss."
+
+"Wait, Perkins. I want you to send Virginie to me."
+
+In a moment the French maid was knocking on the door.
+
+"Virginie, preparez la chambre voisine de la mienne, et portez-y le
+sac de Mlle. Lawrence."
+
+When the girls at length were seated in Miss Stuart's pretty boudoir,
+they fell into a long and pleasant chat, finding much to say to one
+another after several months' separation.
+
+By and by Miss Stuart presented a programme for the evening, saying.
+"Now, Helen, you little puritan, don't dare to find fault or
+criticise. My cousin, Harry Stuart, is going to take us to the
+theater, and it will be perfectly charming. He is almost like a
+brother to me, and there could not be the slightest impropriety in
+it."
+
+Helen did not demur then, but, after returning from the theater and in
+looking back over the evening, she felt some misgivings. "Harry"
+proved to be a gay, scatterbrained youth, more or less in love with
+his beautiful cousin. He stared a little curiously at Helen on being
+presented, and then devoted himself exclusively to Miss Stuart, whom
+he treated with a lack of deference, a familiarity, which Helen hotly
+resented. Miss Stuart, however, was apparently quite oblivious of it,
+and flirted with him openly, exchanging glances of amusement with
+him, as Helen's face grew graver and graver.
+
+A chance remark of his, which unfortunately reached Helen's ears, did
+not tend to soften her judgment of him.
+
+"Who is your little friend, coz? She is tremendously respectable, and
+doesn't approve of us at all."
+
+Helen retired to her room that night in a frame of mind to find
+serious fault with her fascinating friend.
+
+Miss Stuart realized that she had gone a little too far, and
+determined to overcome the impression she had made. She well knew the
+power that her great beauty exerted over Helen, blinding her to faults
+that he who ran might read, so she coiled her mass of auburn hair most
+becomingly, slipped on a dainty pale blue wrapper, encased her feet in
+slippers of the same hue and presented herself in Helen's room, and
+proceeded to make herself so charming and agreeable that in ten
+minutes Helen had completely forgotten her grievance.
+
+The following morning, at an early hour, they left for Hetherford.
+Helen neglected to wire Jean of their change of plan, so no carriage
+met them at the station, and they were obliged to rumble up to the
+manor in the old Hetherford stage.
+
+Helen's heart sank when Jean ran down to the veranda to tell her of
+Gladys' accident.
+
+"You cannot imagine how I felt, Helen, for I knew it was all my fault.
+I should not have forgotten her for one moment."
+
+"Indeed, I think you were very careless, Jean." Helen spoke sharply,
+for her anxiety made her nervous and irritable.
+
+Jean had gone forward and shaken hands with Miss Stuart, but at these
+words she turned abruptly away. She felt so reproached and woe-begone.
+It almost seemed to her that all the world must know how completely
+absorbed she had been in that sweet talk with Farr, to have allowed
+her mind to wander from the little sister. In this guilty and
+depressed state of mind, her welcome to Miss Stuart somewhat lacked
+cordiality, and the latter, who had never liked Jean, found herself no
+whit better pleased.
+
+Nathalie came flying down the stairs, making a fortunate diversion.
+
+"Now, Helen, don't scold Jean, for she is heartbroken. Gladys is doing
+splendidly and will be about in a few days. How do you do, Miss
+Stuart? I am very glad to see you, and so sorry that our anxiety about
+Gladys is making us forget to make you at home. Please let me take
+your bag, and come right up to your old quarters."
+
+Helen looked gratefully at her sister, and Miss Stuart's manner
+relaxed under this warm cordiality, and she followed Nathalie up to
+her room.
+
+Jean went out upon the veranda, and walked slowly up and down. Her
+thoughts, which for a moment had been diverted, flew swiftly back to
+Farr. He had not spoken the words, yet she knew he loved her. She
+trembled a little, startled at the depth of emotion this knowledge
+aroused in her. So this was love--this sudden wild beating of her
+heart, this passionate joy of living.
+
+"Poor fellow," she thought, with yearning tenderness, "how much he has
+suffered."
+
+It was a blessed comfort to feel that it lay within her power to help
+to brighten his lonely, loveless life. She stood quite still and
+clasped her hands tightly together. "I love him! I love him!" The
+unspoken words sent the blood to her cheeks, and she was filled with
+dismay. She roused herself abruptly from her dream and hastened
+upstairs to join Helen in the nursery.
+
+That day seemed interminable to Jean. When the long afternoon had worn
+away and Farr had not come, she consoled herself with the thought that
+the evening would surely bring him. She tried to curb her impatience
+by filling the slow-footed moments with manifold unnecessary duties,
+but it seemed to her that the happy time would never come.
+
+They were all very quiet at dinner, for Helen was listening for the
+slightest sound from the nursery, while Jean's absorbing thoughts held
+her tongue in chains.
+
+"Well, well," cried Nathalie at last, "what will Miss Stuart think of
+us? No doubt that this is the home of the Sphinx. Our silence is
+growing gruesome."
+
+Thus recalled to her duties as hostess, Helen glanced quickly at her
+friend, and was distressed to see the expression of cold disdain that
+rested on her face.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Lillian," she said penitently, leaning forward
+and taking Miss Stuart's hand. "I am so upset about Gladys that I have
+forgotten my manners."
+
+"Pray, don't apologize, Helen. It is of no consequence whatever." Miss
+Stuart spoke with studied indifference and withdrew her hand. She
+deemed it only her right to be first with her friends always and under
+all circumstances; and to have Helen, adoring, subservient Helen,
+relegate her to a position of secondary importance was an offense
+which merited instant punishment.
+
+Jean and Nathalie, on the alert for any slight to their sister,
+exchanged significant glances.
+
+Helen made no further demonstration of affection, but began to talk
+gently and courteously to her guest. Jean and Nathalie came valiantly
+to her assistance, until at last Miss Stuart was forced to respond to
+their friendly overtures. When they were leaving the dining room she
+slipped her hand into Helen's arm. It was the nearest approach to an
+apology of which her nature was capable, and Helen had fain to be
+content. All her life Miss Stuart had been in the habit of snubbing
+people at her own sweet will and had found it a diverting occupation;
+but somehow it hurt her to snub Helen, the girl was always so patient
+and generous about it.
+
+They drifted quite naturally out onto the veranda. The sky was
+overcast, and a faint wind sighed among the trees. The heavy clouds
+promised rain, and the earth, after reveling in days of sunshine and
+nights of brilliant beauty, seemed wrapped in melancholy submission.
+
+Before very long Nan and Emily came running across the lawn. Nan
+greeted Miss Stuart cordially, but Emily was very cool, and looked
+askance at this dangerously beautiful addition to their circle. When
+she had shaken hands, she faced the girls as solemn as a judge.
+
+"Girls, what do you suppose has happened? The _Vortex_ has gone away,
+and those miserable men never came to say good-by, and did not even
+send a line."
+
+"Now see here, Emily," Nan interposed warmly. "I don't believe in
+being unjust. It must have been a sudden move, and of course we will
+hear from them."
+
+"It is a great shame," complained Nathalie. "What shall we do with
+ourselves?"
+
+At Emily's first words Jean started forward, then fell back in her
+chair, dazed and stunned. She pressed her hand against her heart to
+stay its loud throbbing, passionately grateful that the kindly
+darkness sheltered her from view. She could not tell how long it might
+have been when she was aroused by a sentence from Emily which arrested
+her attention.
+
+"Yes, it is such a pretty stitch. I'll teach it to you some day,
+Helen."
+
+Had she heard aright? Could it be possible that the _Vortex_ was
+already forgotten--its officers banished to the indifferent past? Her
+sudden excitement died away and a dull feeling of pain tugged at her
+heart. Her hands dropped nervelessly into her lap, and her lids closed
+wearily over her aching eyes.
+
+The conversation drifted into local channels, and Miss Stuart was
+beginning to feel very much bored when Eleanor and Cliff sauntered up
+the driveway and joined the party. She awaked from her apathy to
+survey Cliff critically, and then proceeded to monopolize his
+attention. Cliff dropped into a chair beside her and lent himself
+readily to her plan. She was a charming woman, a beautiful woman, so
+he assumed his most devoted manner, and apparently succumbed at once
+to her gracious, subtle flattery. Eleanor cast an amused glance at him
+over her shoulder; she felt too sure of him to be disturbed; and
+pushing her way among the group until she reached Jean's side:
+
+"I met Johnnie Matthews at the gate, dear. He was on his way to the
+manor with a note for you, and, since it required no answer, I
+volunteered to bring it up."
+
+"Thanks, Eleanor. I suppose Mrs. Matthews wants me to take her class
+again next Sunday. She has been ill."
+
+Eleanor had dropped the note into Jean's lap and was moving away, but
+something in her friend's voice startled her. She looked at her
+curiously, but in that light she could not discern her expression. She
+hesitated a moment, and then sat down on the arm of Jean's chair.
+
+"How is Gladys to-night?" she asked.
+
+Jean made an effort to speak more naturally.
+
+"Very comfortable, thank you. The doctor says her arm is doing nicely,
+and so far she has not had any fever."
+
+"Eleanor, did you know the _Vortex_ had gone?"
+
+As Nathalie spoke Eleanor impulsively took Jean's hand in hers. It was
+very cold, and trembled in her clasp. Jean's unhappiness was
+explained, and at the same moment another idea flashed through her
+mind. She answered Nathalie with well-feigned lightness:
+
+"It can't be more than a temporary absence, I am sure." Then added in
+a lower tone to Jean, "Don't you want to read your note, dearie? It
+may not be from Mrs. Matthews."
+
+Jean gave a start, and, instinctively, her disengaged hand closed over
+the note in her lap.
+
+"I think I will take it to the light."
+
+She rose hurriedly and made her way to the doorway, where the light
+from the lamp fell upon her letter. The handwriting was unfamiliar,
+and Jean's heart seemed to stand still as she tore open the envelope.
+The opening words dispelled the last doubt; her whole expression
+changed, and she eagerly drank in the contents of the sheet, all
+unconscious of the pair of eyes that were watching her narrowly.
+Nothing escaped Miss Stuart. She saw plainly the sudden start, the
+rising color, the tremulous happiness in the young girl's face.
+Perhaps the sight stirred some strange memory, deep hidden in her
+heart, for she smiled bitterly, and answered some pleasantry of
+Cliff's with such stinging cynicism that even that languid youth was
+aroused to retort.
+
+But to Jean the whole world was forgotten, as she read the lines:
+
+     MY DEAR MISS LAWRENCE:
+
+     It is with deep regret I write you that the _Vortex_ has
+     been ordered up the Sound to survey a certain locality. Most
+     unfortunately, our orders came very late. We have only just
+     time to catch the tide by weighing anchor at once. I do not
+     know whether you realize how great is my disappointment at
+     leaving Hetherford, or how great is my regret at not seeing
+     you before I go. Our stay, I trust, will not extend beyond a
+     week, and I look forward with great pleasure to the time
+     when we once more cast anchor in your harbor. I shall be
+     anxious for news of little Gladys, and if I did not fear to
+     presume, I should ask you to write me. Perhaps your goodness
+     of heart will prompt you to forgive and indulge me at the
+     same time. My address will be F----, which is the
+     post-office nearest to our anchorage.
+
+     Yours faithfully,
+     VALENTINE FARR.
+
+
+Jean raised her eyes and let them rest on the group of people outside
+the doorway. No one, apparently, had a thought for her; for Miss
+Stuart had discreetly withdrawn her gaze, and they one and all seemed
+absorbed in the merry conversation. She longed to slip away to her own
+room, that she might be alone with her happy thoughts, but paused,
+irresolute, wondering, as she crumpled the note in her hand, if it
+would be unpardonably rude to leave her guests thus abruptly. Helen
+came to her rescue.
+
+"Jean, will you please go up and see if Gladys is asleep?"
+
+Jean nodded her head in assent, and gladly disappeared. Eleanor looked
+after her with a kindly smile, yet she sighed a little,
+notwithstanding.
+
+"What would Nan do if she knew this?" she thought.
+
+Shortly afterward a servant came to the door, bringing word that Miss
+Gladys was sleeping soundly, and that Miss Jean begged to be excused,
+as she had a headache.
+
+In the night the rain fell heavily, and the rising wind sighed and
+sobbed like a child in pain, but Jean's dreams were sweet, and her
+last sleeping and first waking thoughts were of Valentine Farr.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+DULL DAYS.
+
+
+The days that followed were the quietest that this summer had brought
+to Hetherford. Not only had the _Vortex_ gone, but Wendell and
+Churchill had carried the other men off on the _Sylph_ for a
+long-planned fishing excursion, and the girls were left to their own
+devices. This was too common an occurrence to be looked upon as a
+great hardship; yet it was quite obvious, even to Nan, that they did
+not revel so much in their once treasured independence, and that the
+old-time simple pleasures had somehow lost their zest. There was
+something strangely amiss in the little colony. Jean, who had always
+been depended upon to set the ball rolling, and to keep everyone in
+good spirits, failed them utterly. She was so quiet and absent-minded,
+so unlike her usual self, that Eleanor began to fear that her surmises
+in regard to the letter had been incorrect after all. Miss Stuart's
+presence at the manor acted as a great restraint upon everybody. She
+did not adapt herself in the least to their quiet, humdrum existence,
+and maintained a stoical silence that was especially irritating. The
+weather was very depressing. A fine drizzling rain fell persistently,
+the sky was gray and leaden, and the roads and lanes were almost
+impassable with the mud. The dampness retarded Gladys' recovery, and
+she was fractious and troublesome. Poor Helen was in despair, for Miss
+Stuart was unreasonable enough to resent her spending so much time in
+the nursery, and took small pains to conceal the fact that she was
+almost bored to death.
+
+By Friday Aunt Helen was seriously fretting over her niece, for Helen
+was looking pale and tired and seemed quite incapable of coping with
+the anxieties of housekeeping, Gladys, and the entertainment of her
+difficult friend.
+
+On the afternoon of this day the rain ceased and Nathalie, in despair
+of any more interesting amusement, declared her intention to drive to
+the station to see the express arrive.
+
+"Not that anyone ever comes here," she said dolorously as she drew on
+her driving gloves.
+
+An hour later she burst into the drawing-room, her face radiant, her
+eyes twinkling. Helen sat before the low tea-table serving tea, Miss
+Stuart lounged in a huge armchair, while Jean was on her way between
+the tea-table and Miss Stuart, with a dainty cup in her hand. She
+paused, and looked expectantly at Nathalie.
+
+"Well, cheer up, girls, for I have some news at last. Who do you think
+arrived to-day?"
+
+Even Miss Stuart leaned forward in her chair, and lost something of
+her air of languor.
+
+"Don't ask tiresome riddles, Nathalie," pleaded Jean, "but tell us."
+
+"Mrs. Archer."
+
+Miss Stuart looked blank; Helen laughed softly, and Jean handed Miss
+Stuart her cup of tea with a disgusted expression on her bonny face.
+
+"You must, indeed, be in the depths to call that good news," she said
+scornfully.
+
+"I didn't say good news. I said news," Nathalie retorted triumphantly,
+"and in any case I think Mrs. Archer is a godsend after the monotony
+of the last few days."
+
+Miss Stuart smiled faintly for Nathalie, but echoed her sentiments.
+
+"I think Cliff's mother is a charming woman," interposed Helen. "She
+is somewhat overbearing and imposing, but I know she does not mean to
+be disagreeable."
+
+"I like her," maintained Nathalie. "She is so worldly, so thoroughly
+magnificent."
+
+Jean laughed and meekly took her cup of tea from Helen.
+
+"I have not another word to say. I suppose the truth is that I am
+mortally afraid of Mrs. Archer. She completely subdues me."
+
+After a moment she spoke again, from the comfortable place she had
+taken on the divan:
+
+"Do you know, Nathalie, just for one moment I thought it might have
+been Guy of whom you were speaking."
+
+Helen set the teapot down suddenly, and there was a moment's
+uncomfortable silence. Miss Stuart let her glance travel slowly from
+Helen's flushed face to Jean's grave one.
+
+"Are you speaking of Mr. Appleton?" she asked lazily.
+
+"Yes," replied Jean, with perfect unconsciousness, "I suppose you met
+him at the same time you did Helen. I wish it had been he instead of
+Mrs. Archer."
+
+Miss Stuart shrugged her shoulders, and answered with insolent
+disregard of Jean's evident affection for Guy:
+
+"A nice enough man in his way, but so deadly uninteresting, so lacking
+in that knowledge of the world which alone makes a man worth talking
+to."
+
+Jean's eyes flashed, and her voice trembled with anger.
+
+"Mr. Appleton is a very dear friend of ours, Miss Stuart, and to none
+of us is it agreeable to hear him spoken ill of."
+
+She looked impulsively across at Helen, feeling sure that her sister
+would speak some word of vindication of Guy, but the girl's head was
+bent and she seemed wholly occupied in pushing the tea-cups aimlessly
+about on the polished surface of the mahogany tea-table. For the first
+time in her life Jean felt a contempt for her sister, and pressed her
+lips tightly together to keep down the bitter words that rose to them.
+Nathalie, who hated a scene above all things, and yet was too
+thoroughly in sympathy with Jean to feel equal to changing the
+conversation, sat down at the piano and began to drum.
+
+Miss Stuart looked from one to the other and laughed unpleasantly.
+
+"Mr. Appleton should be proud of such an ardent champion."
+
+Jean made no answer. She finished her tea in silence and then left
+the room, followed by a sneering glance from Miss Stuart's eyes.
+
+That evening Mrs. Andrews and her sister, Mrs. Archer, called at the
+manor. The young people had taken advantage of the first clear evening
+since Miss Stuart's arrival and had gone for a walk, so Mrs. Dennis
+asked her guests up to her room. During the conversation Mrs. Andrews
+said:
+
+"How badly Helen is looking lately."
+
+Aunt Helen agreed with her and related to Mrs. Archer the facts of
+Gladys' accident, and dilated upon Helen's untiring devotion to her
+little sister.
+
+"She is worn out," she sighed in conclusion, "and it is so hard for
+her to have Miss Stuart here just at present."
+
+"You don't mean Lillian Stuart, that beautiful girl about whom
+everyone is raving?" exclaimed Mrs. Archer, roused to a degree of
+interest she rarely felt when in Hetherford.
+
+"I suppose it is the same. She is certainly very beautiful, but
+somehow," and Aunt Helen's face grew puzzled, "she doesn't seem at all
+the kind of girl my Helen should care for. However, they are close
+friends, so I----"
+
+"Oh, she is a great belle," Mrs. Archer interrupted brusquely. "Poor
+girl! What in the world does she do with herself in this
+out-of-the-way place?"
+
+Mrs. Andrews replied with some heat:
+
+"She must be very hard to please if she cannot find anything to amuse
+or interest her here."
+
+A gleam of amusement flashed into Aunt Helen's eyes, but was instantly
+suppressed. Hetherford was the basis of an old feud between the
+sisters, and had been the cause of more than one bitter quarrel. Mrs.
+Archer was a fashionable woman to the tips of her fingers, and for
+years she had striven to impress her easy-going sister with the
+importance of society, and to persuade her at least to spend her
+summers in some resort more frequented by the world of society. Mrs.
+Andrews, however, stood out against her and stoutly maintained that
+she and her children were perfectly happy where they were, and Mrs.
+Archer had to content herself with an occasional visit from her niece
+Mollie, who was eminently unsatisfactory as a fashionable girl. To
+crown her displeasure, her only son Clifford, instead of finding
+pleasure in his charming home at Newport, insisted upon spending the
+summer at Hetherford Inn, and Mrs. Archer bore a great grudge against
+this small place. She was a very hospitable woman, and enjoyed keeping
+open house, but she found it a great drawback to have no young person
+at home.
+
+As she rose to leave, it suddenly occurred to her that it would be
+very delightful to take two of the girls back to Newport with her. Her
+choice fell upon Helen, because in that way she could include Miss
+Stuart in the invitation. Mrs. Dennis met the suggestion with
+approval, for she knew it would do Helen good to get away from home
+for a few days, and that so pleasant a change would please Miss
+Stuart. In the midst of the discussion, the two girls walked into the
+room.
+
+Mrs. Archer's shrewd, worldly eyes took in every detail of Miss
+Stuart's beautiful face and faultless gown, and she instantly dropped
+the somewhat patronizing tone she had used toward Helen, and urged
+their acceptance with great cordiality. Helen hesitated, for she was
+loath to leave Gladys again, but Aunt Helen and Miss Stuart overruled
+all her objections, and it was agreed that they should accompany Mrs.
+Archer.
+
+The quiet that settled down over the manor after their departure was
+very grateful to Jean, who during the past week had been disturbed and
+harassed. She knew that she was fast approaching the most serious
+crisis of her life. All during these joyous summer days she had
+drifted on so happily, evading self-questionings, living only for the
+day. Now she realized that the drifting was at an end. On his return
+Valentine Farr would speak to her, and although she had no doubt as to
+the answer she would give him, yet she trembled a little and would
+fain have been alone with her secret. And now, when she would have had
+her whole mind dominated by this one thought, Miss Stuart's unwelcome
+presence in the house thrust other and less pleasant thoughts upon
+her. Up to the time of this last visit Jean's dislike of Miss Stuart
+had been a vague, passing sentiment, which had concerned her but
+little. She had distrusted her always, but even that distrust was
+purely intuitive, for she had no idea of the part Miss Stuart had
+played in the severing of Helen's engagement. In that slight
+controversy about Guy, however, Jean had unwittingly pierced beneath
+the surface of Miss Stuart's suave manner, and had caught a glimpse of
+the girl's true nature. She could not understand why this should
+affect her so strongly. In vain she tried to account for it to
+herself. Miss Stuart, although so dear a friend of Helen's, occupied a
+comparatively unimportant position in their home life. In another
+fortnight she would be gone from among them, and for months they would
+know nothing of her, save what Helen might choose to communicate from
+her oft received letters. So Jean argued with herself, battling with a
+curious sense of apprehension that struggled within her. She longed to
+talk it all over with Aunt Helen, whose judgment was always to be
+trusted; but that seemed a kind of disloyalty to Helen, so she
+smothered the vague doubts and fears which threatened to overwhelm her
+usual good sense. Her thoughts flew off to Farr, and poised over that
+strange talk they had had on that last afternoon. She drew from her
+pocket a letter that had come from him, and read it over slowly,
+lingering over every sentence. But when she had finished and was
+folding it into its envelope again, she sighed a little, for even that
+dear missive could not quite dispel the vision which haunted her of
+Lillian Stuart's beautiful, cruel face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+EDDYING CURRENTS.
+
+
+Monday dawned bright and clear. When Jean awoke the sunlight was
+flooding the room, and through the open window came the sweet voices
+of the birds as they merrily chirped and sang. As she sprang out of
+bed she was filled with a sense of well-being and happiness. She could
+even find it in her heart to laugh a little scornfully at the fancies
+that had disturbed her, for they had vanished with the vanishing
+clouds. She dressed hurriedly and ran down to the dining room with a
+snatch of song upon her lips. By her plate on the breakfast table lay
+an envelope addressed in a man's legible handwriting. She flushed as
+she caught it up, and crossed to the window to read it. Farr had
+written in great haste to say that the _Vortex_ would be in Hetherford
+Harbor by noon on Monday. When Jean had reached that point in his note
+she read no further. She stood very still, her hands holding the bit
+of paper closely, her breath coming hurriedly through her slightly
+parted lips. For one moment thus--then the maid entered bearing the
+coffee urn, Larry clattered noisily into the room, and Jean turned
+back to the ordinary duties of everyday life. But her face was still
+illumined, and in the depths of her shining eyes lingered the
+reflection of her soul's great happiness.
+
+During the morning a telegram came from Helen saying that she and Miss
+Stuart would arrive by the afternoon express. Jean had just terminated
+a long interview with the cook, and was frowning portentously over her
+unusual duties as housekeeper, when Nathalie brought her the news. She
+made a grimace and then proceeded to inform Nathalie of the
+approaching arrival of the _Vortex_, subduing as best she could the
+tremor of excitement in her voice. Nathalie was jubilant. At last the
+dull days were at an end, and they would start on a new round of
+festivities. While she was chattering volubly it suddenly occurred to
+Jean that it would be a pleasant welcome to Helen and Miss Stuart to
+ask Mr. Dudley and Farr to dinner. She made the suggestion timidly,
+for she feared that Nathalie would divine the true motive which
+prompted her. Her mind was instantly set at rest, for Nathalie,
+overjoyed at the break in the monotony, gave her a friendly push
+toward the desk to hasten the writing of the notes. Jean laughingly
+reminded her that the _Vortex_ had not yet arrived, and then they put
+their two heads together to concoct a dinner which should quite equal
+one of Helen's ordering.
+
+That afternoon, as they were about starting for the station, Barnes
+brought back the answer from the _Vortex_. Farr's was of so grateful
+and rejoicing a nature that Jean laughed light-heartedly as she read
+it. It came to her suddenly, as they were bowling along the highroad,
+that in her note to him she had not mentioned the fact that Miss
+Stuart was with them, nor had she done so in the one letter she had
+written him during his absence.
+
+"It was just an oversight," she said to herself. "A mere chance."
+
+A mere chance, and yet chance sometimes means fate.
+
+Helen met them with so many questions about Gladys, the boys, and Aunt
+Helen, that Jean had no opportunity to unfold her plan for dinner
+until Miss Stuart had gone to her room, and she had followed her
+sister into the nursery. Helen was tired and travel-worn, but she was
+delighted by Jean's thoughtfulness for Lillian's pleasure, and
+listened interestedly while her sister anxiously submitted the menu
+for her approval.
+
+"Everything is perfect, dear," she said, putting Gladys down from her
+lap and making her way out into the hall, "but before I go to dress I
+must tell Lillian that we are to have guests to dinner," and she
+turned away without noting the shadow that crossed Jean's face at the
+mention of Miss Stuart's name.
+
+Miss Stuart stood before her dressing-table arranging the silver
+toilet articles which she had just taken from her trunk. She had
+thoroughly enjoyed her stay at Newport, and was feeling in a good
+humor with all the world. She turned a bright glance of inquiry as the
+door opened to admit Helen, and betrayed a ready interest in her
+friend's announcement.
+
+"Who are the men?"
+
+"Two officers from the Coast Survey schooner that is anchored here,
+Mr. Dudley and Mr. Farr; Valentine Farr."
+
+The little vinaigrette Miss Stuart held in her hand dropped on the
+dressing-table. Her face contracted sharply, and she made a quick
+instinctive movement away from the light.
+
+"Valentine Farr," she repeated slowly, keeping her voice well under
+control. "It must be the same of course."
+
+"Do you know him?" Helen asked the question absent-mindedly, for she
+was looking about her critically, to assure herself that everything in
+the room was as it should be.
+
+"Oh, yes. I have known him for a long while." She had quite recovered
+from her surprise, and spoke lightly, in her usual tone. "What a small
+world it is after all."
+
+"Dinner at seven, Lillian," Helen said to her as she closed the door;
+and then she was alone.
+
+"So Val is here," she murmured. "Val, of all people in the world." She
+flung back her head with a reckless laugh, and began to pace up and
+down the room.
+
+A flood of recollections swept over her; recollections which stirred
+her with a strange emotion. How long ago it seemed since
+sunny-tempered strong-willed Val Farr had wooed her in so masterful a
+way. What folly it had been, and yet a sweet folly withal! Miss Stuart
+paused midway in the room. Her face softened, and her beautiful mouth
+drooped tenderly. She had craved a splendid future which Val could
+not give her, so she had thrust his love out of her heart, and filled
+its place with the admiration and exactions of the gay world in which
+she moved. Val's misfortunes, his poverty, and his estrangement from
+his family gave her the opportunity which she sought to jilt him. She
+frowned with vexation as she recalled the look of scorn that he had
+cast at her when she had laid bare to him the aims and ambitions to
+which she had sacrificed their love. And after all, it had been a
+useless, needless exposure, for Val had come to her to give her her
+freedom. She told herself that she had acted wisely, she laughed to
+scorn the sentiment that was so hard to stifle--but no other man had
+ever taken Val's place.
+
+They had met from time to time in Washington, during the past few
+years, and at each fresh meeting Farr had found himself more and more
+disillusioned concerning the woman whom he had once loved. Something
+of this Lillian Stuart divined, with a bitterness of spirit which she
+could not quell. His indifference stung her to the quick, and she
+could not renounce the hope that she might win him back, if only
+circumstances would give her the opportunity. Miss Stuart's thoughts
+brought her back to the present. She drew her brows together and
+stared meditatively before her, with eyes that saw nothing of the room
+around her:
+
+"I wonder if Val is in love with one of these girls, and if so which
+one."
+
+Jean Lawrence's face flashed before her. She struck her hands sharply
+together, and an angry light gleamed in her eyes.
+
+"That would be a curious way of punishing me. I have always detested
+that sister of Helen's."
+
+She crossed to the mirror, and gazed critically at the picture
+presented there. A smile, slow and cruel, touched her lips, and with a
+satisfied air of triumph she turned away and began to dress for
+dinner.
+
+The hands of the little French clock on the mantel were close upon
+seven, when a knock came at the door and Helen entered. She started
+back with a faint gasp of admiration, as Miss Stuart turned from the
+dressing-table and swept across the room to meet her.
+
+"O Lillian," she cried, "how beautiful you look; but, my dear, you
+will take away my guests' breath. You know we are thoroughly informal
+at Hetherford."
+
+Miss Stuart raised her hands to clasp a string of pearls about her
+throat, with slow deliberation.
+
+"I am very sorry," she said distantly, "that my gown does not meet
+with your approval. I can easily change it."
+
+"Why Lillian, I find your gown charming, and would not have you change
+it for the world; I exclaimed simply because I did not expect to see
+you _en grande toilette_."
+
+"It did not occur to me that I was inappropriately dressed, but of
+course I am not conversant with your customs here."
+
+The covert sneer was not lost upon Helen, and she flushed painfully at
+the sharp words. With her usual self-depreciation she felt reproached
+for what she considered her lack of tact and courtesy.
+
+"I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am, Lillian," she murmured,
+with deep contrition, "for my inadvertent speech. I never knew you to
+look lovelier. Won't you please believe me when I tell you that?"
+
+The naïveté of the compliment touched Miss Stuart, and she smiled
+gayly into Helen's troubled eyes.
+
+"I admit that I did not understand you at first. I thought that I was
+guilty of a social error. However, it is all right now."
+
+Helen put her hand on her shoulder, and turned her gently around.
+
+"I want to really see your gown. It is exquisite. What perfect taste
+you have, Lillian."
+
+Miss Stuart's gown was of the palest shade of green velvet, made so
+simply as to be almost severe in its lines. The low-cut bodice was
+ornamented with some fine cut jet, and a little dagger of the same was
+thrust through the soft coil of auburn hair which crowned her small
+and shapely head. Her neck and arms shone dazzlingly fair, and the
+contour of the firm white throat would have delighted the eyes of an
+artist. The long straight lines of her gown accentuated her height,
+which was somewhat above the average, and she carried herself with
+regal grace.
+
+Helen gazed at her a moment in silent admiration. She absolutely
+worshiped beauty, and its power over her was very great. Had anyone
+hinted to her that it was chiefly this in Miss Stuart which so charmed
+her, she would have indignantly refuted the accusation, and yet in a
+great measure it was true. Many and many a time she had cause to
+puzzle over her friend--aye, almost to distrust and fear her; but the
+power of the girl's great beauty blinded her and left her helpless to
+condemn one who possessed such infinite attraction.
+
+The silence lasted but a moment, yet Miss Stuart had read Helen's
+verdict in her transparent face, and her pulses quickened with
+triumphant hope.
+
+"Well, well," she cried laughingly, at length, "are you spellbound,
+and have you forgotten your guests?"
+
+Helen cast a hurried glance at the clock.
+
+"Why, it is seven. I must run down at once. Follow me as soon as you
+can, dear."
+
+Down in the drawing-room, Jean was wandering restlessly about, too
+excited to keep still for one moment. She wore the simplest of her
+gowns, but one which Farr had once told her he liked. Jean was almost
+without vanity, but to-night, as she passed the long mirror over the
+mantel, she could not refrain from glancing therein. She was counting
+the slow-footed moments, and at every turn her eyes consulted the old
+Dutch clock in the corner. At last a carriage drove up the graveled
+road, there were steps upon the veranda, and the front door opened and
+closed again. She longed to run out into the hall, but an overwhelming
+shyness deterred her; and even as she halted, irresolute, the
+portières were pushed apart, and, as in a dream, she saw Farr coming
+toward her. Her heart beat so she could not trust her voice to speak
+him greeting.
+
+He caught both her hands in his, and held them closely.
+
+"Jean, do you know how glad I am to see you again?" he whispered.
+
+Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his. The depth of her emotion paled
+her cheek, and her young face wore a look of awe. Farr's heart bounded
+with joy, and he would have spoken, but suddenly she flushed crimson
+and, wrenching her hands from his, started forward to meet Dudley, who
+stood in the doorway, uncertain whether to advance or beat a retreat.
+Jean covered her embarrassment as best she could; although Dudley
+tried valiantly to put her at her ease, there was a merry twinkle in
+his blue eyes which she found very disconcerting. At that moment Helen
+and Nathalie made their entrance, and Jean moved a little apart from
+the others, struggling to regain her self-possession.
+
+Farr had turned to appeal to her for confirmation of some statement
+when a sudden lull fell upon the buzz of conversation. Miss Stuart
+stood in the doorway, her brilliant figure strikingly set against the
+dark background of the dimly lighted hall-way. She surveyed them for a
+brief instant with apparent nonchalance, but that brief glance told
+her that it was with Jean that Farr was talking. With slow grace she
+crossed the room and gained Helen's side.
+
+Farr's eyes followed Jean's, and as they reached Miss Stuart his
+expression underwent a sudden change. She was looking directly at him,
+and smiled faintly at the dismay in his face.
+
+"Well, Mr. Farr, is it so great a surprise to you to see such an old
+friend in Hetherford?"
+
+Farr recovered himself, instantly, and met her challenging glance with
+an impenetrable smile.
+
+"It is, indeed, an unexpected pleasure, Miss Stuart," he said with
+grave courtesy, and Miss Stuart was conscious of feeling curiously
+baffled.
+
+To Jean, watching them with dilating eyes, that apparently meaningless
+incident seemed fraught with significance. All the haunting doubts and
+fears, that not twelve hours ago she had scorned as morbid fancies,
+returned upon her with redoubled force. Love, which makes us strangely
+blind, makes us also strangely alert; and Jean's eyes had seen the
+change in Farr's face, and as he spoke those few conventional words,
+her quick ears had detected an unnatural ring in his voice. Miss
+Stuart had called herself an old friend, and yet Farr had never spoken
+of her. Jean searched her memory to see if it were possible that she
+had never mentioned Miss Stuart's name to him, and, as she thus
+pondered, a chance sentence of Nathalie's reached her:
+
+"You go through the shrubbery----"
+
+She heard no more. In an instant the scene was clear before her--the
+long stretch of lawn beyond the shrubbery, bright in the silver
+moonlight, the sound of voices from the parsonage, breaking softly
+upon the evening stillness, through which Farr and she walked slowly
+side by side. Then she had spoken of Miss Stuart, and he had certainly
+disclaimed any acquaintance with her. Her heart grew cold as her first
+doubt of her lover found lodgment there. As if in consummation of her
+thoughts, she looked up to see Farr offer Miss Stuart his arm. With a
+sense of foreboding she followed them slowly into the dining room,
+smiling a little drearily as she remembered with what eagerness she
+had anticipated this dinner.
+
+Farr's place at table was between Miss Stuart and Jean, and as they
+took their seats, he spoke to the latter in a carefully lowered tone:
+
+"You can't imagine how delightful it is to be here again. I was
+absolutely homesick for the manor while I was away."
+
+"Indeed? How unhappy you must have been."
+
+"I was," he replied gravely, observing for the first time the girl's
+air of disdain, and wondering at the cause thereof, "and I shall have
+a new cause for sorrow if you look at me as you are now doing."
+
+Jean's levity was somewhat forced as she replied:
+
+"I am very sorry you are not pleased. I do not find it easy to change
+my expression."
+
+"No?" He bent a very direct and earnest gaze upon her. "Why, Miss
+Jean," he said softly, "I thought we were friends when I went away;
+and only to-night you seemed glad at my return."
+
+The last spark of resentment died out of Jean's heart. Her distrust of
+him seemed suddenly both groundless and foolish. Ashamed and contrite,
+she was about to speak, when Miss Stuart's suave voice broke in upon
+them:
+
+"Mr. Farr, have you heard anything of the Saunders since you left
+Washington?"
+
+Farr had no alternative but to reply to so direct a question, and
+Jean, although annoyed at the unwelcome interruption, waited
+patiently, confident that he would seize upon the first opportunity to
+resume his conversation with her. As the moments passed, however, and
+his undivided attention was still given to Miss Stuart, she was first
+hurt, and then bitterly angry. A lump rose in her throat, and for one
+miserable moment she thought she was going to cry; then her pride came
+to her rescue, and under an almost reckless gayety of speech and
+manner she hid her momentary weakness. It was unjust and unreasonable
+to blame Farr, but Jean was in no frame of mind for logical argument.
+He had turned away from her to speak to Miss Stuart, and although she
+had given him ample time to take up the broken thread of their
+discourse, he had failed to do so. As she talked on excitedly with
+Dudley, her cheeks burning, her eyes dark and restless, she was
+mentally comparing herself with Miss Stuart, whom she had already
+almost unconsciously begun to regard as her rival. She had always
+known that Helen's friend was beautiful, but to-night her newly
+awakened jealousy caused her to lay great stress on the brilliancy and
+fascination of their guest. She recalled, with curious distinctness,
+the image of herself which the mirror had shown her while she awaited
+Farr's coming, and her heart contracted as she thought how colorless
+she must appear in contrast with Miss Stuart's rich and vivid beauty.
+
+When at length Farr was once more at liberty to address her, she had
+worked herself up to such a pitch of miserable jealousy that she would
+have none of him, and took an almost savage delight in thwarting his
+every attempt at speech with her. He was too reserved to let her see
+how deeply he was wounded by her flippancy and incivility, and, in his
+apparent indifference, Jean found an added proof of his disloyalty and
+of her own unpardonable folly. She had almost come to the end of her
+courage, when Helen rose, giving the signal to the ladies to withdraw.
+
+Helen sat down before the open piano, and Nathalie picked up her
+mandolin from the music stand and began to tune it. When she had
+finished she spoke in a low tone to her sister:
+
+"Let's play Guy's old favorite, will you, dear?"
+
+Helen complied, but not before she had cast a half-guilty glance
+across the room to where Miss Stuart was gracefully reclining in a
+huge armchair, to satisfy herself that the mention of her lover's name
+had escaped her friend's notice. The piano took up the accompanying
+strains of a soft _andante_, the mandolin carrying the air with its
+tremulous and strangely human wail.
+
+Jean leaned her face on her hand as she nestled down among the
+cushions on the divan. Her good angel was whispering to her in the
+sweet harmony of the music, and gentler thoughts of her lover were
+prevailing against the cruel doubts of him which her jealousy had
+taught her. After all, had not Miss Stuart been chiefly at fault, and
+had he not honestly striven to make amends?
+
+"It is entirely the result of my morbid dislike of that girl," she
+said to herself; and when the officers came out from the dining room,
+she gave Farr a bright glance of welcome, and when he had joined her,
+she talked to him until her persistent gentleness had completely
+melted away the barrier of reserve which had crept between them. Once
+or twice it was on the tip of her tongue to say, "Why did you never
+tell me that you knew Miss Stuart?" but the words, held back by a
+foolish sentiment of pride, never passed her lips.
+
+Meanwhile Farr, although touched by the sweet friendliness, was more
+disheartened than he quite cared to own. He had allowed his hope to
+grow too quickly, founded on that one honest glance from Jean's eyes,
+a glance so full of love and trust that he had felt he could not be
+deceived. Scarcely had he told himself that his happiness was assured
+when Jean's coldness had denied the love which her eyes had bespoken.
+No suspicion of the truth had crossed his mind, and as Jean had never
+been given to moods, he was left to the discouraging conclusion that
+he had been too hasty and that she was resenting it. She was willing
+now to treat him with her old-time cordial frankness, for having once
+clearly defined their relative positions, she was too courteous to
+continue a course of treatment which she must have seen had greatly
+pained him. Never until he had reached this unhappy decision had he
+realized how strong and deep-rooted was his love for Jean. As his eyes
+rested on her, a longing seized him to take her in his arms, and to
+bring back to her face that look which had given him such promise of
+joy.
+
+His unexpected meeting with Miss Stuart had brought back to his memory
+the foolish impetuosity, the passionate unrest of his boyish love for
+her, and he thanked God for the wholesome lesson he had learned, and
+prayed earnestly for the love of this young girl, whose truth and
+sincerity stirred all the dormant possibilities of his higher nature.
+With these thoughts in his mind his eyes wandered across the room to
+where Lillian Stuart sat talking with Dudley. He acknowledged the
+force and charm of her rare exotic beauty, but it moved him not at
+all. Her effective pose was studied and artificial. Her face, so
+perfect in contour, was lacking in any suggestion of tender
+womanliness, and her glorious eyes, now raised to Dudley's, although
+full of the power of expression, revealed no depth of soul.
+
+It was refreshing to him to turn once more to Jean, to meet the dear
+laughter-loving eyes, to watch the fleeting changes of expression on
+her bonny face, to mark the unconscious grace of every movement of her
+lithe, slender figure. Yet, the secret of Jean's strong hold on his
+heart lay not in these superficial attractions, nor in her frank
+simplicity of manner, nor yet in her girlish freshness, which was her
+greatest claim to beauty, but in the knowledge he had gained of her
+true nature; a nature so honest, so unfailing in loyalty, so
+unselfish, so charitable, so responsive in its sympathies, that both
+respect and reverence were blended with his love for her. And yet he
+was not wholly blind to her faults. He knew that she was impatient and
+hot-tempered, and that, in anger, she was often sarcastic and cutting;
+but he also saw that she made a brave effort to hold herself in check,
+and that, however she might be worsted, she never ceased to struggle
+for the mastery. His meditations had carried him far adrift of the
+conversation, but although Jean had observed his abstraction, she did
+not resent it. She was living in a day-dream herself, a dream that was
+all the happier for that miserable hour at the dinner-table. She rose
+with a regretful sigh when Helen asked her to go up with a message to
+Aunt Helen. She looked up at Farr as he held back the portière for her
+to pass, and impulsively put out her hand to him.
+
+"We are friends again, are we not?" she asked scarcely above her
+breath.
+
+Farr gripped the little hand so tightly it almost hurt her.
+
+"Only friends, Jean?" was all he said; but Jean was satisfied.
+
+Aunt Helen detained her for some few moments with questions about the
+dinner, and when at last she was free Mary called to her to please
+step into the nursery, for Larry was wakeful and naughty and would not
+be quiet. Quite a half-hour had passed before she re-entered the
+drawing-room.
+
+She paused on the threshold, attracted by Farr's voice. He was seated
+just within the doorway. His back was turned toward her and he faced
+Miss Stuart, who was leaning slightly forward in her chair.
+
+"You are mistaken," he was saying. "I remember everything about that
+evening, to the color of the gown you wore."
+
+Before the conclusion of this sentence Miss Stuart had detected Jean,
+half hidden by the heavy portière.
+
+"Those were pleasant days in Washington, Val," she said, accompanying
+the words with a faint sigh.
+
+Jean, never dreaming that she had been seen, retreated precipitately
+to a far corner of the hall, and when she once more entered the room
+her face was pale, but she held her head well up, and with a low "I
+beg your pardon," swept by the two, who still maintained their
+positions.
+
+That night Miss Stuart's light burned until a late hour, and in
+response to Helen's gentle inquiry as to the cause thereof she gave
+through the closed door, but a curt "Good-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+AN INVITATION.
+
+
+Wednesday brought the return of the _Sylph_ from her cruise. The men,
+tanned and burned by exposure to wind and sun, were in great spirits,
+and declared themselves ready for any sport that might be suggested.
+The girls rallied forces, and in solemn conclave bade them extend
+their vacation one more week, that Miss Stuart might be amused and
+entertained. They drew a pathetic picture of her first week in
+Hetherford, and maintained that it would be rank disloyalty to allow
+her to go away with such an impression of the beloved place.
+
+In the confusion of tongues two voices were silent. Emily and Jean
+each had her own reason for wishing Miss Stuart a thousand miles away,
+and both looked a little contemptuous at the excitement that was being
+made over her. However, their lack of interest did not dampen the
+enthusiasm of the others, and the day was carried. The men did not
+need a great deal of urging, for they had already met Miss Stuart, and
+were eloquent in their praises of her. Dick Andrews succumbed at once
+to the tender passion, much to everybody's amusement, for jolly Dick
+in the rôle of lovesick swain was a most diverting spectacle.
+
+Andrews did not have it all his own way, however, for Miss Stuart,
+with an exception in Farr's favor, treated them quite impartially. It
+was conceded that Farr, as an old friend, had a prior right, and no
+one marveled that Miss Stuart's manner toward him was particularly
+gracious and amiable. They were much in each other's society, and so
+diplomatic was Miss Stuart, that no one discerned that their frequent
+_tête-à-têtes_ were invariably of her planning.
+
+It must be said, however, that Farr made no resistance and appeared
+eminently at ease with her. He was sorely wounded, and as angry with
+Jean as it was possible for him to be; and in this dejected and
+unenviable frame of mind, he took small heed of what he did with his
+time. Monday night when, at Helen's request, Jean had left the
+drawing-room, she had distinctly bade him hope. One hour later, she
+had again veered round and had treated him with a contemptuous
+indifference which he felt he had in no way deserved. Even then he had
+tried to believe that his imagination was at fault, but when she had
+purposely overlooked the hand which he had extended to her in parting,
+he could no longer deceive himself. Unfortunately, Miss Stuart had
+seen the slight which Jean had put upon him, and the faint smile of
+amusement in her eyes when she had said, "good-night" to him but
+deepened the sting. In a tempest of rage he flung himself out of the
+house and strode furiously down the avenue, leaving poor Dudley far
+behind, to wonder what on earth was the matter.
+
+It was not easy for Farr with his nature to forgive a repulse, and on
+Tuesday he kept to the _Vortex_, nursing his wrongs, and vowing he
+would take no step to make matters right between them until Jean
+should show some sign of penitence. By Wednesday this determination
+was less firm, and during the hours of his work and leisure his heart
+was pleading for Jean. When evening came he gave up the struggle, and
+at nine o'clock presented himself at the manor.
+
+The light that streamed out through the open door and windows revealed
+quite a number of people on the veranda, and he remembered that he had
+observed the _Sylph_ riding at anchor in the harbor. They gave him a
+hearty welcome, and while Nathalie was rallying him for his unkind
+desertion of them, he vainly tried to discover Jean's whereabouts. His
+inability to do so was soon explained.
+
+"Where did Jean go?" Nathalie asked.
+
+Eleanor answered from the corner of the veranda:
+
+"She went in the house a little while ago."
+
+"Send Susie up for her, Nathalie," Helen requested.
+
+Farr took a seat on the railing at a point which commanded a view of
+the hall; and found himself face to face with Miss Stuart, who was
+tilting slowly back and forth in a deep rocker. They had interchanged
+one or two commonplace remarks when a maid tripped across the hall and
+stood in the doorway.
+
+"Miss Jean begs to be excused," she announced briefly, and disappeared
+into the darkened dining room beyond.
+
+Farr drew a quick breath, and a frown contracted his brows. He could
+scarcely believe that he had heard aright. With a characteristic
+gesture, he pulled his cap down over his eyes and set his teeth. Miss
+Stuart remembered the trick of old. She watched him furtively, with a
+curious light in her eyes. Suddenly he recalled her existence, but
+when he looked at her she had already averted her gaze and was
+apparently quite unconscious that anything of importance had taken
+place.
+
+She gave him a few moments in which to recover himself, and then
+addressed to him some passing observation on a subject quite alien to
+Hetherford or the Hetherford girls. Farr, animated by a strong desire
+to hide his pain and disappointment from every eye, braced himself and
+replied in a vein of lightness which satisfied her that she had been
+wise in the course which she had adopted. They drifted quite naturally
+into conventional small-talk, and every moment he gained more
+assurance and ease. He was positively grateful for Miss Stuart's
+presence, for it afforded him a refuge from intercourse with those
+simple-hearted Hetherford girls, which he felt would, just now, be
+very disastrous to his self-control. No thought of danger assailed
+him. He believed Miss Stuart's sentiment for him to be quite dead; and
+as for himself he had so completely outlived every trace of his boyish
+passion as to have even lost all feeling of resentment against her. He
+congratulated himself with true masculine density that he had probed
+the depths of Miss Stuart's nature, and could never be outwitted by
+her again. Some day, if things went well with him, he meant to tell
+Jean all about that affair; in fact, he would have done so Monday
+evening, had he not felt that it would scarcely be in good taste to
+discuss the subject with Miss Stuart almost within ear-shot. In the
+meantime it did not distress him in the least to defer the telling of
+the story; for Jean, of course, knew nothing whatever of the matter,
+and it was extremely improbable that Miss Stuart would ever take the
+pains to enlighten her. In justice to Farr it should be said that he
+had completely forgotten the incident of the shrubbery which had meant
+so much to Jean, and he was not aware of the words that she had
+overheard, and of the construction that she had not unnaturally put
+upon them.
+
+And all this while poor little Jean lay on the sofa, in her darkened
+room, sobbing as if her heart would break. She had waited so patiently
+on Tuesday, hoping against hope that he would come and explain
+everything to her. For, of course, there was something to explain,
+else why had he so distinctly avoided all mention of Miss Stuart, even
+when she had asked him if he knew her?
+
+"He has a right to his past," she said to herself, with quivering
+lips; "but, oh! if they were such old friends, if she calls him Val,
+if he remembers one evening with her even to the color of her gown, he
+might--oh! he might have remembered to speak of her to me."
+
+The more she thought it over the greater seemed the proofs of his
+deception. If he and Miss Stuart had been old friends and nothing
+more, it would have been his natural impulse to speak of his surprise
+and pleasure at meeting her at the manor. He had failed to do so, and,
+with despair in her heart, Jean told herself that he must have had
+some strong reason for his silence.
+
+Tuesday wore away, and still no word had come from him. She determined
+not to let Miss Stuart see how unhappy she was, so kept about with the
+others, and entered into all their plans with forced gayety. When
+half-past nine struck on Wednesday evening, she gave up all hope of
+seeing him, for they were very informal in Hetherford, and kept early
+hours. She went up to her room, and as she slipped on her wrapper, she
+fell to crying, and when Susie knocked and announced Farr, she was too
+disfigured by her tears to think of going down. The disappointment was
+very keen.
+
+"Please excuse me, Susie," she called through the closed door. "I am
+sorry, but I am lying down."
+
+As she heard the maid's retreating step she would fain have recalled
+her, and sent some other message, but it was too late.
+
+The next day, on the decks of the _Sylph_, Farr and Jean met for the
+first time since Monday. Jean came aboard fully resolved to tender an
+apology for having excused herself on the previous evening. She had
+never lacked self-confidence before, but to-day she could scarcely
+pluck up courage to speak to him. Timidly she made her first friendly
+overtures, only to be met with an unmistakable rebuff. Farr answered
+the questions she put to him, but with a studied indifference which
+made her cheeks tingle; to make matters worse he presently sauntered
+off from the group of which Jean made one, and joined Miss Stuart,
+who was seated a short distance away. Jean's face grew hard as she
+stifled the sob which rose in her throat, and she registered a vow
+that never again would she give him an opportunity to treat her so
+slightingly. It was unmanly and unmannerly, and she had done with him
+forever. She did not flinch from the path she laid out for herself,
+and so successfully did she play the part that Dick and Mollie,
+walking home in the cool of the evening, declared that it was like the
+good old days to have Jean so jolly and full of fun.
+
+Miss Stuart meanwhile was content to keep Farr at her side, despite
+the fact that he was a most morose and taciturn companion. She knew
+wherein lay her advantage, and although the knowledge was not
+flattering to her self-pride, it did not prevent her from making the
+best of her opportunities. It was galling to her that Jean had the
+power to make him so miserable, but the trouble between them served
+her purpose very well for the present. As she talked to him
+pleasantly, she did not seem to notice that his replies were
+monosyllabic, and that he watched Jean's every movement with gloomy
+eyes. She was a clever woman, with a rare gift of conversation, and
+ere long her tactful efforts were rewarded, and Farr, roused from his
+abstraction, shook himself out of his ill-humor. In the course of the
+day he made one or two attempts at a reconciliation with Jean, but as
+both she and Miss Stuart had concentrated their energies to prevent
+his accomplishing his purpose, he failed signally.
+
+As day followed day, the breach between Jean and her lover was not
+healed, and no hand was stretched forth to stay its ever-widening
+limits.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Lillian!"
+
+Miss Stuart laid down her book, and looked expectantly up at Helen.
+
+"I have a suggestion to make for this afternoon. How would you like to
+drive over to Crescent Beach to call on Mrs. Maynard?"
+
+"I agree to the drive," replied Miss Stuart, stifling a yawn, "but why
+must we call on that stupid woman? She always bores me to death."
+
+There was a ring of annoyance in Helen's voice as she answered:
+
+"Oh, it is not at all necessary for you to go with me. One of my
+sisters would be delighted to do so."
+
+"So much the better, my dear," said Miss Stuart indifferently, as she
+picked up her book and resumed her reading.
+
+"Why are you so down on little Mrs. Maynard?" queried Wendell
+Churchill, emerging from a recess of the window where he and Nathalie
+had been whiling away the morning hours with mandolin and banjo.
+
+"I am not down on her in the least, but I think she is uninteresting
+to a degree."
+
+She paused until the portières had closed on Helen's retreating
+figure, and then met Churchill's eyes with a meaning smile.
+
+"It is not surprising, is it, that her husband should find Mrs.
+Desborough a pleasing contrast?"
+
+In her far-away corner hot-tempered Nathalie caught the words and
+flared up in defense of her friend:
+
+"Oh, I think it is a shame to speak so. Mrs. Maynard is unhappy, but
+no woman ever bore unhappiness with greater dignity. It seems to me
+incredible that everybody's sympathies are not enlisted on her side."
+
+"I am very unfortunate," returned Miss Stuart with thinly veiled
+sarcasm. "This is the second time I have erred in this way. I must be
+more careful in future not to give expression to my opinions."
+
+Churchill saw that some unpleasantness was imminent, and, manlike,
+rushed in only to make matters worse.
+
+"Don't you think Miss Nathalie looks very much like Mrs. Desborough? I
+have so often noticed the resemblance."
+
+With blazing eyes, Nathalie started up from the low window-seat.
+
+"From all I know of her, I cannot feel flattered by the compliment,"
+and, with this parting shot, she thrust open the French windows and
+flew out on the veranda.
+
+"Dear, dear," murmured Miss Stuart in mock dismay, "what a tempest in
+a teapot. Those girls are terribly spoiled, and it is all Helen's
+fault. She is unpardonably weak with them."
+
+Churchill was very much embarrassed by the position in which he found
+himself. He extricated himself by muttering something barely
+intelligible, to the effect that the Lawrences were so much attached
+to each other, and then retreated hastily to find Nathalie and
+reinstate himself in her good graces.
+
+When afternoon came Miss Stuart relented and she and Helen, with
+little Gladys between them, started off in the buckboard for Crescent
+Beach. It was a beautiful drive. For a short distance the road wound
+through fragrant meadows and wooded lanes until it came out upon the
+beach, where for several miles it led straight away over the hardened
+sands. They bowled swiftly along, the fresh salt wind blowing in their
+faces, the soothing sound of the ebb and flow of the restless waters
+breaking softly on their ears.
+
+Miss Stuart, exhilarated by the clear air, the brilliant sunshine and
+the congenial companionship of this friend whom she really loved, had
+never appeared to a greater advantage. It was the Lillian Stuart who
+might have been whose cleverness and glancing wit held Helen's mind
+enthralled, as they talked of all the subjects dear to women's hearts.
+All too soon they reached their destination. As they drew up under the
+_porte-cochère_ of the hotel, Helen found herself wishing with all her
+heart that Lillian might continue in so charming a mood.
+
+Presently Mrs. Maynard joined them in the vast hotel parlor, and as
+Miss Stuart went forward to greet her with great cordiality, Helen had
+no fault to find with her manner. They chatted together for some few
+moments when Miss Stuart recognized some friends of hers in a party of
+people who had wandered in from the piazza. She excused herself, and
+as she joined them Mrs. Maynard turned to Helen.
+
+"Don't you want to come up to my room for a few moments, Helen? I am
+sure that Dorothy would be very glad to see Gladys."
+
+The child jumped instantly down from her chair, her chubby face
+beaming with eager anticipation.
+
+"Gladys has accepted for me," said Helen with an amused smile, and the
+two made their way upstairs.
+
+"What a lovely view you have!" exclaimed Helen as she dropped into a
+chair near the open window.
+
+"It is pretty," Mrs. Maynard assented, pushing open a door which led
+into the next room.
+
+A beautiful little child sat in the middle of the floor, hugging a big
+woolly lamb close to her heart.
+
+"Dorothy, will you please come here, and speak to little Gladys
+Lawrence, who has come to see you?"
+
+At her mother's bidding, Dorothy struggled to her feet, and clutching
+the lamb tightly in both hands, ran toward the open door. Then she
+caught sight of Helen, and the big violet eyes were swiftly veiled,
+and the little head with its tangled mass of golden curls was hidden
+in the folds of her mother's skirt. Mrs. Maynard smiled in gentle
+reproof as she lifted the child's face.
+
+"What a baby, darling! Please be a good little girl and say
+'how-do-you-do' to Gladys."
+
+Dorothy still hung back, clinging fast to her mother's hand; but
+Gladys, who was the most friendly little creature in the world, soon
+succeeded in overcoming her shyness. Presently they were chattering
+together as happily as possible, and Dorothy went so far as to produce
+her box of paper dolls and to dress them for Gladys' benefit.
+
+Mrs. Maynard's face lighted up with sympathetic interest as Helen
+gave her a graphic account of the week's gayeties. She had known Miss
+Stuart for several years, and could well understand Helen's desire to
+make her visit enjoyable. Miss Stuart, bored, might be a very
+difficult companion.
+
+"I am so glad for you, Helen, dear, that you have had such pleasant
+times. I wish you would let me feel that I had contributed in a small
+way toward helping you to entertain Miss Stuart, and, if you would
+enjoy it, I would love to have you all come over here for the dance on
+Saturday evening. I believe they are to have very good music, and we
+will arrange to have a pleasant little supper together. My husband
+will be here, and I expect Mr. and Mrs. Endicott, whom you may
+remember."
+
+"Yes, indeed, I do, and I know that I can accept for all of us. It
+will be moonlight, so the drive over will be delightful."
+
+On the way home little else was talked of between the girls but the
+prospective dance. Miss Stuart expressed herself as very much pleased
+with the idea, and the plan having received the sanction of her
+approval, Helen forthwith determined that every arrangement should be
+as perfect as her careful forethought could make it.
+
+When they reached the manor, the girls were having tea on the upper
+porch. They joined them at once, and the question of the dance was
+laid before them.
+
+"Glorious!" exclaimed Nathalie, ecstatically, and her verdict was
+loudly echoed by the others.
+
+Helen drew a chair up close to the tea-table over which Jean was
+presiding, and pulling off her gloves smoothed them out on her knee
+with the palm of her hand.
+
+"I want to consult you in regard to the drive, Jeanie," she said in a
+lowered tone.
+
+Jean nodded, and leaned across her, to hand a cup of tea to Miss
+Stuart.
+
+"Nathalie," said Helen, "please give Lillian some of that hot toast."
+
+"Toast and jam!" exclaimed Nan in accents of scorn, as she helped
+herself generously to both. "What sordid considerations, when there is
+a _bona fide_ ball in view."
+
+"Leave a slice for me, Nancy," laughed Eleanor. "I must fortify myself
+if you are going to wax eloquent."
+
+"Stop your nonsense, girls," and Nathalie waved an imperious hand at
+them. "The question is, how shall we drive over?"
+
+Jean turned to Helen.
+
+"If it is a fine night we might go in the wagonette."
+
+"Why, Jean, it would not begin to hold us all," interposed Emily.
+"There are fourteen of us, counting the men from the _Vortex_."
+
+"I did not include them," Jean replied quietly.
+
+Miss Stuart stared curiously at her over the edge of her teacup.
+
+"It seems to me that a dance without men is rather a tame affair, and
+I don't imagine the hotel will yield a very plentiful supply."
+
+Jean lifted her chin defiantly.
+
+"I was not speaking of the dance but of the drive over."
+
+"Well, that is perfectly absurd," Emily broke in. "The idea of our
+going over in one conveyance, and those poor men in another. What are
+you thinking of, Jean?"
+
+Miss Stuart laughed softly, while Jean vouchsafed never a word.
+
+A glance of intelligence was flashed from Nan to Eleanor, and Nan
+spoke up in good-natured raillery.
+
+"Em, dear, have you ever heard that 'enough is as good as a feast.'
+Jean probably remembered that it it is fully twelve miles there and
+back and felt some qualms for fear her conversational ability would
+desert her."
+
+The laugh was general, for it was a joke of long standing that Jean
+could talk to anyone, at any time, and under any circumstances,
+however trying.
+
+Helen looked from one to the other with puzzled eyes. She had an
+uncomfortable consciousness that there was something in the air which
+she did not understand. She put an end to the discussion with quiet
+decision.
+
+"There will be quite time enough to talk this over later. We must wait
+and see how the weather turns out. Now, suppose we go downstairs and
+have some music before we break up."
+
+Later that evening she opened the subject again to Miss Stuart.
+
+"I will tell you what I have decided, Lillian. We will hire the
+Hetherford stage and all go over in that."
+
+And Miss Stuart answered, with a tinge of triumph in her voice:
+
+"That is certainly a most sensible plan, my dear."
+
+So it was settled. Jean accepted the decision without a protest. Deep
+in her heart she still cherished a strong hope that the
+misunderstandings between Farr and herself might one day be cleared
+away. She had acted contrary to her own wishes in excluding him from
+the drive to Crescent Beach, and she admitted to herself,
+shamefacedly, that she was glad the matter had been taken out of her
+hands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A DANCE AT CRESCENT BEACH.
+
+
+A very merry party of people assembled at the manor on Saturday
+evening. Nathalie flitted about among them with dancing feet and
+shining eyes, and one and all caught the spirit of her contagious
+enthusiasm.
+
+"Oh, what a lark it is," she cried. "It is full moon to-night, and
+everything has gone right from beginning to end."
+
+"The end is not yet, Miss Nathalie," Farr said to her with a faint
+smile.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders and laughed light-heartedly.
+
+"Don't be cynical. It is a bad habit."
+
+"The moon is rising," interposed Jean, turning about from the open
+doorway. "It is too lovely to stay indoors."
+
+A hush fell upon them as they followed her out upon the veranda.
+Sentences left unfinished, gay laughter checked on the lips, paid
+tribute to the impressive beauty of the scene. Far away in the east
+the moon, with slow and stately grace, lifted its splendor above the
+dark line of the horizon. Against its flaming glory were sharply
+defined the somber trunks of sturdy oaks and spreading elms. Seen
+between their leafy branches lay the Sound, obscured a moment since
+by an impenetrable veil of darkness, but reflecting now on its
+rippling surface the golden light of the rising orb. The night air
+pulsed with the cheery chirp of the cricket, the monotonous chant of
+the katy-did. Softly the south wind blew rustling among the trees and
+shrubs.
+
+Nathalie was the first to speak. Her quick ear had caught the sound of
+wheels.
+
+"Here comes the stage at last. Do let us get off right away."
+
+"Is everyone here?" queried Mrs. Andrews, looking around on the bevy
+of pretty girls with a smile of complacent satisfaction.
+
+"Everyone but Lillian," Helen answered. "We may as well begin to take
+our places. She will be down in a few moments."
+
+Already the stage had backed up before the door, and Jean was among
+the first to run lightly down the broad flight of steps. Farr stood at
+the foot, and as he held out his hand to assist her, she saw that he
+was regarding her sadly. There was no time for words, the others were
+flocking down the steps behind them. She turned her eyes to meet his
+with a plaintive, almost appealing smile. She thought they must have
+spoken for her, for ere he released her hand he gave it a quick
+pressure.
+
+It was some few moments before Miss Stuart made her appearance. She
+descended the steps slowly, with no suggestion of haste. Farr held
+open the door for her to enter.
+
+"Come up here by me, Lillian," Helen called to her from the other end
+of the stage, but she did not seem to hear the request, and slipped
+into a seat near the door.
+
+Farr sprang lightly in, but as he would have passed her she laid a
+detaining hand on his arm.
+
+"There is plenty of room here," she said, indicating the place beside
+her, and he had no alternative but to take it.
+
+The other men crowded past them, and as the stage lurched forward,
+Cliff Archer dropped into a seat between Jean and Eleanor.
+
+"A great deal of strength is wasted in undue haste," he observed
+lazily. "I find that laggards invariably prosper."
+
+"What heresy, Cliff," laughed Eleanor softly, with an expressive
+glance in Miss Stuart's direction.
+
+Cliff appealed to Jean.
+
+"Can you imagine anything more barefaced than that attempt to extort a
+compliment. From a sheer sense of duty I feel compelled to disappoint
+her."
+
+He stopped abruptly, struck by the expression of Jean's face. She had
+evidently not heard his words, for she was staring straight before her
+with strained, unseeing eyes. Her mouth was compressed with a look of
+suffering in the lines. Cliff was very fond of Jean. He knew her
+better than the other girls, for she and Eleanor were such fast
+friends. He did not stop to ponder on the cause of her unhappiness,
+but hastily resolved to shield her if possible. Eleanor leaned forward
+to speak to her across him, but he brought his slender figure between
+them.
+
+"You can talk to Jean all day, and every day. It is my turn to-night,
+my dear, and I intend to monopolize you to my heart's content."
+
+When Cliff spoke in that tone Eleanor knew there was no appeal to be
+made, so she yielded the point at once with very good grace.
+
+As the stage jolted lumberingly on its way, Jean saw nothing of the
+beauty of the night, heard nothing of the merry laughter, the gay
+snatches of song which reverberated around her. It was, perhaps, a
+trifling circumstance that Farr had seated himself quite at the other
+end of the stage, and at Miss Stuart's side, but to Jean, in her
+unhappy state of mind, it meant a great deal. To her the interchange
+of glances a few moments since had been tantamount to a truce between
+them. She had been so sure that Farr would make an effort to secure a
+place beside her that she had purposely crowded up in the corner,
+leaving a space for him between Eleanor and herself. Her humiliation
+was poignant, complete. The wound to vanity was beneficial in its
+effect, rousing all her self-respect, and determining her to hide the
+truth from Farr at all hazards.
+
+"I must be brave," she said to herself resolutely. "I must let him see
+that I am happy and light-hearted," and she closed her lips firmly to
+still their quivering. She was quite mistress of herself by the time
+the hotel was reached.
+
+The Maynards, with their friends the Endicotts, awaited them on the
+brilliantly lighted veranda, and as they descended from the stage with
+merry jest and laughter, Maynard left his wife's side and ran down the
+steps to welcome them. He was a good-looking man, with a particularly
+charming and cordial manner. He had never given much thought to the
+Hetherford girls; in his mind he stigmatized them as provincial and
+uninteresting; but to-night, as Jean, standing in the full glare of
+the hotel office, unwound the scarf from around her neck, and flung
+back her wrap, an exclamation of surprise rose to his lips.
+
+Jean was, indeed, looking very lovely. There were faint shadows under
+the deep blue eyes, the sweet mouth drooped slightly, lending new
+beauty and depth of expression to her face. Maynard hastened to offer
+her his arm, and they moved slowly down the long hall to the entrance
+of the ball-room. The music had just begun when Farr's voice fell on
+Jean's ears. At his first words she turned a startled face toward him:
+
+"Miss Lawrence, I believe this is our dance. Sorry to deprive you,
+Maynard," and before Jean could recover from her astonishment, Maynard
+had bowed himself away and Farr was smiling gravely down at her.
+
+"Please don't be angry, Miss Jean. 'Nothing venture nothing have,' you
+know, and I have had so little lately."
+
+Jean looked up at him helplessly at a loss for an answer.
+
+"I want the waltz very much," he added in a tone of pleading.
+
+She laughed a bit unsteadily.
+
+"Why, of course, I will dance with you, although I must confess your
+mode of asking me is very strange."
+
+"'All is fair in----' Which is it, Jean?" he asked softly as they fell
+into the measure of the waltz.
+
+She dropped her eyes, glad that at present no reply was required of
+her. When the last strain had died away, Farr drew her hand through
+his arm, and they threaded their way among the crowd out into the cool
+hall-way.
+
+"Is this your wrap?" he queried, selecting one from the number that
+were thrown across a chair. "Now let us go outside for a little
+stroll."
+
+They made their way out on to the little veranda, which on this side
+of the hotel was built on a ledge of rocks, and overhung the waters of
+Crescent Bay. Avoiding the rank and file of dancers, who were now
+promenading slowly up and down, they crossed to the railing and stood
+there gazing silently before them. In the harbor below myriads of
+boats lay at anchor, all gayly decorated in honor of the occasion.
+Further out the moon's bright radiance fell softly on the tremulous
+waves, and across its golden sheen a white-winged yacht sped silently
+on its way.
+
+By and by, Jean roused herself with a slight effort:
+
+"What Philistinism it is to illuminate the veranda with those ugly
+lanterns. Their flaring light quite spoils the effect of the
+moonlight."
+
+Her poor little commonplace attempt to open the conversation met with
+disastrous failure. Farr muttered inattentively "Yes, indeed," and
+relapsed into silence again.
+
+In the long pause that ensued the monotonous splash of the waves
+against the rocks below sounded deliciously cool and refreshing. A
+rowboat shot out from the pier, skimming the darkened waters under
+the lea of the shore.
+
+Farr drew nearer to Jean and spoke with deep earnestness:
+
+"We cannot take up the thread of the past, Miss Jean, with this
+constraint between us, but I am not willing to let it go without an
+attempt at an explanation. Will you not tell me what I have done to
+have forfeited your friendship?"
+
+Jean's head was bent, her few words of dissent almost inaudible. Farr
+interrupted her in a voice that was both pained and stern.
+
+"Please don't deny it. I cannot have forfeited the right to your
+honesty. Did I presume too much on your great kindness to me, Jean?"
+
+"No, oh no!" she cried hastily, with a little break in her voice.
+"Indeed you must not think that."
+
+A man's step approached them, and stopped at Jean's side.
+
+"Miss Lawrence," Maynard's voice said, "the next waltz is ours. Shall
+I find you here?"
+
+"Why, certainly," she replied with a forced laugh. "I shall not
+vanish."
+
+"I wanted to assure myself of the pleasure. One is easily lost among
+all these people," he answered lightly, as he turned away.
+
+Farr's face darkened.
+
+"What right has Maynard to monopolize you?" he demanded savagely. "He
+is a married man, and not a man----"
+
+It was an unwise speech, and he broke off abruptly convicted of his
+folly by the expression in Jean's unflinching eyes.
+
+"You forget that Mr. Maynard is our host, Mr. Farr," she said coldly.
+
+After a moment she added more gently:
+
+"I did not want you to say anything that you would regret. I should be
+sorry to hear you speak ill of a friend. It is not like you."
+
+The simple words touched Farr, and made him feel ashamed of himself.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said contritely. "I was a brute to speak so.
+The truth is, I am not myself, and have not been during the whole of
+this miserable week. I seem never to have the chance to speak with
+you, and I have tortured myself with the thought that it has been your
+deliberate purpose to avoid me."
+
+The opening bars of the waltz, and Maynard's approach, cut short his
+words. Slowly the trio forced their way through the moving crowd until
+they had gained the entrance to the ball-room. Farr stood listlessly
+in the doorway as Maynard whirled Jean away from him across the
+polished floor. Some minutes later, someone touched his elbow and he
+turned with a start to meet Miss Stuart's eyes:
+
+"Val, let us dance together 'for auld lang syne.'"
+
+"With pleasure," he assented abstractedly, for as she spoke he had
+caught a glimpse of Jean disappearing through one of the long windows
+which gave on the veranda. Miss Stuart's glance followed his, and her
+eyes flashed. The carelessness of his reply hurt her cruelly.
+
+"I will make Jean suffer for this," she vowed, as with throbbing
+heart she took her place among the dancers.
+
+Later, as they passed through the doorway, they encountered Jean and
+Maynard re-entering the room. Miss Stuart first caught sight of them.
+She raised her glorious eyes to her companion's face, and spoke in a
+voice carefully pitched to reach Jean's ears:
+
+"Yes, indeed, Val, it is pleasant to dance together again. It brings
+back those bygone happy days so forcibly."
+
+They were abreast of the other couple now, and Farr halted. Miss
+Stuart's speech had quite escaped him, absorbed as he was in watching
+Jean, so he was entirely unprepared for her reception of him. As he
+spoke her name she flashed a light impenetrable smile at him, and then
+deliberately turned away, and he heard her say gayly to the man at her
+side:
+
+"Mr. Maynard, that waltz is divine. Don't let us miss another bar of
+it."
+
+And Maynard answered softly:
+
+"Your wish is my law, Miss Jean."
+
+Then the crowd surged between them, and with a somewhat unreasonable
+bitterness in his heart Farr blindly followed Miss Stuart to a
+secluded corner of the veranda. Jean's treatment of him was
+inexplicable. It seemed so much easier for things to go wrong than
+right that he felt it was well-nigh useless to struggle against the
+inevitable. Disappointed and dispirited he paid but small heed to his
+beautiful companion, who was exerting her rare tact and diplomacy to
+please and divert him.
+
+In the ensuing hour, Jean, all unsuspecting of the truth, was amply
+avenged. Never before had it come home to Lillian Stuart, with such
+convincing force, that against Farr's love for this young girl she was
+utterly powerless. In vain love taught her a new unselfishness, a
+womanly gentleness quite strange to her; in vain did she crush down
+the rising storm of jealousy within her breast. Farr saw none of these
+things, cared for her not at all. He sought her society because she
+made so few demands upon him and accepted his varying moods
+unquestioningly. If he thought on the subject at all he explained her
+kindness to him by the fact that he was possibly more in touch with
+her world than anyone else in Hetherford. The subtle charm of her
+personality which she had ever found so potent was quite lost on this
+man whose love she had once possessed, and had valued so lightly. Hope
+was dead in her heart, but one weapon of revenge--Jean's evident
+jealousy--lay within her grasp, and this she wielded with unerring
+skill.
+
+The music ceased, and soon the veranda was invaded by a host of
+flushed and heated dancers, and among their number Jean, with Maynard
+still at her side. There was a new elasticity in her step, a new light
+in her eyes, and she was flirting quite openly and markedly with her
+companion. As the stream bore them past Farr and Miss Stuart she did
+not apparently observe them, withdrawn as they were into the corner,
+and falling out of the line of people, selected seats at a short
+distance from them.
+
+Maynard, to whom a pretty woman was always irresistible, was carried
+away by the girl's _insouciance_, and fascination. He was the more
+delighted because so completely taken by surprise. He had pictured
+Jean always as a little puritan who would look upon a flirtation as
+the height of immorality, but to-night the little puritan had suddenly
+blossomed out in a totally unexpected and charming character. He was
+not a little flattered by her evident willingness to linger on in this
+quiet spot with him when the crowd had once more sought the ball-room,
+and into his manner he infused an added warmth of interest.
+
+Poor Jean, however, was invulnerable. She had never liked Mr. Maynard,
+although she had been forced to admit that he was charming, and
+agreeable as an acquaintance. The Hetherford girls were one and all
+too sincerely fond of Mrs. Maynard to have much patience with the man
+who could flagrantly neglect so sweet and lovely a wife. It had been
+an unwritten code of honor among them to treat him with polite
+indifference, and to promptly snub any attempt on his part to break
+down the barrier of reserve behind which they had entrenched
+themselves. Under ordinary circumstances Jean would have despised
+herself for the course she was now pursuing, but to-night the poor
+child was too utterly miserably to care what she did, or what became
+of her. She laughed and flirted recklessly with this man, of whom she
+strongly disapproved, to quell the ache at her heart, and when the
+remedy failed she but laughed and flirted the more. It was selfish,
+unworthy; but Jean was unversed in suffering, and seized upon the
+means within reach to enable her to cover up her pain and jealousy.
+Something of the same impulse that influenced Farr with Miss Stuart
+prompted her to keep this man at her side. Those old friends knew her
+too well, had seen too much of her with Farr, not to have their
+suspicions aroused by her feverish and exaggerated gayety.
+
+At last the evening was over, and they stood in the hotel office,
+awaiting the arrival of the stage. Jean was somewhat apart from the
+others, with Maynard bending over her and talking to her in lowered
+tones.
+
+Her little foot tapped the floor nervously, her cheeks burned hotly,
+and one unsteady little hand waved a big fan to and fro. Her courage
+was rapidly forsaking her, and she rallied all her strength in one
+last effort to appear naturally gay and at ease. She felt she must not
+break down now with Farr only a few paces away, for, although she
+never raised her eyes, yet she knew he was watching her.
+
+As pretty little Mrs. Maynard moved about among her guests, speaking
+to them in her softly modulated voice, she bent a glance of anxious
+intentness upon Jean. She was far too inured to her husband's
+indifference to be deeply hurt by this new flirtation carried on
+before her very eyes, but this new phase in Jean's character puzzled
+her. But her own sad experience had quickened her intuition of others'
+unhappiness, and so it was that in her gentle heart there was more of
+commiseration than anger.
+
+Her thoughts were interrupted by Dick's announcement that the stage
+was at the door. When Jean came to bid her good-night she looked into
+the strained, pathetic eyes with compassionate tenderness, and a
+sudden impulse made her lean forward and kiss the girl lovingly.
+
+Once more the old stage rumbled over the road between Hetherford and
+Crescent Beach. The wind had veered a point to the east, and blew damp
+and chill, driving before it a mist of clouds across the sky,
+obscuring the moon's bright light. The sudden change in the atmosphere
+was felt by everybody, and the conversation was spasmodic, broken by
+long intervals of silence. Jean, very white and still now that the
+tension was relaxed, shrank back into her corner clinging fast to
+Eleanor's hand. In a further corner Farr sat at Helen's side, silent
+during the whole of the long drive.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+HELEN IS PUZZLED.
+
+
+Miss Stuart's visit was drawing to a close, and Nan was giving a
+luncheon in her honor. The little parlor of the parsonage was redolent
+with the fragrance of roses and mignonette, which were massed in every
+vase and bowl, and the arrangement of the simple, old-fashioned
+furniture bore evidence of Nan's artistic taste. A few good etchings
+and a half-dozen rare old prints adorned the walls, and scattered
+about on the low mantel were several valuable bits of _vertu_.
+
+Nan stood in the center of the room, and received her guests with
+outstretched hand and beaming face.
+
+"Now, I call this delightful," she said cheerily, as she shook hands
+with Miss Stuart. "Even father has gone away for the day, so we are a
+typical Hetherford party--all girls and no men. Em said you would be
+bored to death," she rattled on in a confidential undertone, "but for
+once in a way I thought you might find it amusing to have plenty of
+your own sex. It is no novelty to us, as Em will tell you with a face
+as long as the moral code."
+
+"I think it is charming," Miss Stuart affirmed, with a greater regard
+for amiability than for truth.
+
+Nan smiled mischievously.
+
+"Confess it is dull."
+
+"Indeed it is not, Miss Nan. The imp of dullness would never dare to
+show his surly face in your presence."
+
+"Ah, you do not know," and Nan shook her head in laughing protest.
+"Drop in here any Sunday between church-time and dinner, and you will
+find us boon companions."
+
+The door into the dining-room was opened, and a grim-visaged woman in
+a starched calico gown of uncompromising stiffness appeared on the
+threshold. For a moment she eyed Nan threateningly, and then
+announced:
+
+"Your lunch is on the table," and added, as she faced about and
+marched back into the dining room, "and it's getting cold."
+
+Nan, in no wise disconcerted, turned a wry face toward her guests:
+
+"Biddy and I had one of our most deadly affrays just before you
+arrived, so don't be surprised at anything she may give us for
+luncheon. I tried, for your sakes, to keep my temper until later in
+the day, but it wouldn't be kept."
+
+"It never will," sighed Emily ruefully, in the midst of the general
+laugh.
+
+Nan ushered them into the dining room:
+
+"Miss Stuart, will you sit here on my right? Girls, take any places
+you want."
+
+"You needn't have worried about luncheon, Nan. These biscuits are
+simply delicious," observed Helen, consolingly, as Bridget vanished
+into the kitchen. "Biddy is far too proud of her skill to disgrace
+you."
+
+"Oh, she would not mind me," laughed Nan airily. "Nothing would
+restrain her but her sense of importance, and her undying jealousy of
+your cook."
+
+"What a glorious time we had at the dance," Emily remarked
+irrelevantly. "It was about the most successful thing we have done
+this summer. It has made such a difference having the _Vortex_ here,
+hasn't it, Jean?"
+
+Jean, thus addressed, changed color rapidly, and then was furious with
+herself, for she caught Miss Stuart's eyes fixed on her with insolent
+directness.
+
+"Oh, bother the _Vortex_," cried Mollie petulantly. "Don't let us talk
+about men. There are dozens of subjects more interesting."
+
+"We will make it 'man,' and talk of Dick. Eh, Mollie?" and Nathalie
+laughed provokingly.
+
+"We couldn't do better," responded Mollie imperturbably. "Dick is
+lovely, is he not, Miss Stuart?"
+
+Miss Stuart flung back her head with a merry laugh; no whit
+embarrassed by the naïve question. Dick had been her shadow for the
+past week, and was sighing and pining like the most approved of
+lovers, yet she answered with a nonchalance which Nathalie would have
+given worlds to acquire.
+
+"He is truly charming, Miss Mollie. I quite share your enthusiasm."
+
+Then she dropped out of the conversation, listening with languid
+interest to the topics which the others fell to discussing with much
+animation. Their views of life differed materially from her own; their
+complete unworldliness called a half-contemptuous smile to her lips,
+and yet there was awakened within her a shadowy feeling of regret. She
+had lived a purely pleasure-loving life, without a thought beyond her
+own advancement along the line of her ambitions. To a certain extent
+she had been eminently successful. Her marvelous beauty, supplemented
+by a decided mental ability, had strewn her path with the admiration
+and adulation which she craved, and faults and failings, which in a
+less beautiful woman would have received harsh censure, were in her
+case overlooked and condoned. To-day, for the first time, the thought
+assailed her that perhaps she was the victim of an erroneous idea;
+that perhaps these young girls, living their lives so simply, actuated
+by a desire to act uprightly and to be honest and affectionate in
+every relationship in life, had found a happiness which had eluded her
+grasp.
+
+Nathalie, who vainly strove at times to be cynical, made some careless
+remark, and Miss Stuart listened wonderingly to a gentle remonstrance
+which Eleanor administered in accents of earnestness.
+
+"Ah! Nat, dear, don't say that, even in fun. Everything makes a
+difference."
+
+"Indeed, yes," added Helen.
+
+     "No stream from its source flows seaward,
+       How lonely soever its course,
+     But what some land is gladdened.
+       No star ever rose or set
+     Without influence somewhere."
+
+She quoted the lines charmingly, despite the little shyness which was
+so characteristic of her.
+
+"I suppose that is true," said Mollie thoughtfully; "and in the large
+things in life we know that we can only be in harmony with God's plan
+by acting absolutely in accordance with our consciences. But it is
+hard to realize the importance of our decision in regard to the small
+daily occurrences. They seem almost too insignificant to exert any
+influence, either for good or evil."
+
+"Influence does not lie only in deeds, Mollie," Eleanor replied,
+"either small or great. It seems to me that it is what we are, not
+what we do, that is the essential thing. If one's heart is pure and
+true, purity and truth will be manifested in one's actions, however
+trivial. And remember, dear, for I am going to quote now:
+
+     "No life can be strong in its purpose and pure in its strife,
+     And all life not be stronger and purer thereby."
+
+Jean gave her friend's hand an affectionate squeeze.
+
+"I do believe you are the best girl living," she whispered softly,
+with an air of profound conviction.
+
+"You see, girls, what it is to have a friend like Jean."
+
+"You mean like Eleanor," Jean promptly retorted.
+
+"I suppose that is true friendship," mused Mollie.
+
+"Must friendship necessarily be as blind as love?" queried Nan, with a
+smile at the two girls which robbed the words of any sting.
+
+"Jean knows nothing of love," declared Emily, with an air of
+superiority which was eminently amusing. It was common parlance that
+Emily never saw the general aspect of things quite as clearly as most
+people.
+
+Jean joined somewhat constrainedly in the laugh that greeted these
+words, and wondered if it could be her imagination that Miss Stuart's
+smile held a covert sneer.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when Helen reached the manor and made her
+way up to the nursery. The room was dim, for heavy clouds shortened
+the summer day. A sharp east wind moaned through the trees outside,
+and nurse had wisely lighted a wood fire in the wide chimneyplace. Its
+fitful flickering light fell full on little Gladys kneeling before the
+hearth, her eyes big with excitement as her chubby hands shaped a
+wonderful house of blocks; while near her Larry, lying flat on his
+back, threw out occasional hints and suggestions as to its
+construction. Willie, curled up in one of the deep window-seats, was
+making the best of the fast-fading daylight to finish a story which,
+to judge from his absorbed expression, must have been of thrilling
+interest. As Helen pushed open the door and advanced toward the
+cheerful fire, three pairs of eyes looked up to greet her.
+
+"Well, chicks, you all look very happy and comfie."
+
+Gladys thrust out her hands in quick alarm to save her block house
+from dangerous contact with the skirt of Helen's gown.
+
+"P'ease take care, sister," she lisped. "Don't step on our b'ocks,
+'cause Larry an' me is buildin' a big castle."
+
+"Baby, baby, 'Larry an' me is buildin'?'"
+
+Gladys shook her fluffy head impatiently.
+
+"I haven't got any time to bovver. I'm velly busy."
+
+Helen laughed, and dropping down upon the floor, began to lend a
+helping hand. Gladys sank back on her heels with a complacent sigh.
+
+"Build a booful one, sister, big as this," raising her arms high over
+her head.
+
+Helen nodded, but paused from her task, block in hand, to give a
+glance at Willie.
+
+"Put down your book, dearie," she said to him. "This is the worst
+possible light to read in. You will ruin your eyes."
+
+Willie heaved a sigh as he closed the precious book and, stretching
+himself after his cramped position, rose slowly to his feet, and
+joined the group before the fire. Flinging himself down near Helen, he
+laid his head in her lap. She patted his little round face
+affectionately, and went on with her castle-building.
+
+The setting sun had broken through the clouds, and a flood of yellow
+light streamed through the western windows. From the huge logs in the
+fireplace an increasing volume of flames roared up the chimney, its
+ruddy glow illuminating the eager faces of the children, intent on
+every movement of their sister's deft hands. The truly wonderful house
+of blocks was nearing completion when Jean came quietly into the room.
+For a moment she stood silent in the shadowy doorway contemplating the
+pretty scene with wistful eyes. As she approached more nearly she
+unconsciously echoed Helen's words of a few moments past.
+
+"Well, you look very happy, all of you."
+
+Helen laughed softly.
+
+"This is an exciting moment, Jeanie, so you must not marvel if we are
+not very talkative."
+
+Jean leaned against one side of the old-fashioned chimneyplace, and
+absently watched the placing of the last few blocks.
+
+"Gladys," she whispered, after a moment, "what do you think I saw just
+now?"
+
+"What, Jeanie?" lifting her flushed face to her sister's.
+
+"Mary on her way upstairs with your supper, and oh, what cookies!"
+
+"Goody!" cried Larry, springing to his feet with a bound which brought
+the beautiful castle tumbling to the ground.
+
+"You naughty boy!" scolded Gladys crossly. "See what you done!"
+
+Jean took the angry, pouting little face between her hands, and smiled
+tenderly down into the tearful eyes:
+
+"It is hard luck, baby, but you might as well get used to having your
+castles demolished."
+
+"It's a shame," grumbled Willie, who was almost as disappointed as his
+little sister. "Larry's always rough."
+
+"Never mind, dear," interrupted Helen, rising from the floor. "I am
+sure Larry didn't mean to upset the house, and in any case we could
+not leave it in Mary's way."
+
+"Bother Mary."
+
+"Hush, Willie, you must not speak so. Now run away and dress for
+dinner. Larry and Gladys must have their supper."
+
+Jean followed her sister out into the hall, and laid a detaining hand
+on her arm.
+
+"Helen," she said, very low, "are you ever really unhappy?"
+
+"Why yes, Jean, sometimes. But why do you ask? Surely you are always
+in good spirits."
+
+Jean smiled a little bitterly:
+
+"Oh, of course I am, and I suppose I must go on fulfilling my destiny
+until the end of the chapter. But even if one has a reputation for
+unending hilarity, there are times----" She broke off abruptly with a
+laugh which suggested tears, and rushed away in the direction of her
+room, leaving Helen sorely puzzled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+"IT WAS ONLY MY IMAGINATION."
+
+
+"May I come in, Aunt Helen?"
+
+"Certainly, dear." Aunt Helen looked up from the open Bible on her
+knee, and welcomed Jean with a cheery smile. "Where were you all
+yesterday? I did not have a glimpse of you."
+
+The girl crossed the room, and dropping down into an easy-chair near
+the open window, gazed listlessly out across the sunlit lawn.
+
+"Oh, I was just here as usual."
+
+Aunt Helen closed her Bible and laid it carefully down on the table.
+
+"Are you tired already of so much pleasuring, Jeanie?"
+
+"I don't see that we have had a great deal of pleasuring lately," her
+niece replied perversely. "I think Hetherford is the stupidest place
+in the world, and I am tired of everything."
+
+Aunt Helen was far too wise to remonstrate just then. After a moment's
+silence, she opened a subject which had never failed to awaken an
+interest in Jean.
+
+"I had a nice letter from Mrs. Appleton to-day. They seem to be
+thoroughly enjoying themselves now, and she says Guy is working
+splendidly and expects to accomplish great things on his return."
+
+"Yes," was Jean's inattentive response, as her eyes marked the
+circling of a buzzing fly outside the window.
+
+"Miss Stuart is making quite a long visit," ventured Aunt Helen
+patiently. "I had thought that she would soon tire of Hetherford."
+
+"I am sure I don't see why she doesn't go away. The whole house is
+turned upside down to provide her with amusement. It is a perfect
+bore."
+
+"My dear," Aunt Helen objected, "that is surely not the spirit of true
+hospitality. We do not speak ill of our guests. _Noblesse oblige._"
+
+"I can't help it," and Jean, now thoroughly aroused, started up from
+her chair; "I am not going to pretend to like a person when I don't.
+She is insufferably patronizing, and I hate her."
+
+Aunt Helen looked up at her niece with real distress in her eyes.
+
+"Why, child," and she held out her hand, "come here. I want to speak
+to you."
+
+Jean stood irresolute, looking half ashamed, and wholly miserable. At
+that most inopportune moment Nathalie flung open the door.
+
+"Oh, here you are, Jean. I have been looking all over for you. Come on
+down and have a game of tennis before dinner. Why, what's the matter?"
+
+Jean hastily averted her face.
+
+"Nothing. I don't care to play tennis."
+
+"Oh, please do, I am just in the humor for it."
+
+"You may be, but I am not," Jean returned curtly.
+
+"What in the world has come over you?" asked Nathalie bluntly. "I
+never knew anyone's disposition to become as uncertain and irritable
+as yours has lately."
+
+"Why don't you let me alone, then? My temper may be growing bad, but
+yours has never been anything else."
+
+Nathalie shrugged her shoulders, and laughing shortly, went on her way
+without another word.
+
+When the door had closed on her, Jean slipped down on the floor and,
+burying her face in Aunt Helen's lap, sobbed convulsively.
+
+"I don't know what is the matter with me," she faltered. "I am so
+cross and irritable lately. Everything seems to set my nerves on edge.
+I never used to feel so."
+
+Aunt Helen passed her thin hand soothingly over the girl's bent head.
+
+"Don't worry about it, dearie. Of course you did not mean to speak so.
+You are tired and unstrung to-day."
+
+By and by Jean's sobs grew less frequent, then ceased altogether. She
+lifted her head, and, resting her arm on Aunt Helen's knee, dropped
+her chin in her hand, and stared absently before her. All trace of
+emotion had left her face, and it now wore an expression of utter
+weariness and dejection. Her aunt looked thoughtfully down at her. Had
+it been either Helen or Nathalie who had thus given way it would not
+have troubled her, but proud little Jean was too reserved and
+self-contained to break down unless she had been very sorely tried.
+The silence had lasted some few moments when Aunt Helen again spoke.
+
+"In spite of your denial, Jean, I fear that your playtime has lasted
+too long. Discontent never fails to creep in among us when we are
+idle. You see, dear, I am taking it for granted that it is nothing
+deeper than a feeling of discontent which makes you so unhappy. I know
+of nothing else unless----" She paused. Jean stirred uneasily under
+her direct glance. Aunt Helen instantly averted her eyes, and resumed:
+"I am sorry that my ill health forces me to lead my life so apart from
+you all. I am in ignorance of the many currents and eddies which would
+otherwise be apparent to me, but if ever you need my advice you know
+how gladly I will give it to you, and there are times when an old head
+is better than a young one."
+
+Still Jean did not speak. Aunt Helen sighed a little sadly:
+
+"Well, my child, I suppose I am mistaken, and that your trouble is
+only a surfeit of pleasure."
+
+"I am a great baby, Auntie, but I am glad I came here to you to have
+my cry out. You always help me so, and make me ashamed of being so
+impatient," and Jean looked lovingly up into the worn face which was
+bent above her.
+
+"Thank you, dearie. You must come to me whenever you feel discouraged
+and unhappy, and remember I always stand ready to give you whatever
+comfort or counsel lies within my power. But, Jean," and her voice was
+very grave, "I have learned from my own experience, both of petty
+annoyance and of great trials, that there is only one true source of
+strength."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At a late hour that night Lillian Stuart sat before the low
+dressing-table in her cozy room, reviewing the events of the past
+week. The face which the mirror reflected was clouded, the eyes somber
+and full of fire, for the consciousness of defeat was upon her. As
+yet, however, no thought of capitulation occurred to her. Farr's
+indifference, his evident love for another, but deepened her love for
+him, stinging it into a passion that was well-nigh overmastering her.
+The difficulties in her path lent new zest to the struggle, rousing
+within her heart an insatiable desire for conquest. Possession had
+ever palled upon her. She had loved Farr, but as an accepted lover he
+had wearied her, and her love for him was not strong enough to drown
+the voice of worldly wisdom and prudence. To be sure, in those days he
+was hardly more than a boy, poor and unknown, whereas to-day he was a
+man well versed in the world's ways, liberally supplied with the
+world's goods, and with the respect and esteem of his fellow-men, yet
+preserving the same sweet, magnetic personality which long ago had
+made such a deep impression on her somewhat fickle heart. These
+considerations naturally had weight with her, but the secret of her
+determination lay not in these, but in the obstacles to be surmounted,
+the flattering assurance that her power could not be foiled. Had she
+been quite honest with herself she must have acknowledged that once
+the victory gained the charm would be forever broken. As Farr's wife
+she would be a thoroughly wretched woman. Knowing full well his hatred
+of an untruth, his contempt for a deception, his passionate anger at
+an injustice, did she not dream what a death to his soul a union with
+her would have been? Alas! she herself had revealed to him the
+shallowness of her nature, the pettiness of her ambitions, the
+faithlessness of her heart. The lesson was a bitter one but he had
+learned it well, and, deep in her soul, Lillian Stuart knew that never
+again would he give his love unworthily. She hated Jean Lawrence, yet
+she appreciated her purity and gentleness, the fineness of her nature,
+the almost exalted bent of her mind. But this appreciation did not
+soften her heart, nor weaken her determination. Jean had balked her,
+and Jean must suffer.
+
+The face in the mirror before her grew hard; there were rigid lines
+about the mouth, the wonderful eyes gleamed strangely bright.
+
+"I love him. I have always loved him. She shall not have him. It is
+the one satisfaction that is left me if all else fails."
+
+Sharp upon these thoughts came a tap upon the door, and Helen Lawrence
+entered. A soft wrapper enveloped her slender frame, and her hair hung
+loose upon her shoulders.
+
+"I wanted to come in for a little chat, Lillian. Do you mind if I
+braid my hair here?"
+
+"Why, no, indeed. I am glad to have you. Sit down."
+
+Helen drew a chair up close to the dressing-table, and seating
+herself, began slowly to plait her long soft hair. She put aside some
+light topic which Miss Stuart suggested, and spoke at once of the
+subject which lay nearest her heart.
+
+"I am worried about Jean, Lillian. She does not seem like herself
+lately, and if it were not absurd, I should begin to think she was
+unhappy about something."
+
+"Indeed." The response was so brief as to be almost an ejaculation.
+Helen's words accorded strangely with Miss Stuart's thoughts.
+
+"Yes, and you don't know how unusual it is for Jean to be either
+irritable or moody. She has a very bright, sunny nature, and is
+particularly sweet-tempered."
+
+"Perhaps there is something troubling her which you have not
+perceived."
+
+Helen wrinkled her forehead thoughtfully.
+
+"I am afraid there must be."
+
+Miss Stuart darted a swift glance at her.
+
+"Have you ever thought what it might be?"
+
+Helen's attention was caught by a certain tone in her friend's voice.
+She raised her eyes questioningly:
+
+"No, dear; I wish I had a clew."
+
+"Suppose I should give you one?"
+
+There was genuine surprise in Helen's face. She answered with a
+tenderness in her voice which gave her companion a pang.
+
+"Why, Lillian, do you know of anything to make Jean unhappy?"
+
+Miss Stuart lifted her head as if to strengthen her purpose, wondering
+at the sudden weakness in herself which made the words so hard to say:
+
+"Your sister is in love with Mr. Farr."
+
+"Oh!" gasped Helen, staring blankly at her friend.
+
+"I only wonder you have not seen it before," added Miss Stuart
+coolly.
+
+"Don't you think he is in love with her?" blundered Helen, who had not
+sufficiently recovered from her astonishment to be very wise in Jean's
+behalf.
+
+The answer was incisive:
+
+"I do not."
+
+The hot tears rushed to Helen's eyes.
+
+"Oh, my poor little Jean!"
+
+Miss Stuart turned away and, to save herself, spoke harshly:
+
+"For Heaven's sake, Helen, don't cry. It is such a weak thing to do."
+
+The sharp words brought Helen suddenly to a realization of what she
+had done in thus accepting, without demur, Miss Stuart's statement in
+regard to Jean. Too late she remembered that it was little short of
+disloyalty to discuss the subject with an outsider; an outsider,
+moreover, who had never made any pretense of liking her sister. She
+resolved to retrieve herself if possible, and answered not a little
+proudly:
+
+"I am sorry I offended you, Lillian. We often differ in our opinions
+as to what is weak and what is not."
+
+"Not often, but always," Lillian broke in with a disagreeable laugh.
+
+"Where I was weak," continued Helen, ignoring utterly the
+interruption, "was, in laying too much stress on your verdict in
+regard to my sister. I am not authorized to contradict your statement,
+but I think it is more than probable that your perceptions have been
+at fault. In regard to Mr. Farr, he has certainly seemed to both like
+and admire Jean. Once or twice I have even thought him very much
+concerned about her. Why, at the dance----"
+
+"I imagine, my dear, that your perceptions are equally as faulty as my
+own. It may interest you to learn that Mr. Farr and I were at one time
+engaged; that he loved me madly, and that my breaking of the
+engagement was a terrible blow to him. It is possible, however, since
+in your opinion Mr. Farr has transferred his affections from me to
+your sister, that he has already confessed this to her." The taunting
+words were spoken lightly, but Miss Stuart's eyes searched Helen's
+face. What she saw there must have satisfied her, for she turned aside
+with an air of relief.
+
+There was a brief pause, which was broken by a question from Helen:
+
+"Does Mr. Farr still care for you, Lillian?"
+
+The clear truthful eyes met Miss Stuart's squarely, and under their
+steady gaze she moved restively. It was not easy to tell a direct lie
+to Helen. She bent her head, and a slow flush mounted to her face.
+
+"That is hardly fair, Helen. He certainly has not told me of any
+change in his feeling toward me." She flung back her head and her
+lustrous eyes held a challenge. "You have seen him with me. What do
+you think?"
+
+Her face was alight with power and magnetism; the scarlet lips were
+slightly parted, as the breath came hurriedly through them; one firm
+white hand on her breast held together the loose folds of her
+dressing-gown, which fell about her superb figure in long, graceful
+lines. At that moment she was regal, majestic.
+
+Helen gazed at her steadfastly, and her heart sank.
+
+"Poor little Jean," she thought hopelessly. "What could she do?"
+
+For Helen, as was her wont, laid too much stress upon her friend's
+great beauty of face and form, and overlooked the deeper beauty of her
+sister's soul.
+
+As she crept into bed that night she murmured to herself:
+
+"I must warn Jean, gently and lovingly. God grant it may not be too
+late."
+
+Her opportunity came the very next evening, for directly dinner was
+finished Nathalie and Miss Stuart started off on a long-planned ride
+with Churchill and Andrews. Jean stood on the veranda to watch them
+mount and ride away. Her eyes followed them until their four figures,
+swaying slightly with the motion of the horses, were no longer
+silhouetted against the evening sky, then descended the broad flight
+of steps, and wandered out into the garden. The sun had already set,
+but the earth was still wrapped in the mystic light of the purple
+after-glow. Once in the sweet old-fashioned garden Jean paced slowly
+up and down the trim paths, bordered by rows of fragrant mignonette
+and carnations, and flanked at the corners by tall hollyhocks and
+slender poppies, and into her sad heart stole something of the peace
+and quiet of the tranquil spot.
+
+"It is all so strange and incomprehensible," ran her thoughts, "but I
+am not going to worry about it. There must be some mistake somewhere.
+I believed in him so implicitly. I felt so sure of his love--oh, I
+cannot, I will not believe that he deliberately deceived me. If only
+he were here now, while she is away, I am sure that everything could
+be explained. Oh, he might come--he might be honest with me!"
+
+The garden gate clicked, and she looked up with startled eyes; but it
+was only Helen coming down the path to meet her.
+
+"Why did you run away?" her sister asked as she linked her arm in
+hers.
+
+"I didn't run very fast," smiled Jean. "I sauntered out when the girls
+started off for their ride. It is so restful here," she added in a
+lower tone.
+
+"That doesn't sound one bit like you, Jean," said Helen slowly. "I am
+afraid something must be troubling you, if you feel the need of a
+restful place where you can be alone."
+
+Jean laughed nervously.
+
+"Why, what an absurd idea, Helen. Why should I be unhappy?"
+
+"That is just what I don't know, dear, but I think you are."
+
+"Well, what if I am?" cried Jean, brought to bay. "One cannot always
+be perfectly contented and happy; I do not suppose that I am to be any
+more exempt than other people."
+
+Helen's eyes were bent on the ground, and she spoke with some
+hesitation.
+
+"Of course that is true enough, but there is usually some definite
+cause for unhappiness. I don't want to be impertinent, Jean, but is
+there not some one thing weighing on you at present? Has--" She
+paused, then went on desperately--"has Mr. Farr anything to do with
+it?"
+
+She felt the violent start that Jean gave, heard the sharp indrawing
+of her breath, and she did not dare to raise her eyes to her sister's
+face for fear of reading there still further confirmation of her
+surmises. She had need of all her courage yet to deal the cruel blow,
+and without pausing for breath, she hurried on. Her words were
+confused, incoherent, but they struck a chill as of death to Jean's
+tender heart.
+
+"It was only a foolish idea of mine, Jeanie. Of course there is no
+truth in it--there can't be--there must not be. He--that is, I have
+just discovered that he is deeply in love with Lillian. They have been
+engaged, and I fear the engagement is about to be renewed. Why,
+darling, he is not worthy of a thought of yours. Forget him, Jean,
+darling. It is only your imagination." Her voice choked, and she ended
+abruptly.
+
+For an instant not a sound broke the stillness, then Jean faced her
+sister with strained, wide-open eyes, and spoke to her in a voice that
+was quite steady, but curiously dull and unnatural.
+
+"I am very glad you have told me of this, Helen. Now that I think of
+it I am not greatly surprised. You need not worry about me. I am all
+right."
+
+They had ceased from their walking to and fro, and as they stood thus
+opposite each other Jean swayed a little. Helen flung both arms around
+her.
+
+"Oh, darling, what is it? Speak to me. It is only Helen. I love you
+so, dear."
+
+Jean suffered the embrace, but there was no responsive yielding in the
+slender, rigid figure. When Helen released her she drew away, and
+started toward the gate. Helen did not stir, and when Jean had gone a
+few steps she paused and turned her white, stricken face toward her
+sister.
+
+"You need not worry about me," she repeated, "I am all right." And
+then, with a pathetic outstretching of her hands, she added: "It was
+only my imagination."
+
+Helen sprang forward, but Jean waved her back, and in another moment
+the shadows of the gloaming hid the flitting figure from Helen's
+tearful eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE "VORTEX" DEPARTS.
+
+
+"Let fall! Give way!"
+
+Two oars struck the water with a splash, and the dingey shot out from
+the gang steps of the _Sylph_ the steady strokes of two sturdy sailors
+sending the little craft swiftly on its way. The owner lounged lazily
+in the cushioned stern, one leg swung over the other, the tiller-ropes
+held loosely in his hands. They were sweeping under the stern of the
+_Vortex_ when a voice from the schooner's deck hailed them. The
+sailors held their oars suspended, and Churchill pushed back his cap
+and looked up, frowning slightly, for the sun was in his eyes.
+
+"Hello, Farr."
+
+"Hello, old man. Going ashore?"
+
+"Yes. Want a lift?"
+
+"Thanks, if you don't mind putting back."
+
+"Not a bit of it."
+
+The orders were given, and the dingey brought up to the gang steps.
+Farr sprang in and they pushed off, heading once more for land.
+
+Churchill pulled a cigar-case from his pocket and held it out to his
+companion, and then a brief silence ensued while each procured a
+light.
+
+"You've been something of a recluse for the last few days, Farr; I
+haven't seen you about. Been sticking close to your quarters?"
+
+"I've been grinding at the charts. Our stay here is about at an end,
+and Dodd is a little dissatisfied with the progress of our work.
+Through one cause and another we have been delayed, and the work has
+dragged."
+
+"That doesn't seem to concern Dudley at all. He's ashore most of the
+time."
+
+Farr laughed indulgently.
+
+"Oh! Dudley's a lazy Southerner. You can't hustle him. He's the salt
+of the earth, when you have plenty of time; but you can't impress him
+with the necessity of haste."
+
+"When do you go, old man?"
+
+Farr took his cigar from between his lips, and watched the cloud of
+smoke as the breeze bore it far astern.
+
+"I don't know exactly," he answered slowly. "Within the next week or
+ten days surely."
+
+"You will be very much missed," said Churchill heartily; "yet I
+suppose it has been slow work for you."
+
+Farr looked contemplatively down at the lighted end of his cigar.
+
+"No. I shall be sorry to go."
+
+After a slight pause he added:
+
+"What has been going on?"
+
+"Nothing much. Andrews has gone up to town. Miss Stuart is still at
+the manor; but, of course, that is no news to you."
+
+"I imagined she had not left," returned Farr indifferently. "I am
+going to call there this afternoon."
+
+"Suppose, then, you meet me here; say in a couple of hours," suggested
+Churchill, as he brought the dingey up to the float, "and go out and
+dine with me aboard the _Sylph_. I am by myself, for Andrews is away,
+and Archer is engaged."
+
+"Thanks. I will be delighted."
+
+Churchill turned to the sailor who stood erect in the boat, awaiting
+his orders.
+
+"At six sharp, Petersen, and tell the steward there will be two for
+dinner."
+
+Then the two men turned on their heels and strode briskly up the sandy
+road. Presently their paths diverged, and with a friendly nod they
+separated.
+
+Farr went along in the direction of the manor at a swinging gait. He
+had not seen Jean since the night of the dance. In the events of that
+evening his love for her had sustained a severe shock. He could not at
+once readjust himself to this new and unwelcome development in the
+nature of her to whom he had given his deepest and most loyal
+allegiance. Heretofore he had found his love for her intensified by
+her coldness and indifference, but her flirtation with Maynard was not
+the sort of thing he had expected from her, and it disappointed him
+bitterly. The world condoned many of Maynard's offenses because he
+possessed a certain charm and amiability of manner, but Farr was too
+clean-minded and upright to look lightly upon the man's selfish
+disregard of every moral obligation, and he was impatient of his
+ill-deserved popularity. That Jean should show this man so marked a
+preference was to him incomprehensible. It was possible that she did
+not know the full truth in regard to him, but even her innocence and
+unworldliness could not altogether shield her from blame, for she did
+know that he was a faithless husband, and, moreover, his wife was her
+friend. Under any other circumstances Farr would have been jealous,
+but now the sharpness of his disappointment in Jean outweighed every
+other consideration. She had been to him the embodiment of sweetness
+and purity, and as he paced up and down the white decks of the
+_Vortex_, he inveighed bitterly against this second overthrow of his
+faith. His anger was short-lived, however, for the tender little Jean
+of the early summer had twined herself closely about his heart; and
+now she rose, strong in the power and might of her love, denying
+valiantly that other self, pleading earnestly for more confidence and
+trust. So it happened this sunshiny day that, as Farr leaned against
+the rail, gazing seaward, and pondered on these strange and
+contradictory events, suddenly the bitterness died out of his heart,
+and in its place sprang up a passionate longing to see Jean, to hear
+her sweet voice tell him it was all a mistake, to put an end forever
+to this intolerable uncertainty. And even as he came to this
+conclusion, the dingey from the _Sylph_ hove in view, and, without
+pausing to reconsider, he hailed it.
+
+Now he had left the manor gates behind, and striking out across the
+lawn, increased his pace, for his impatience would not be curbed. The
+crunching sound of wheels on the gravel brought him to a standstill.
+On his right a clump of cedars hid the road from sight. He thrust
+aside the low-growing branches, and as he peered through the aperture
+a carriage flashed by. Jean was driving, and he had a tantalizing
+glimpse of her bonny face, as she turned to speak to Eleanor and
+Cliff, who were on the back seat. An involuntary exclamation escaped
+him, and he sprang forward, but his voice was unheard, his presence
+unheeded, and with a heavy heart he gazed after the rapidly retreating
+vehicle. With a savage little laugh he swung about, and retraced his
+steps. The joyousness of the summer day was darkened for him, and in
+his heart was a fierce resentment against Fate.
+
+His eyes were bent upon the ground as he plodded slowly along the
+road, and so he did not see Miss Stuart, driving alone in Helen's
+buckboard, until she was within a few yards of him.
+
+Miss Stuart scanned his face furtively as he stood beside the
+carriage.
+
+"Ah, Val," she said with an assumption of ease, "I suppose you have
+been at the manor?"
+
+"No, I met them driving."
+
+"How inhospitable of them not to have turned back," she exclaimed,
+with her eyes still on his face.
+
+Farr was too obtuse to appreciate the drift of her remark.
+
+"I was unfortunate. They did not see me."
+
+Miss Stuart's brows contracted in a frown, and she flicked the long
+lash of her whip.
+
+"You are not flattering, Val. I was at home."
+
+He looked up at her quickly, a vague surprise in his eyes.
+
+"I would not venture to inflict myself on you!" he replied with a
+careless laugh, and then he stood back a step, and raised his hat.
+
+Miss Stuart's face flushed angrily, but she had no alternative but to
+drive on. As she gathered up the reins she shot a glance over her
+shoulder at Farr, but already he had turned away, and was moving
+rapidly down the road. She cut the horse with the whip, and in her
+heart was a burning desire to revenge herself on Jean.
+
+As they took their places about the dinner-table at the manor that
+evening, Nathalie made some casual mention of the _Vortex_, thus
+giving Miss Stuart the pretext she sought.
+
+"By the way," she said, fixing her eyes on Jean's face, although her
+words were addressed to Helen, "on my way home this afternoon after I
+left you, I met Mr. Farr and had such a pleasant chat with him. He was
+on his way to call on us, but as he met me, I suppose----" She broke
+off with a charming air of embarrassment.
+
+Jean raised her head proudly, and met Miss Stuart's gaze with
+unflinching eyes.
+
+"You should have brought Mr. Farr back to tea," she said, so
+unconcernedly that even Helen was deceived, and Miss Stuart was
+stirred with a passing feeling of admiration.
+
+But the effort cost Jean a pang, and as she turned her eyes slowly
+away, there was a great coldness at her heart.
+
+The following afternoon the girls were having tea in the drawing-room,
+the long French windows were pushed wide open, and the soft west wind
+moved the curtains gently to and fro. The blinds were drawn, for the
+sun shone hotly, and the half-darkened room seemed deliciously cool
+and refreshing, after the sultry atmosphere of the outer world.
+
+Little Gladys danced in from the hall-way, waving a letter in the air.
+
+"I took it away from Susie, sister," she cried, in her clear, childish
+treble. "I don't know who it's for."
+
+Miss Stuart leaned forward in her chair, and caught the soft dimpled
+wrist in her firm white hand.
+
+"Let me read the address for you, baby."
+
+Gladys demurred, shaking her fluffy head, her blue eyes full of
+laughter, but Miss Stuart quietly possessed herself of the letter.
+
+Her face fell as she turned toward the light and read the address. The
+handwriting, familiar, yet half strange, awakened a host of memories
+within her; but the written name was not the one she had been wont to
+see. She read the address aloud, with a tinge of sarcasm in her smooth
+voice:
+
+"'Miss Jean Lawrence, The Manor House.' For you, Miss Jean."
+
+Jean crossed the room and took the envelope from Miss Stuart's hand.
+She could not repress a faint start of surprise as her eyes fell upon
+the superscription, but the scornful smile on Miss Stuart's lips lent
+her instant self-control. She slipped the letter into her pocket, and
+resuming her place at Eleanor's side, took up the thread of the
+conversation where it had been broken off, with apparent ease and
+facility. But her heart was beating wildly, and the hand that held
+the dainty teacup was far from steady.
+
+It was almost an hour later when she pushed aside the portières, and
+entered the music room. She glanced about her anxiously to assure
+herself that she was alone, then crossing to the further end and
+ensconsing herself in one of the deep window-seats, pulled the letter
+from her pocket. For an instant she held it in her hand, her brows
+drawn together, a wistful, questioning look in her eyes. She was
+forcing herself to recall every word that Helen had said to her that
+miserable evening in the garden. In the light of that talk, this
+letter to her from Valentine Farr both puzzled and troubled her. She
+looked down at the address, and with a sudden light of determination
+in her face, broke the seal:
+
+     MY DEAR MISS JEAN:
+
+     We have received our orders and leave Hetherford on
+     Thursday. Will you not let me see you before we sail? I
+     started for the manor yesterday, but from a distance saw you
+     driving away. I seem to be most unfortunate, but I cannot
+     turn my back on the place where I have found so much
+     happiness, without an attempt to see you again, to assure
+     myself, at least, that I carry with me your friendship and
+     good will. You were very good to me in the early days of our
+     sojourn here, Miss Jean, and in memory of those days I
+     venture to ask you if I may call at the manor to-morrow
+     about four o'clock.
+
+     Yours,
+     VALENTINE FARR.
+
+
+Once, twice Jean read it through, then mechanically folded the bit of
+paper, and fitted it into the envelope carefully. A tremulous,
+incredulous joy was dawning on her face. She felt oppressed, and
+started to her feet. It surprised her to find that she was trembling
+so she could not stand. She laughed, a little hysterically, as she
+sank back on the window-seat. Then, suddenly, she flung out her hands,
+and slipping down on her knees, buried her face in the soft cushions,
+and a storm of weeping shook the slender figure. In her despair she
+had been silent, tearless, but in this awakening of hope within her,
+her pent-up feelings found relief in tears. A wild, almost
+unreasonable, joy was growing in her heart, and her quivering lips
+were pressed passionately to her lover's letter. Her faith in him,
+which Helen's words had so cruelly crushed, was fast springing into
+life again.
+
+When at length the strength of her emotion had worn itself away, she
+lifted her head and, rising slowly to her feet, leaned against the
+casement, and looked thoughtfully out upon the peaceful scene. The sun
+was setting, and the western horizon was one blaze of golden glory.
+Jean's grave eyes seemed asking counsel of the far illumined sky. Once
+a deep sigh trembled through her lips, and the thought that prompted
+it almost formed itself in words.
+
+"Oh, if only my mother were here! I could not ask advice of anyone
+else, but I think I could speak to her."
+
+For a long time Jean stood there silent, motionless; and when at last
+she moved away the crimson light had quite faded, and a soft violet
+haze lingered in the western sky. She crossed the room, and seated
+herself at the open desk. For a moment she hesitated, holding her pen
+poised above the sheet of paper, then bent her head, and wrote
+rapidly:
+
+     MY DEAR MR. FARR:
+
+     I shall be at home to-morrow afternoon, and shall be very
+     glad to see you. I am sorry to learn that you are about to
+     leave Hetherford, and somewhat surprised also, as I had no
+     idea that your departure was imminent.
+
+     Yours very sincerely,
+     JEAN LAWRENCE.
+
+
+The written words looked cold and formal, and with a tender feeling of
+compunction Jean raised the bit of paper to her lips.
+
+"I would be more kind, dear, if I dared," she murmured softly.
+
+The old Dutch clock in the corner of the hall-way was chiming the hour
+of three the following afternoon, when Jean opened the door of her
+room, and started to descend the wide staircase. From below voices
+floated up to her, and when she reached the landing she paused and,
+leaning over the banisters, looked down upon the girls who were
+standing near the open front door. Nathalie caught sight of her, and
+smiled blithely.
+
+"Don't you want to come with us, Jean? We are going over to the inn
+for a game of tennis."
+
+Jean shook her head.
+
+"I am going to be thoroughly domestic this afternoon," she announced
+with a conscious little laugh.
+
+At the sound of her voice Miss Stuart glanced sharply over her
+shoulder. There flashed into her mind the recollection of Farr's note
+to Jean the previous day. She closed her lips tightly as she followed
+Helen and Nathalie out upon the veranda, and was singularly silent as
+they sauntered leisurely across the lawn. When they were almost at the
+gates, she turned to Helen, a distressed expression on her lovely
+face.
+
+"Would you mind very much if I should turn back? I have had a slight
+headache all day, and the sun seems to make it so much worse."
+
+Helen looked sympathetically around at her.
+
+"Why no, indeed, dear. I was afraid you were not feeling well, you
+have been so quiet. By all means let us go right back."
+
+But Miss Stuart would not listen to such an arrangement, and declared,
+with quite the air of a martyr, that she should proceed to the inn, in
+spite of her headache, unless Helen would do as she desired. When at
+last she had succeeded in ridding herself of her companions, she drew
+a deep breath, and turning, walked hurriedly up the avenue. She did
+not quite see her way clear to prevent an interview between Farr and
+Jean, but she felt that if she were near at hand, fortune might throw
+some unlooked-for chance into her path. She had kept them apart so
+far. Surely she must not fail now at the very end, for the news of the
+_Vortex's_ departure had been spread abroad by Dudley with loud
+lamentations.
+
+A great stillness lay over the manor this warm August afternoon, and
+as she ascended the veranda steps she heard clearly Aunt Helen's soft
+voice calling to Jean from the floor above.
+
+"My dear, will you not come up and read to me for a while? My eyes
+are troubling me so, I dare not use them any more."
+
+Miss Stuart stood still and listened, as Jean came slowly out from the
+drawing-room.
+
+"Very well, Auntie," the girl responded half-heartedly, and with an
+impatient sigh started up the stairs.
+
+Miss Stuart waited a moment, then crossed the veranda noiselessly, and
+entered the house. After a cautious glance about the drawing-room, she
+stationed herself in one of the front windows which commanded the
+approach to the manor. The blinds were drawn to shut out the heat and
+glare, and she turned the slats slightly to afford a view of the
+driveway. A faint breeze rustled the vines that trailed over the
+veranda rail and climbed the graceful columns. The moments dragged
+slowly by. Even Miss Stuart's active mind began at length to yield
+itself to the drowsy influence of the lifeless atmosphere, the
+monotonous buzzing of the flies, and the lazy twittering of the birds
+as they rested idly on the branches of the elms, or sailed languidly
+through the haze which softly enveloped the earth. She flung one arm
+above her head, and leaned back in her chair. Her thoughts went back
+to those far-off happy days in Annapolis, and a faint smile curved the
+lines of her mouth. Dreamily her memories journeyed on toward the
+present, and then once more her jealous wrath was awakened. She
+started up the more effectually to shake off the torpor that was
+stealing over her, and, rising, took one or two short turns up and
+down the room, pausing frequently at her post, to peer out through the
+drawn blinds. Her vigil was a tedious one, the result of it uncertain,
+but the warring spirit within her was now thoroughly aroused and her
+patience did not flag.
+
+"What move can I make?" she asked herself again and again. "I can't
+very well insist on playing an unwelcome third to their _tête-à-tête_.
+They have been driven, and they would outwit me there. Ah! well, we
+shall see, we shall see."
+
+Then a sharp exclamation broke from her, for, as she halted at the
+window, she discovered Valentine Farr's erect figure swinging lightly
+across the lawn in the direction of the manor. She turned the slats
+softly and crossed hurriedly to the entrance of the drawing-room, and
+standing there, her hands holding the portières apart on either side,
+she tilted her head forward, straining every nerve to catch the
+faintest sound from the floor above. It was perfectly quiet, and her
+face cleared a little. Next her anxious eyes swept the half-darkened
+hall-way, as if in search of some suggestion, but the wide
+chimney-place with its brass andirons agleam where the light touched
+them, the old clock in the corner ticking slowly, steadily, offered
+her no help. The outer door stood ajar, and leaning a little further
+forward she could see that Farr was within a short distance of the
+veranda. Ah! what should she do? Her quick ear caught the sound of a
+heavy footfall ascending from the lower floor and while her eyes were
+riveted on the spot whence the sound issued, the swinging door in the
+rear of the hall was pushed open, and a woman toiled laboriously
+through, bearing in her arms a hamper of clean linen. Miss Stuart's
+ready mind sprang at once to the solution of the difficulty, and while
+the thought formed itself, she cleared the distance between them.
+
+Her voice shook a little as she spoke, for her heart was beating high
+in the hope of victory.
+
+"Please set your hamper right down here, and go to the front door.
+There is a gentleman just coming in. Say to him that Miss Jean begs to
+be excused, that she particularly wishes to be excused. Well,"
+imperiously, for the good-natured woman was staring at her stupidly,
+with gaping mouth and astonished eyes. "Don't you understand me? Put
+your hamper down at once and do as I tell you."
+
+The woman obeyed her slowly, and wiping her hands on her apron, moved
+clumsily forward. Farr's foot was already on the step of the veranda,
+and Miss Stuart had barely time to push open the swinging door and
+conceal herself behind it, when his clear, quiet voice, addressing the
+strange servant, broke the stillness.
+
+"Will you please tell Miss Jean Lawrence that Mr. Farr wishes to see
+her. She is expecting me, I believe."
+
+The woman confused by her hurried orders, and embarrassed by the
+unusual duty of waiting upon the door, grew very red in the face, as
+she answered bluntly:
+
+"She says she won't see yer, sir."
+
+Farr stared blankly at her.
+
+"What? Oh, I think you must be mistaken. Just take my message up to
+Miss Jean, please."
+
+In her hiding-place Miss Stuart clutched tightly at the folds of her
+gown, and a look of desperation burned in her eyes. But her fears were
+unfounded. The woman's thickset figure barred the doorway, and she
+stood her ground stolidly.
+
+"It ain't no use, sir. She told me herself she pertick'ly wouldn't see
+you, sir."
+
+Farr's face went very white, and without another syllable he turned on
+his heel and strode away.
+
+"Sure I didn't say it just the same way yer told me, Miss," the woman
+said apologetically, as Miss Stuart opened the backdoor and confronted
+her, "but I sent him away for yer, well enough, I guess," and grinning
+broadly, she lifted her hamper, and proceeded heavily up the stairs.
+
+A moment later Miss Stuart quietly followed her, congratulating
+herself on the wonderful success of her maneuver.
+
+"It was a master-stroke," she said to herself triumphantly, as she
+closed the door of her room. "Susie will never know that he called,
+for I don't believe that stupid creature will mention the occurrence.
+Ah, how fortunate Mrs. Dennis's room is at the rear of the house," and
+she flung herself down on the lounge and closed her eyes wearily, for
+the excitement had worn upon her.
+
+At the same moment, Aunt Helen's door softly shut, and Jean, her face
+full of glad expectancy, ran lightly down the stairs. More than an
+hour later she crept slowly up again, all the joy gone out of her
+blanched face, her sensitive lips quivering piteously; despair and
+misery in her eyes.
+
+The following morning the _Vortex_ sailed. Captain Dodd and Dudley had
+called at the manor the evening before, and in the merry little party
+speculations were rife as to the cause of Farr's desertion, on this
+his last evening in Hetherford. Jean forced herself to sit quietly by
+and listen, and her heart grew numb and cold. Outwardly, however, her
+manner was so natural and self-possessed that Helen drew a deep breath
+of relief, and persuaded herself that Jean could not be so very
+unhappy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the morning, at an early hour, Jean is on the upper balcony. She
+crosses her arms on the rail, and her eyes are fastened on the place
+where the _Vortex_ lies at anchor. Already her sails are set, and in
+another moment the loud boom of her cannon announces her departure.
+The girl shivers a little, but does not stir from her position. Now
+the schooner is sailing gallantly along, the sun shining full on her
+white sails. Ah, how rapidly she nears the headland. She is rounding
+it. Now, only the top of her tall masts can be seen above the rocks.
+Ah, she is gone. Jean's face drops on her crossed arms, and a low cry
+breaks from her white lips.
+
+Scarcely had the _Vortex_ been an hour on her way, when Miss Stuart
+presented herself in Helen's room, and announced in tones of deepest
+regret that she would be obliged to leave them on the following day.
+
+"Mother has issued her commands," she said dolefully, and then, as a
+look of incredulity dawned in Helen's face, she made haste to add,
+"and there are many reasons why it is much better that I should go."
+
+Helen sighed, but did not attempt to alter her friend's decision.
+
+That evening, when the last farewell words had been spoken to the
+friends from the inn and the parsonage, Miss Stuart went up to her
+room followed by the three Lawrence girls. Helen and Nathalie went to
+work over her half-packed trunks, and Jean, leaning against the
+footboard of the bed, looked on with languid interest. Miss Stuart,
+who was complacently issuing orders to the two packers, leaned lazily
+back in an easy-chair, her white hands folded idly in her lap. Jean
+surveyed her gravely, but without bitterness. This was the woman whom
+Valentine Farr loved, and much as she had suffered, she was ready to
+do her full justice. Suddenly Miss Stuart looked up, and their eyes
+met. Jean moved forward and held out her hand.
+
+"Good-night and good-by, Miss Stuart. I am very tired and I fear I
+will not be up for the early train in the morning. I hope you have
+been happy at the manor." She broke off abruptly. She knew that she
+ought to add, "I am sorry you are going," but the words refused to
+pass her lips.
+
+Miss Stuart rose and took the outstretched hand, but she could not
+meet Jean's clear gaze.
+
+It was late when the door closed upon Helen and her kindly offices.
+Miss Stuart, possessed by an intense restlessness, paced up and down
+the room. Her thoughts were as accusing angels. What return had she
+made for the kindness and hospitality of these friends under whose
+roof she had spent the last three weeks? Her wicked pride and passion
+had indeed sown the seeds of misery in one heart. Of Jean she had
+thought with shrinking, but trusting, faithful Helen caused her the
+keener pang, the sharper suffering. It was not too late, however. With
+one word she could undo the mischief she had so deliberately wrought.
+Just for one moment Miss Stuart's better self held sway, softening her
+hard and jealous nature. Just for one moment--then the impulse died
+out, and with a reckless laugh she drowned the voice of conscience.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+A RIFT IN THE CLOUDS.
+
+
+September with its bright, warm days and cool nights was at hand. The
+gayeties of the summer were a thing of the past, and the little colony
+of girls had settled down into the old routine of life, "exactly as we
+used to before the _Vortex_ came," Mollie Andrews said complacently.
+No voice was raised in contradiction, and yet, perhaps no heart quite
+echoed the sentiment.
+
+Jean faced her trouble bravely and without complaint, but the effort
+told on her as the days passed by, and she grew frail and slender, and
+an expression of deep sadness lingered in her soft eyes; but the
+change in her took place so slowly, so gradually, that no one seemed
+to be aware of it. As the days shortened, they would spend their
+evenings over the wood fire in the manor drawing-room, reading aloud
+from some favorite book of poetry or prose. Jean invariably found a
+place on the divan in the corner, and when someone rallied her on her
+lazy habit, she only smiled faintly and nestled down among the
+cushions. One cold, gusty evening, when the rain beat against the
+windowpanes and the wind howled dismally about the house, Eleanor took
+up a volume of poems from the table and began to read a poem called
+"Oenone." Helen's eyes unconsciously sought Jean's face. It was half
+turned away, and one little hand made shift to shield it, but Helen
+distinctly saw two great tears steal silently down from under the
+closed lids.
+
+This set her heart to aching, and alone in her room that night she
+pondered long what could be done for her poor little sister. In the
+end she penned a letter, which in the morning she carried herself to
+the post-office, and anxiously awaited the result.
+
+Before October had well-nigh come around, Jean was really ill; so ill
+that Aunt Helen, and even thoughtless Nathalie, were seriously
+concerned. All day long she would lie on the sofa in her room,
+scarcely speaking save in response to some direct question that was
+put to her, and all through the long hours of the night her tired eyes
+never closed.
+
+"I don't think she ever sleeps," Nathalie confided to Helen one day in
+a troubled voice. "Whenever I speak to her she is always wide-awake,
+and once or twice I have thought I heard her crying."
+
+Helen shook her head sadly, and watched the mails with an increasing
+impatience for the answer to her letter. It came at last, and when she
+had read it through hurriedly, she went at once to Jean's room, and
+sitting down beside her, took her cold little hands in hers.
+
+"Do you feel so badly to-day, dear?" she said tenderly.
+
+"No, Helen, only very tired."
+
+The sigh with which these words were spoken went right to Helen's
+heart.
+
+"Would you like to go away where you would have a complete change of
+scene?"
+
+Jean raised herself on her elbow, and turned an eager eye toward her
+sister.
+
+"Oh, yes. I want to go away. It's the only thing in the world I really
+want, and oh, I want it so very much. Helen, I--I can't stay here."
+Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't you see how hard it is for me?"
+
+Helen bent down and kissed her.
+
+"Well, darling, I have arranged it for you, and I have only been
+waiting for this letter to tell you that it was all right. You see, I
+didn't want to speak to you, dear, until everything was settled. Now,
+shall I read you what the letter says?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Helen drew the letter from her pocket and unfolded it:
+
+     "I am so sorry to hear that poor little Jean is not well. It
+     is hard to imagine her otherwise than rosy and smiling. I
+     think with you that probably a change of scene would do her
+     more good than all the medicines in the world, and I see my
+     way clear at once to carry out your proposition. My aunt,
+     Mrs. Fay, crosses in the middle of October to join us here
+     in Paris, and I want you to send Jean over with her. The
+     ocean trip will be the first step toward recovery, and you
+     must trust to our watchful care and the newness of her
+     surroundings to complete the cure."
+
+Helen paused and Jean broke in hurriedly, a faint color rising in her
+pale cheeks:
+
+"Dear old Guy! how like him, always thoughtful, always tender. O
+Helen, yes; let me go. I would be so glad to, and I know it would do
+me good."
+
+"Would you be happy with Guy and his mother, Jean?"
+
+Jean's sad eyes met her sister's for a moment, and then were slowly
+averted.
+
+"I love them both dearly," she answered gently, "and I want above
+everything to go away from Hetherford. Please help me to do this,
+Helen. You will gain Auntie's consent."
+
+And with this reply Helen was fain to be content. She had refrained
+from reading aloud the closing lines of Guy's letter, which, running
+thus, had made her heart beat strangely:
+
+     Our plans are somewhat indefinite. My aunt does not care to
+     spend more than two months over here, and it is her
+     intention to return home at Christmas time. If a stay of
+     this duration should effect Jean's cure she might return
+     with her, for there is a chance that she may be homesick so
+     far away from you all. It would be very pleasant to return
+     home at this sweet season. My own thoughts turn that way so
+     often. Helen, can you never hold out any hope to me? Must
+     this season of peace come and go, leaving my heart as lonely
+     as ever? Must I wait forever, in strange lands, for one word
+     from you? Forgive me if I do wrong to write you thus, but
+     your letter has undone me.
+
+     Faithfully yours,
+     GUY APPLETON.
+
+
+In less than two weeks Jean Lawrence sailed for Europe under the care
+of Mrs. Fay. A sense of desolation inwrapped the manor. The weather
+was sharp and cold and the sweet warm summer seemed a dream, and every
+little thing that recalled it gave the girls a pang. Emily Varian had
+departed, and both the Hills and Andrews were about to turn their
+faces cityward.
+
+One crisp morning, when the wind blew fresh from the northwest,
+Eleanor came out from the inn with Cliff Archer at her side and
+started briskly forth in the direction of the parsonage. Eleanor's
+face wore an expression of deep dejection, and Cliff, observing this,
+made comment on it:
+
+"You are down on your luck."
+
+Eleanor smiled somewhat dubiously:
+
+"It is in the air, Cliff. I don't know what is the matter with us all.
+Our good spirits seem to have deserted us with Jean."
+
+There was a brief silence, broken by Archer. He spoke slowly, as if
+not quite sure of his ground:
+
+"It was in the air before Jean went away, I think. It strikes me that
+she was fully under its influence herself."
+
+Eleanor shot a glance at her companion:
+
+"Jean was not well, you know."
+
+"And there was a cause. Come, Eleanor, let us be frank. You may trust
+my affection for Jean to keep me from prying into her affairs, but
+some things this summer were quite too patent to be disregarded."
+
+"I don't know what you mean," Eleanor interposed hurriedly.
+
+"Oh, yes, you do. It is natural for you to shield Jean, because from
+your point of view, she has been badly treated. Well, I don't agree
+with you in that. If ever a man was honestly in love, that man was
+Valentine Farr. I don't pretend to know what the trouble was between
+them, but I have a suspicion, on general principles, that jealousy was
+at the bottom of it. I don't believe that Jean's was well founded and
+I wish she had a friend who felt at liberty to tell her so. I have
+kept silent for a long time, too long perhaps; but now I have set the
+ball rolling, and shall await results."
+
+They were in the parsonage grounds now, and Eleanor paused and laid
+her hand lightly on Cliff's arm.
+
+"I would do anything in the world for Jean, as you know, Cliff, but I
+feel too much in the dark to take any step at present. You may be
+right; indeed, I think you are; but remember neither you nor I are
+quite sure of Jean's feeling on the subject, and it is a very delicate
+matter to meddle with."
+
+"I would risk it," smiled Cliff.
+
+After a moment he spoke again, in a tone of deeper earnestness:
+
+"A very grave trouble can arise from a slight misunderstanding,
+Eleanor. I wish, dear, that you and I could put that possibility out
+of reach. I have tried to be patient, but when I see so much sorrow
+brought about undoubtedly by a lack of frankness and confidence, I
+tremble for our future. If you do care for me, dear, why will you not
+tell me so? Surely you cannot doubt the sincerity of my love for you."
+
+Eleanor raised her eyes to her lover's face.
+
+"I think you know, Cliff----" she began, when Nan's voice broke in
+upon them.
+
+"Hello! Now what are you two doing, philandering in this secluded
+spot?"
+
+"Talking of subjects quite beyond your ken, my dear," drawled Cliff
+lazily.
+
+"You won't catch your train if you don't come down to mother earth,"
+laughed Nan.
+
+Archer consulted his watch, and then bade the girls a hurried good-by
+and started off for the station. Nan linked her arm in Eleanor's and
+they proceeded leisurely to the parsonage, talking as they went. One
+sentence remained in Nan's mind, awakening there a long train of
+thought.
+
+"The summer is over, Nan, and we are about to disband. We have,
+perhaps, had more gayety and less real happiness than in the years
+gone by. I think you know as well as I the reasons for this. You are
+the only one, I think, who could set some crooked matters straight.
+Suppose you see what you can do?"
+
+Enigmatical as the words were, Nan understood their purpose, and when,
+on the last evening before the Andrews and the Hills were to leave
+Hetherford, they assembled at the manor, she had quite determined to
+follow Eleanor's suggestion. It was a custom of long standing for Nan,
+Mollie, and Eleanor to spend the last night of the season with the
+Lawrence girls, to talk over the events of the summer and to
+anticipate the future.
+
+To-night, as they gathered around the wide fireplace in the
+drawing-room, a certain sadness hovered over them, subduing their
+voices, breaking the conversation with frequent spaces of silence.
+Their hearts were full of thoughts that were left unspoken. Jean's
+absence made itself strongly felt among them, so closely was she
+associated with every like occasion in the past.
+
+"Nothing seems real without her," said Eleanor drearily. "This parting
+is like no other."
+
+"I hate partings anyway," cried Mollie. "I am always so afraid that we
+will not come together again quite in the old way!"
+
+     "All things must change
+      To something new, to something strange!"
+
+quoted Helen.
+
+"Now, girls, this is nonsense," exclaimed Nathalie, struggling with
+the lump that would rise in her throat. "Jean is going to have a
+splendid time, and will come home as strong and well as ever, and at
+Christmas time you will all come up here and we will have a grand
+reunion."
+
+No answer to Nathalie's cheerful prediction suggested itself, and
+Helen made a welcome diversion by announcing that it was bedtime.
+
+"Nan, will you share my room?" she asked as they were on their way
+upstairs.
+
+"Well, I should think so. I particularly want to have a good talk with
+you alone."
+
+"That is nice. I am just in the humor for it, too."
+
+When they had donned their wrappers Helen threw herself down on the
+sofa before the open fire, and Nan knelt down on the hearthstone to
+stir the logs into a brighter blaze.
+
+"A cheerful fire is always inspiring to me," she said explanatorily.
+"I can talk so much better when I am thoroughly warm and cozy."
+
+Helen smiled indulgently.
+
+"All right, Nan; make yourself comfie, and then talk to me."
+
+The flames were crackling up the chimney now, and Nan settled herself
+on the hearthrug with a sigh of satisfaction.
+
+"Do you think Jean will be happy so far away from you all?"
+
+"She wanted very much to go," Helen replied evasively.
+
+"Yes, I know that. Helen, Jean was not happy before she went away. Did
+you not see it?"
+
+Helen did not speak, and after a moment Nan resumed quietly:
+
+"Yes, Jean was unhappy, and yet Mr. Farr loved her dearly."
+
+Helen sat up and looked at her friend in blank astonishment.
+
+"Why, Nan----"
+
+"Dear, I couldn't help guessing it. Indeed, I don't mean to be
+impertinent, but I believe Mr. Farr was in love with Jean, and I can't
+bear to see everything going wrong, when a little common sense would
+set it right."
+
+"I am afraid it would take more than that, Nan. Mr. Farr is in love
+with Lillian, I think, and probably he meant nothing by his attentions
+to Jean."
+
+"He may have been in love with Miss Stuart once, but he is not now,"
+declared Nan in a tone of conviction.
+
+"You are mistaken, Nan. I am sure you are."
+
+"I think not," returned Nan stubbornly. "I have had my eyes wide open,
+and I believe I am right."
+
+"Then why did he treat Jean so?" demanded Helen. "Toward the end of
+his stay here he hardly ever came to the manor, and he went away
+without even calling to say good-by. In fact I don't think Jean knew
+the _Vortex_ was going."
+
+But Nan's opinion was quite unshaken. She dropped her chin in her hand
+and stared thoughtfully into the fire.
+
+"I will tell you something," she said impressively. "The afternoon
+before the _Vortex_ left, I was on my way to the inn, when from a
+distance I saw Mr. Farr turn in at the manor gates. You remember that
+shortly after Bridget came over for me, and I was so cross at having
+to leave our game of tennis?"
+
+Helen nodded, and Nan went on:
+
+"Well, on my way over I saw Mr. Farr come out from the manor grounds.
+His cap was drawn down over his eyes, and so lost was he in his own
+thoughts that he passed me on the other side of the road, and did not
+even see me. There was something in his whole figure and bearing
+expressive of disappointment and unhappiness. Oh, you needn't look
+incredulous," turning her head to scan Helen's face. "A person's
+carriage is often most expressive."
+
+"I wasn't looking incredulous, Nan, I was only wondering what point
+you were going to make out of all this."
+
+"That Mr. Farr did go to the manor to say good-by to Jean. I don't
+think he could have seen her, for from the time he went in the manor
+gates until he left them again, he could only have walked to the door
+and right back again without stopping."
+
+"I know he didn't," said Helen quietly, "for Jean told me so." She
+hesitated a moment, then added: "Lillian was at home that afternoon."
+
+Nan's face grew downcast.
+
+"I don't believe he went to see Miss Stuart," she persisted, somewhat
+unreasonably. "I believe that there was some great mistake somewhere.
+I knew," she went on, as Helen did not reply, "that Jean was surprised
+to find that he and Miss Stuart were old friends. He may not have told
+her, but that was probably accidental. At any rate that was the
+beginning of the difficulty, and every incident from there on served
+to widen the breach. Jean thought she had been willfully deceived, and
+Miss Stuart was not loath to lend herself to strengthen that
+conviction."
+
+"I don't see how you can blame Lillian," objected Helen irritably. "It
+was not her fault that Mr. Farr was in love with her. I think they
+were once engaged;" this last somewhat fearfully, for she did not know
+that she was doing right to betray her friend's secret.
+
+Nan shrugged her shoulders:
+
+"That may be, but it is only a greater reason why he is not in love
+with her now."
+
+This bit of worldly cynicism struck on deaf ears, for Helen was
+revolving many things in her mind.
+
+"There are, of course, many things that I cannot attempt to explain,"
+Nan continued, "but I still hold to my belief that Mr. Farr cared for
+Jean. I like him, and I don't believe he would ever have deliberately
+deceived her."
+
+A brief pause ensued.
+
+"Nan," said Helen, "I wish the _Vortex_ had never come to anchor
+here. Everything has gone wrong since then."
+
+"Be fair, Helen. Are you sure the fault lay there? It seems to me that
+everything went happily until----"
+
+"Until when? Go on, Nan."
+
+"Until Miss Stuart came."
+
+Helen, who had been half-sitting up, with her head propped on her
+hand, dropped back among the cushions with a heavy sigh.
+
+"I don't know why you should think so. You are prejudiced against
+Lillian, and harsh in your thoughts of her. I am not at all sure that
+it is fair."
+
+Nan gained her feet, and looked gravely down at her friend:
+
+"Is it not true, dear? Think, Helen. Have not many things gone wrong
+since your acquaintance with Miss Stuart? Oh! I am sure of it, quite
+sure."
+
+Unbroken silence.
+
+"Are you angry with me, Helen?" Nan asked at length.
+
+"No, no."
+
+"May I say something still further, dear?"
+
+"Of course; I know you would never willfully be unkind."
+
+Nan sat down on the sofa:
+
+"Things have gone wrong since the day you met Miss Stuart, and the
+reason is that you persisted in a friendship of which Guy so strongly
+disapproved. Tell me, Helen, was it not Miss Stuart who separated you
+from Guy? Was it not on her account that you quarreled?"
+
+"I suppose so; but Guy was very strange and unreasonable, and I liked
+Lillian; her friendship was very sweet."
+
+"O Helen, you had known Guy all your life; you should have relied on
+his judgment, you should have trusted him. Do you think that for any
+light or insufficient reason he would have thwarted you? Had he not
+always shown himself thoroughly unselfish in everything that concerned
+you? You did him a very cruel wrong when you mistrusted him, Helen;
+and I don't see how you could have been so cold when he loved you so."
+
+For answer, Helen raised her eyes and looked at Nan through her tears.
+
+"I want to help you to see what a mistake you have made," Nan
+continued gently. "You had grown used to Guy, his devotion was such an
+old story that you thought you did not love him. Miss Stuart's great
+beauty fascinated you, and she soon found it easy to bend you to her
+will. Forgive me, darling, but this once I must speak bluntly. Many
+and many a time you would have gone back to your allegiance to Guy had
+she not willed it otherwise, and had he, poor fellow, not taken the
+worst course for his cause. It was foolish for him to go away, but Guy
+never could bear half-measures. Since then you have almost learned to
+know Lillian Stuart for yourself. Yet, even to this day, you blind
+yourself about her. I sometimes am tempted to think it is simply
+because she is so beautiful."
+
+Helen started up, her face ablaze.
+
+"Nan, Nan, you are unjust. You despise me because I gave Guy up, but
+I tell you I realized I did not love him before I ever saw Lillian
+Stuart. I do love her."
+
+"Pshaw," interrupted Nan indignantly. "Guy Appleton is the best and
+truest man in the world, and you must have loved him if you had not
+been unduly influenced. There, dear, don't be angry. You know how fond
+I am of Guy, and how keenly I took his disappointment to heart. He
+loved you so, Helen, and he was so miserable."
+
+"Please spare me, Nan," murmured Helen brokenly.
+
+"I can't spare you, dear. If your mistakes had simply made you suffer,
+I would never have said a word, but it is not so. Miss Stuart has
+crossed Jean's path, and for her sake I have spoken."
+
+"If it is true, if I were sure of it, I would want to die."
+
+"Dying would not do any good. Live, and some day it may be in your
+power to put an end to all this sorrow."
+
+"Nan, are you sure that Mr. Farr is in love with Jean?"
+
+"Not sure, Helen, but I think so."
+
+"What can I do?"
+
+"Nothing at present. We must wait, and see what happens. Oh! I am very
+hopeful for the future."
+
+When they were in bed and the lights were out, Nan ventured to ask:
+
+"Don't you think Guy will ever return to Hetherford?"
+
+"I don't know, dear," Helen replied, with a sound of tears in her
+voice.
+
+Nan longed to shake her, to say "You ought to know; it depends solely
+upon you; why don't you do something about it?" but she felt she had
+gone far enough for one night, and turning over on her pillow, fell
+fast asleep.
+
+Nan was only a country-bred lass, and yet not all her separation from
+the world and from her fellow-creatures could shut her out from an
+unerring comprehension of human nature. Her wide sympathies taught her
+to understand Helen's coldness toward a lover whose one fault was that
+he had demanded too little and yielded too much; and she was too
+thorough an artist not to fully appreciate the wonderful spell that
+beauty such as Miss Stuart's casts upon certain natures.
+
+The next day the rain came down in sheets, and nothing drearier could
+be imagined than the Hetherford station, where Helen and Nathalie
+awaited the arrival of their friends, who were to depart on the train
+which was now almost due. Presently the old omnibus backed up to the
+platform, and from its damp interior the Hills and Andrews slowly
+emerged, their faces as gloomy as the leaden sky above, as they went
+through the irksome task of buying tickets and checking trunks. Nan
+came rushing in upon the scene just as the train drew up at the
+station. There were a few hurried words of farewell, and then, with a
+clanging of bells and puffing of steam, the train sped on its way to
+the far-off city. When the three girls clambered into the Lawrences'
+great closed rockaway, they felt sorely tempted to give way to tears
+and lamentations. The horses splashed through the mud, the rain beat
+against the windowpanes, the east wind wailed and sighed through the
+trees. Nan got out at the parsonage, and in silence the two sisters
+drove on to the manor. Nathalie threw off her hat and coat, and
+seating herself at the big table in the center of the hall-way, began
+a long letter to Jean. From the fireside Helen watched her for a few
+moments and then mounted slowly to her room, feeling too dispirited
+for even Aunt Helen's society.
+
+By and by a soft little voice from without begged for admission, and
+she opened the door and gladly drew Gladys into the room.
+
+"Baby, you are just the little girlie I wanted. Sister feels very dull
+and lonely to-day."
+
+"Me too," echoed Gladys, as she climbed into her lap.
+
+"Well, well, that is too bad. We shall have to comfort each other."
+
+"What is comfort, sister?"
+
+"Comfort, Dolly? Why to comfort anyone is to try to make them happy
+when something is troubling them."
+
+"Auntie says I'se her comfort," Gladys affirmed, with a wise little
+nod of her head.
+
+"So you are, pet, and not only Auntie's, but mine too."
+
+The child nestled down contentedly in her sister's arms. Her big eyes,
+wandering about the room, rested at length upon a large folding frame
+of photographs which stood on the mantel.
+
+"I wish Jeanie didn't go 'way," she said in a pathetic little voice.
+
+"What made you think of Jean, dear?"
+
+"'Cause I just was lookin' at her picture."
+
+Helen lifted her eyes to the mantel.
+
+"So you were. We all miss Jean very much, don't we, darling?"
+
+"Who's that, sister?" asked Gladys, pointing to the photograph next to
+the one of Jean.
+
+"Don't you know?"
+
+"I kind of 'member, but I ain't sure."
+
+"Have you forgotten Mr. Appleton, Gladys--Guy Appleton?" queried Helen
+in a low tone.
+
+"Oh, now I 'member," cried Gladys gleefully. "Don't you know the
+little kitty he gave me? Larry harnessed her to my little wed cart,
+an' she wan up the willow tree with it." And at the recollection, the
+child burst into a merry peal of laughter.
+
+Helen laughed, too, in sympathy, and then it came back to her how
+nicely Guy had spoken to the children, telling them that what was fun
+to them was suffering to poor kitty, and impressing upon them how
+unkind and cowardly it was to be cruel to any living creature.
+
+They talked on thus, this big and little sister, until twilight had
+come. Then Helen put the child down from her lap, and sent her off to
+the nursery for her supper. As she turned back into the room, her eyes
+could just discern the outline of the frame upon the mantel, but
+although the photographs within it were quite obscured by the dusk,
+Guy's face rose before her with startling distinctness. She dropped
+into a chair, and a dismal little laugh broke from her.
+
+"Oh, dear, I wish Gladys and Nan had both kept still. Now I don't know
+what I do want."
+
+Week followed week monotonously, with little to mark the flight of
+time save the arrival of letters from Jean and the Appletons. Jean
+wrote cheerfully, declaring that she was much better and in excellent
+spirits, but Mrs. Appleton's reports were much less encouraging.
+
+"Jean never complains," she wrote, "and seems filled with a restless
+desire to keep constantly on the move, but she still looks very
+fragile, and I sometimes fear that all at once she will break down
+completely. However, you must not be anxious, about her, for perhaps I
+am needlessly so. Mrs. Fay expects to return home at Christmas time,
+and I imagine that by then Jean will be quite ready to accompany her."
+
+The last week in November Helen went to town to spend Thanksgiving
+with the Hills.
+
+"It seemed almost selfish to take you away from Nathalie," Eleanor
+said, as they drove rapidly away from the station through the noisy,
+crowded streets, "but I was longing for a sight of someone from
+Hetherford, and I thought it would be such fun to begin to do our
+Christmas shopping together. A little later the shops are so terribly
+overcrowded."
+
+The first few days of Helen's visit were passed chiefly in this wise,
+and partly because her time was so fully occupied, and partly because
+of a curiously uncomfortable feeling which she could not shake off,
+she neglected to let Miss Stuart know that she was in town. On the
+fourth evening after her arrival they dined at a famous restaurant
+with an uncle and aunt of Eleanor's and two youths of the _jeunesse
+dorée_. Helen had felt very shy at first, but this was fast wearing
+off, and she was talking quite naturally and pleasantly with her
+companion, when a party of two ladies and half a dozen men entered the
+room, and selecting a table at a short distance from where Eleanor and
+her friends were seated, grouped themselves about it; their loud
+talking and easy assurance attracting universal attention. Helen
+stared at them a little curiously, and then, as one of the ladies drew
+off her long tan gloves and let her gaze wander slowly around the
+room, she gave a sudden start. At the same instant the lady's glance
+met Helen's, and the recognition was mutual. Miss Stuart gracefully
+inclined her head, a certain surprise in her eyes, and Helen flushed
+crimson as she returned the bow.
+
+"Why, there is Miss Stuart," exclaimed Eleanor. "I can't imagine why
+she chooses such a companion as Mrs. Desborough."
+
+"And why should Miss Stuart be so particular?" laughed the man at her
+side. "It would be the pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't it?"
+
+Eleanor broke in hurriedly, with some totally irrelevant remark, but
+the words had reached Helen's ears. The color died out of her face,
+and from that moment her companion found her silent and absent-minded.
+As they passed out of the restaurant, Miss Stuart bowed smilingly to
+Eleanor and turned a steady level glance on Helen.
+
+"Who were you bowing to?" asked Mrs. Desborough from the other side of
+the table.
+
+"To Miss Hill and her friend Miss Lawrence," Miss Stuart replied a
+little stiffly.
+
+"What?" laughed the man at her side, "not that demure little girl who
+was dining with Miss Hill?"
+
+"The very same. She is a great friend of mine."
+
+"Oh, come now, don't tell me that. You two never hit it off together."
+
+Miss Stuart frowned.
+
+"You will oblige me by not discussing the subject," she returned, in a
+tone so unlike her usual careless, flippant one that her companion was
+impressed by it. "I like her infinitely better than any woman I have
+ever known."
+
+"By Jove, I believe you are in earnest!"
+
+"Don't believe anything," she answered sharply, and turning to the man
+on her left plunged at once into a reckless flirtation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+A CABLEGRAM.
+
+
+The following morning a note came for Helen by a messenger. It was
+from Lillian Stuart and, without a word of upbraiding for having been
+kept in ignorance of Helen's presence in town, begged for a visit from
+her prior to her return to Hetherford. Helen was fully alive to the
+generous spirit thus shown toward her, but it did not alter her
+determination to decline the invitation. She worded her answer as
+kindly as possible, while making her meaning quite clear. It hurt her
+cruelly to take this step, and as she sealed the envelope there were
+tears in her eyes.
+
+It was Mrs. Hill's day at home, and when, after luncheon, Eleanor
+reminded Helen of this fact, the girl pleaded to be excused, for she
+felt far too depressed and out of sorts to meet people and to exert
+herself to entertain them. Mrs. Hill indulgently granted her request,
+and so she put on her hat and coat and started out for a walk. She
+strolled down a beautiful avenue, lined with fine residences,
+succeeded, as she proceeded, by richly and gayly ornamented shops. A
+crowd of people were passing up and down, and the street at times was
+almost blocked with an innumerable throng of equipages. When Helen had
+reached a point where this avenue is intersected by another, she
+crossed the street and entered a square, whose patches of grass and
+bare trees were a rest to her eyes after the rows of stately buildings
+all about her. Children were playing about on the smooth paths, and as
+Helen looked at them she found herself longing for a sight of dear
+little Gladys' round, chubby face. Across the street, on the block
+below, a swinging sign caught her attention. Its staring characters
+told her that an art exhibition was being held within, and she turned
+her steps in that direction. As she approached the showy and
+over-ornamented doorway, she glanced up at a man who was coming toward
+her. Something in his gait and general bearing struck her as familiar.
+As he gained her side he raised his hat, and she saw that he was
+Valentine Farr.
+
+"Why, Miss Lawrence," he exclaimed, "this is a very great and
+unexpected pleasure. I had no idea you were in town. How are you?"
+
+"Oh! very well, thank you, but," with a sympathetic glance at his arm,
+which she saw he carried in a sling, "have you been hurt, Mr. Farr?"
+
+"I had a fall aboard ship on our way to Fort Munroe, and broke my arm.
+It was badly attended to, so I got leave to come home and have Dr.
+----," naming a well-known surgeon, "fix it up for me."
+
+"I am sorry," said Helen, looking at him with friendly eyes.
+
+"Where were you going, Miss Lawrence?" Farr asked, as the surging
+throng crowded them close to the railing of a near house.
+
+"I thought I would go in just above here, and see the pictures."
+
+"Will you let me accompany you? I would deem it a very great favor, I
+have so many questions I want to ask you. I want to know all about
+Hetherford and everyone there.
+
+"Indeed, I wish you would, and I will gladly satisfy your curiosity.
+There is not much to tell of Hetherford save that Jean has gone to
+Europe."
+
+She tried to mention her sister's name quite naturally, but the color
+rose to her face, and she could not bring herself to look at her
+companion.
+
+"To Europe?" he echoed, and could think of nothing further to say.
+
+"I will tell you all about it when we are inside," Helen said to him
+rather flurriedly.
+
+In a moment more they found themselves in a softly lighted room, the
+walls of which were lined with paintings. A few people, catalogue in
+hand, were slowly walking about or standing in groups of two or three
+before some painting of more than usual merit. Helen gained courage to
+raise her eyes to her companion's face, and something in its
+expression made her direct her steps at once toward a huge red ottoman
+which occupied the center of the room.
+
+"Shall we sit down here and have our talk first?" her voice softly
+interrogated. "You can show me the pictures afterward."
+
+Farr looked at her gratefully.
+
+"It would be my wish, Miss Helen, but you mustn't let me bore you."
+
+For answer, Helen seated herself and motioned him to take the place
+beside her.
+
+"Jean went to Europe in October. She had not been at all well,
+and----"
+
+"Not well?" he interrupted her with an anxious face.
+
+"In fact, she was quite ill," Helen went on gravely, "and she had an
+opportunity to join some friends of ours who were over there, so we
+sent her in the hope that the change would benefit her."
+
+"And how is she now?"
+
+"Somewhat better, I think, but not very strong yet."
+
+"I am deeply grieved," he answered, in a voice which his best efforts
+could not keep very steady.
+
+There was a brief silence, during which Farr's eyes were fixed moodily
+on the carpet.
+
+"I called to see your sister," he began at length, "the day before we
+left Hetherford, but she excused herself."
+
+"I don't think Jean knew of your visit."
+
+"You are mistaken," he returned bitterly. "The servant who admitted me
+had received orders that Miss Jean would not see me, and she made that
+fact patent to me beyond the possibility of any doubt."
+
+"I cannot help that," said Helen, her determination to pursue the
+subject struggling against a sudden timidity. "I am sure you are
+wrong. I remember the afternoon perfectly. Nathalie and I had been to
+the inn, and when we reached home I found Jean on the sofa in her
+room, and I asked her if anyone had called, and she said 'no.'"
+
+A puzzled expression crossed Farr's face.
+
+"It is very strange. Why, Miss Helen, I wrote and asked your sister if
+she would see me, and she replied that she would be at home at the
+hour I mentioned in my note."
+
+All at once there flashed through Helen's mind a recollection which
+suggested a most cruel suspicion. Farr was looking straight at her,
+his honest eyes demanding an honest answer.
+
+"I cannot explain it, Mr. Farr," she said slowly, "but I feel
+perfectly safe in answering you that it was all a mistake, and that
+Jean never knew of your call at the manor."
+
+"And what of the message the servant gave me? Forgive me, Miss Helen,
+if I seem to press you, but this is no light matter to me."
+
+"I am quite sure that Jean never gave that message, although I can
+give you no further explanation of the matter."
+
+Farr's face went very white, and, as Helen looked at him, she saw how
+much the past few months had changed him. There were deep lines about
+his mouth, and his grave eyes were immeasurably sad. Her heart went
+out to him in sudden sympathy, and she spoke to him with a touch of
+tenderness in her voice.
+
+"Jean will be with us again at Christmas time, I hope, and then you
+must see her and let her explain to you how such a mistake was made."
+
+Farr rested his elbow on his knee and dropped his head in his hand.
+
+"If I only felt sure you were right, Miss Helen." He paused a moment,
+then resumed with deep earnestness, "I cared so much for your sister
+that the sudden withdrawal of her friendship was a bitter blow to me."
+
+Helen's eyes were downcast, her lips refused to speak. The silence was
+broken by Farr.
+
+"I think at one time I dreamed she cared for me a little, but my
+illusion was quickly dispelled."
+
+Another pause of briefer duration, and then he turned to his companion
+with a question on his lips.
+
+"How was it, Miss Helen? Did I presume too much on your sister's
+kindness to me? I suppose I must have, although it seems to me that I
+hardly deserved her excessive coldness and dislike."
+
+Helen, thus put to the test, looked straight up at him, and answered a
+little tremulously:
+
+"Mr. Farr, Jean always liked you."
+
+He drew a quick sharp breath.
+
+"Why do you think so?" he asked. Then before Helen could reply, he
+went on in a strained voice, "I loved Jean with all my heart, and was
+about to ask her to be my wife. I love her now--I shall always love
+her."
+
+"And Jean cares for you," Helen whispered, so low he had to bend his
+head to catch the words.
+
+"Cares for me?" he repeated, a sudden light in his eyes, his voice
+grown very deep and tender.
+
+"Yes, oh yes. There must have been some wretched mistake which can be
+explained away. I don't know how it was," she went on with a
+plaintive smile. "Jean's heart was almost broken because of you, and
+she grew so ill we had to send her away."
+
+"Thank God!" he ejaculated solemnly.
+
+Helen broke into a little laugh, which was full of tears.
+
+"That Jean has gone away?" she queried.
+
+Farr lifted his head and drew a deep breath.
+
+"I can't thank you, Miss Helen. I seem to have no words to express to
+you what you have done for me to-day. Indeed, it seems as if Fate, for
+once, had chosen to do me a kind turn."
+
+After a little Helen said gently:
+
+"You must come to the manor for Christmas, Mr. Farr. I can think of no
+greater happiness for Jean than to have you there to welcome her on
+her return."
+
+"Miss Helen, I--I can't realize it. You----" His voice broke, but
+after a moment he resumed: "You are not holding out a vain hope to
+me--you are sure?"
+
+Helen met his eyes steadily, and he was reassured, even before she
+answered gravely:
+
+"Quite sure, Mr. Farr. Do you think I would have spoken else?"
+
+She turned away her head, and he saw a tear on her cheek.
+
+"I have tried to fill my mother's place to the girls, but I was
+blinded by personal interests, and did not understand about Jean until
+too late. I don't think I could have borne it if it had not been put
+in my power to retrieve my mistake."
+
+Farr looked at her curiously, a thoroughly puzzled expression on his
+face. He opened his lips to question her, but suddenly changed his
+mind, and closed them without having spoken.
+
+Helen rose from the ottoman.
+
+"We have not seen the pictures, have we?" she asked in a lighter tone.
+
+Farr stood looking down at her with earnest eyes.
+
+"Miss Helen, if God is good to me, if all goes well, is there a
+welcome for me at the manor?"
+
+She put out her hand to him, and he held it tightly for a moment.
+
+"God bless you."
+
+Some minutes later they descended the wide stairs, and, passing
+through the outer door, found themselves once more in the crowded
+thoroughfare. The short November day was drawing to a close, the wind
+was keen and sharp, and a flurry of snow filled the air.
+
+"Now, Mr. Farr, I want you to put me in an omnibus, please, and you
+must not come uptown with me."
+
+Then, as he demurred, she added, with a friendly smile:
+
+"My mind is so full of thoughts, I would really rather be alone for a
+while. You understand, don't you?"
+
+She turned on the steps of the omnibus to say:
+
+"I will let you know about Jean's return, and remember, you are to
+spend Christmas with us."
+
+"As if I could forget," Farr murmured to himself, as he strode away,
+his face alight with a great happiness.
+
+As Helen rang the bell of the Hills' cozy apartment, the door was
+opened from the inside, and she found herself face to face with
+Lillian Stuart. From the drawing-room came the buzz of tongues, and
+through the half-open portières she could see quite a number of people
+standing about. Miss Stuart answered her unspoken thought:
+
+"Don't go in there, Helen; take me to your room. I want to speak to
+you for a moment. I have already made my call on the Hills."
+
+Helen obediently led the way down the hall, but her heart was very
+heavy, for she had no courage for another scene this afternoon. She
+knew that the conversation must necessarily be painful, and she made
+every effort to put off the evil moment; but in vain. Almost before
+the door was closed Miss Stuart began:
+
+"Now, Helen, will you please explain to me why you must return to
+Hetherford in such haste? Surely your aunt can spare you to me for a
+few days. I can't imagine how you could have planned to be in town,
+and not to be with me for a little visit."
+
+Helen flushed guiltily.
+
+"I am so sorry, dear," she faltered. "Another time, perhaps, but now I
+must go home."
+
+Miss Stuart started up, loosening her fur boa impatiently.
+
+"That is absolute folly. There is nothing to stand in the way
+unless----" She broke off abruptly, and her eyes searched Helen's
+downcast face. "Do you want to put an end to our friendship," she
+cried sharply. "Is that why you act so strangely?"
+
+Helen lifted her hand with an imploring gesture of dissent.
+
+"Answer me, Helen. Am I not right?"
+
+Helen's head was bent still lower, and she made no attempt to speak.
+Miss Stuart watched her for a moment in silence, and a slight quiver
+passed over her face. She came a step nearer, and laid her hand on the
+girl's shoulder:
+
+"Who has influenced you against me, Helen? What has happened?"
+
+"Why, Lillian, what makes you say that? It is not fair, simply because
+in one instance I am unable to fulfill your wishes."
+
+Miss Stuart withdrew her hand, and her brow darkened.
+
+"Helen, Helen; you disappoint me. Let us have the truth at all
+hazards. Tell me frankly, would not your answer always be the same
+now, whenever I might ask you for a visit?"
+
+Helen shivered a little, and she could not bring herself to meet the
+girl's eyes. Presently Miss Stuart spoke again, the effort to subdue
+all emotion rendering her voice cold and stern.
+
+"I understand. You have withdrawn your friendship from me. Oh! no
+doubt you have discovered the depth of my unworthiness, and feel
+perfectly justified. Content in your own moral superiority, and in
+that of your friends in general, you have decided that it would be
+wiser to banish me from the inner circle. Of course," she went on with
+a bitter laugh, "you have not reached this conclusion alone. Would
+you mind telling me who has helped you to it?"
+
+The taunting question stung Helen into a response:
+
+"You told me an untruth, Lillian. You deliberately deceived me. You
+caused untold suffering to one who is very dear to me, to what end I
+cannot imagine. And this was your return for all the love and trust I
+had given you."
+
+Miss Stuart turned a startled glance on Helen.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked breathlessly.
+
+"I have seen Mr. Farr to-day, and a good many things that have puzzled
+me have been made clear. I am not judging you, Lillian. I am
+completely in the dark as to your motives. I only know that you were
+not honest with me."
+
+"So you have seen Val Farr," murmured Miss Stuart. She flung back her
+head defiantly. "Well, what did he tell you of me? I thought he was
+too much of a man to speak ill of a woman."
+
+"Your name was never mentioned, Lillian. I am not prepared to tell you
+what Mr. Farr said to me. Suffice it to say, it proved the untruth of
+what you led me to believe last summer."
+
+Miss Stuart caught her breath.
+
+"I suppose that means that he is in love with your sister?"
+
+"We will not discuss that, please," replied Helen with quiet dignity.
+
+Her companion laughed, but there was no mirth in the sound.
+
+"Well, I could have told you that last summer. I did lie to you about
+it. The game is played out now, and I have lost, so there is no
+further reason why I should not tell you the truth. I was jealous of
+that little sister of yours, and I did everything in my power to keep
+her and Valentine Farr apart. Placed in the same position, I should
+undoubtedly repeat the offense."
+
+Cruel and unwomanly as the words were, there was something in her
+friend's voice which stirred Helen with a feeling of pity. She rose
+and laid a gentle hand on Miss Stuart's arm.
+
+"You must not try to make me think badly of you, dear. I would so much
+rather believe that you did not realize how much misery you were
+causing. Let us not speak any more of this, Lillian."
+
+A sudden rush of tears dimmed Miss Stuart's eyes.
+
+"The least I can do is to grant your last request, Helen. One thing
+more I can do for you, dear--I can go. You need never see me again."
+
+There was just a faint interrogation in the low-spoken words, but
+Helen remained quite silent. She was waging a bitter fight within
+herself. Everything pressed her into a renunciation of this friendship
+which had cost her so dear. Slowly there was awakening within her a
+deep knowledge of Guy Appleton's character, and with this knowledge
+came a great longing to win from him the love which she had so lightly
+sacrificed. While a vestige of this friendship remained Guy would
+never take her to his heart, and now her choice must be made. Then she
+thought of Jean and Valentine Farr, and the thought strengthened her
+conviction that only one path was open to her. Raising her
+tearstained face, she met Lillian's eyes smiling sadly on her.
+
+"So you find it hard to give me up, Helen? Are you sure it is
+necessary?"
+
+The critical moment had come, and involuntarily Helen put her hands
+before her eyes to shut out the beautiful face so close to her own:
+
+"Our paths must lie apart, Lillian, dear; but as long as I live I will
+remember you and pray for you."
+
+The silence that followed these words became oppressive, and Helen
+stirred uneasily and stole a timid glance at her friend. Miss Stuart's
+face was uplifted; her wonderful eyes, filled with unutterable
+sadness, gazed mournfully into space. If suffering can expiate a sin,
+in that moment she fully expiated the wrong she had done to Jean.
+After a while she turned and laid her hands on Helen's shoulders.
+
+"I understand, my dear, and I do not blame you. Good-by!" And
+stooping, she kissed her gently on the lips.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Helen stood before the fire in the hall-way of the manor, two letters
+in hand, a thoughtful expression in her eyes. In four days Jean and
+Mrs. Fay would sail for home, and Guy had written: "Will you not send
+for me, Helen? I will never return until you do."
+
+"Oh, dear," her thoughts ran, "why must it be left for me to decide!
+If Guy would only take it into his own hands and come, I would be so
+grateful."
+
+Poor weak little woman! It was hard for her to act for herself. How
+happy she would be to find shelter in some safe harbor, guided there
+by a stronger hand than her own. With one stroke of a pen she could
+recall Guy, but the strangest shyness overmastered her. She wandered
+restlessly about the house, her heart as heavy as lead; and not until
+daylight was waning, and the long winter evening closing in upon the
+manor, did she finally start out for the telegraph office, a bit of
+paper held closely in the hand that was tucked in her muff.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In a hotel in Paris a party of people was assembled in a small private
+sitting-room. Against the walls, their lids gaping, were a number of
+half-filled trunks, and in the paraphernalia that were scattered
+around was every indication of an imminent departure. Mrs. Fay and
+Jean bustled busily about, stowing away the many purchases which this
+city of shops had tempted them to make, stopping now and then to
+consult Guy as to some detail of the long journey which lay before
+them. Poor Mrs. Appleton watched them with homesick eyes. She was
+tired of wandering about in strange lands, hungry for a sight of the
+little vine-covered cottage which had been empty for so many weary
+months. Surely no mother had ever given her son a greater love, a more
+generous sacrifice.
+
+"I am a foolish old woman, my dear," she had said to him a few moments
+since, when he had looked up suddenly and had seen the tears in her
+eyes. "I suppose it is not unnatural that I should sometimes dream of
+spending the last years of my life in 'my own home.'"
+
+Guy did not answer then. It was a shock to him to discover how much
+this exile had cost his patient, uncomplaining mother; and, as he sat
+at the little table in the center of the room, apparently absorbed in
+straightening out accounts, he was facing the duty which had suddenly
+been made clear to him.
+
+"Poor mother!" he thought, with tender compunction, "I have been a
+selfish brute."
+
+Yet it was not easy for him to depart from the course he had marked
+out for himself, for, like many another man of strong character, Guy
+was very obstinate. One glance at his mother's face, however, made him
+ashamed of his hesitation, and he pushed away his papers and rose to
+his feet, while he framed the sentence which would determine their
+return home. Just at that moment there was a knock at the door, and in
+response to Jean's brisk, "_Entrez_," a servant handed her a cablegram
+in its blue wrapper, addressed "Appleton, Continental, Paris."
+
+Three simple words the message contained, but to the man who read them
+they made all the difference between light and darkness, between life
+and death. The message read:
+
+     Please come home.--HELEN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+"PEACE ON EARTH--GOOD WILL TO MEN."
+
+
+On a most delicious day late in December there is an air of unusual
+bustle and excitement over the manor. Outside the ground is covered
+with a deep mantle of glistening snow, and overhead the winter's sun
+shines cold and clear from out a vault of deepest blue. Within the
+house wood fires are blazing on every hearth, and the atmosphere is
+filled with the fragrance of fresh flowers which Helen's deft hands
+have just arranged in every available vase and bowl.
+
+Only yesterday the travelers from the other side arrived; Mrs.
+Appleton supremely contented to be once more at home; Guy, with the
+anticipation of his happiness lighting his whole face, and Jean sweet
+and brave as ever, but with a deep sadness in her eyes, and looking
+such a frail and slender figure in her close-fitting gown.
+
+Helen and Nathalie had gone to town to meet them, and had brought them
+to Hetherford; for on the morrow all the old friends were to gather at
+the manor for Christmas, and the girls wanted one long quiet evening
+with Jean before the arrival of their guests.
+
+This home-coming was very hard for poor Jean; harder than she had
+anticipated; and when the first little excitement of her meeting with
+Aunt Helen and the children was over, it required all her courage to
+keep her face bright and smiling, her voice gay and cheery. Everything
+spoke to her of Farr, and she sighed a little wearily, as she realized
+that all her journeyings had lessened not one whit the pain at her
+heart. As they gathered before the blazing logs in the drawing-room,
+just after dinner, to talk over all that had happened since they
+parted, Helen's loving heart detected the undercurrent of pathos which
+ran through all Jean's spirited accounts of her travels and
+adventures; and she was tempted to speak just the few words which
+alone could bring back the sunny light-hearted expression to Jean's
+face. She resisted the temptation, however, for she had given Farr her
+promise that his coming on the morrow should be a complete surprise.
+He was to come out on an early train, so as to secure a quiet hour
+with Jean before the manor was invaded by its other guests.
+
+And now he is almost due, and Helen's heart beats fast, and her eyes
+watch Jean's every movement as if she feared to let her out of her
+sight. All the morning they have been dressing the house with
+Christmas greens, and Jean stands on tip-toe to fasten the last wreath
+over the fireplace, when a ringing of sleigh-bells breaks the
+stillness of the snowy winter's day. Then there is a stamping of a
+man's feet on the veranda, and Helen opens wide the door to admit
+Valentine Farr. Jean's back is toward him, and there is just a brief
+instant while she adjusts the last nail to secure the wreath, before
+she turns.
+
+"What a draught. Why don't you close the----" she begins; then,
+turning, the hammer she is holding falls to the ground with a crash,
+and, her hand on her heart, her eyes wide-open and startled, she
+stands facing Valentine Farr.
+
+In another instant Helen has closed the door and disappeared into the
+drawing-room, and Farr has taken Jean's hands in his own, and is
+speaking to her in a voice grown very deep and tender.
+
+"Jean, my little love, have you no word of welcome for me?"
+
+The blood rushes into her face, then ebbs away, leaving it even paler
+than before.
+
+"Ah, I have frightened you, sweetheart," Farr cries contritely, "and
+you are not very strong yet, are you, dear? But I have waited such a
+weary while; I have been so miserable for a sight of your sweet face;
+I could not wait to tell you that I love you. Surely you must have
+known it long ago, darling."
+
+Jean's head droops lower and lower, and she does not speak.
+
+"I want you to be my wife, dear," Farr's tender voice goes on. "Do you
+love me, Jean?"
+
+Still she is silent, and Farr's face grows very white.
+
+"What is it, Jean? Are you angry with me for speaking to you so
+abruptly? Oh, my love, my love, don't tell me that you cannot care for
+me."
+
+Then Jean raises her eyes, and though the tears are shining in them,
+they are full of a great happiness.
+
+"I do love you, dear, with all my heart and soul," she says very low,
+but quite steadily.
+
+Farr's face above her is eloquent, and for the moment they have no
+need of words. Then the tears brim over in Jean's eyes, and with a
+little tremulous cry she flings herself in his arms:
+
+"O Val, I have been so miserable!"
+
+And Farr, bending down, kisses her tenderly.
+
+"Please God, darling, no misery will ever again come to you through
+me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A few hours later they all gather about the long dinner table and, in
+the pause that follows upon their being seated, old Mr. Birdsall's
+sweet and tremulous voice asks grace. In simple heartfelt words he
+thanks God for the safe return of the travelers, and asks his tender
+blessing for one and all. Every head is reverently bent, and every
+heart echoes the earnest prayer.
+
+This is a gala occasion, and in its honor Aunt Helen presides at the
+head of the table, and Willie and Larry and even little Gladys are
+present. With much ringing laughter and merriment the dinner hour
+passes. Jean's voice is as joyous as in the old days, and Helen,
+hearing the sweet sound, is filled with overwhelming gratitude.
+
+"I tell you, girls," Dick cries enthusiastically, "this is a proud day
+for me. I feel that it is entirely owing to my watchful care of you
+all that these pleasant things have come to pass. Jean, my child, did
+I not present Farr to you?"
+
+Jean laughs, and blushes.
+
+"Oh, I don't know, Dick. I am not quite clear about it. If you did I
+am deeply indebted," and she turns a shy soft glance toward her lover.
+
+"It was your humble servant. Now, there is a most appropriate way in
+which you may reward me," and Dick holds a sprig of mistletoe high
+above his head.
+
+"No, no. What nonsense," protests Jean.
+
+"You may," smiles Farr.
+
+"But I don't want to," she laughs saucily.
+
+"Poor Dick," exclaims Mollie sorrowfully, and she jumps up from the
+table to give him a sisterly hug and a kiss. "I declare it is a shame.
+I shan't see you so neglected."
+
+"Thank you, my dear," returns Dick, with a grin, "that isn't quite the
+same, but it is very sweet."
+
+"Oh, dear," sighs Nan, as they push back their chairs, and wander into
+the drawing-room, "how queer it seems to have Helen and Jean engaged.
+It is all very amusing now, but what will become of us next summer. I
+am afraid our compact is about at an end."
+
+Cliff, who is standing near Eleanor, bends down to whisper something
+to her, and then pushes her gently into the middle of the room. She
+faces the group before her with flaming cheeks, and looks about her
+helplessly.
+
+"Girls, I suppose I must confess. I, too, am a traitor to our
+compact."
+
+"O Eleanor," cries Jean, excitedly, and puts a tender arm about her.
+
+Cliff leans against the mantel, as nonchalant and languid as ever; but
+his eyes rest on Eleanor with infinite pride and content. The girl
+turns toward the others with a graceful gesture of appeal.
+
+"Am I forgiven?"
+
+They crowd about her with eager, loving words of congratulation; and
+then, when the confusion has subsided, Nan begs their attention for a
+moment.
+
+"I have some news for you."
+
+"O Nan! don't tell us you are engaged," implores Mollie dolorously.
+
+Nan burst into a merry laugh.
+
+"What an idea! No indeed. But, girls and boys what do you think? Emily
+is _married_!"
+
+"_Married?_" they cry in one breath.
+
+"Yes, married to a very rich widower, with gray hair, and three big
+children, and oh, lots of money!" and Nan almost chokes in her haste
+to enumerate all these virtues.
+
+"Now, Nan, be sensible, and take a long breath, and tell us all about
+it," says Nathalie.
+
+"Well, he owns a fine place at B----, where Em lives, and he knew her
+when she was a little bit of a girl. He married and went to England to
+live. About two years ago his wife died and this fall he returned to
+B----, renewed his acquaintance with Em, proposed to her, and
+yesterday they were married."
+
+"What unseemly haste!" Mollie exclaims.
+
+"No, not a bit of it. They didn't mean to be married until spring, but
+Mr. Hazletine was suddenly recalled to England on important business,
+which may keep him there several months, and he was so unhappy at
+leaving Em that she consented to be married at once and go with him."
+
+"To think of it! I suppose now Emily will roll by in her carriage,
+wear magnificent clothes, and completely dazzle us with her jewels of
+inestimable value."
+
+"So much the better, Mollie," rejoins Helen heartily. "Poor little Em
+has tasted of poverty all her life. Think what a relief it will be to
+her to have ample means."
+
+"It is fine," cries Eleanor.
+
+"And what in the world shall we do?" groans Nathalie with a comical
+glance at Nan and Mollie.
+
+"Laugh at their love-making, and, with the hansom driver, be glad we
+are not in it."
+
+"O Nan, you rowdy," laughs Jean.
+
+Helen rises, and makes her way to the door, closely followed by Guy.
+
+"I am going to say good-night to Aunt Helen," she whispers, her eyes
+drooping shyly under the steadfast gaze he bends upon her.
+
+"I will wait for you here, dear," he says, and takes her hand in his,
+but she blushes so painfully he lets it drop again.
+
+"Foolish little woman," he sighs to himself. "Shall I ever really
+possess her heart?"
+
+In a few moments she rejoins him, and Guy puts his arm about her, and
+leads her into the music room. No lamps are lighted, but the
+window-shades are up, and the moon's soft rays shine through the
+panes, illumining mysteriously the great empty room. Far away, across
+the snowclad landscape, the slender spire of St. Andrew's points
+heavenward, and through the windows of the church shines the red glow
+of a light within. The scene is one of infinite peace and beauty, and
+the magic of the hour casts its spell over Helen and her lover, as
+speechless, motionless, they stand within the recess of the window,
+gazing out at the marvelous beauty of the night.
+
+By and by, Helen moves a little closer to her companion.
+
+"I have something to tell you, Guy," she murmurs, "and I haven't the
+courage to say it."
+
+The old doubt, not yet dispelled, pales Guy's face.
+
+"Don't tell me you are going to send me from you again, Helen."
+
+The girl's heart throbs at the pain in his voice:
+
+"No, no, dear. I want to tell you something so different. I love you,
+Guy," her voice dropping to a whisper. "Please never leave me again."
+
+He holds her to his heart with a love the deeper for all the pain and
+waiting, finding a heaven in the sweet lips which meet his so frankly.
+And even as they stand there the bell of St. Andrew's, solemnly
+tolling the midnight hour, ushers in the glad Christmas tide.
+
+"Helen," says Eleanor's voice from the doorway, "may we all come in?
+We think it would be so sweet if you would play our Christmas hymn on
+the organ and let us sing it together."
+
+Helen pushes back the curtain, and steps forward, an expression of
+perfect rest on her gentle face.
+
+"Yes, indeed, I think it is a lovely idea."
+
+Guy opens the organ. Helen steps into her place, and Cliff brings a
+lamp from the hall, and places it nearby.
+
+"Val," Jean whispers to her lover, "there is just one sad thought in
+my heart to-night. I suppose it is the memory of Christ's message of
+peace and love, which makes me so sorrowful when I think of the bitter
+feeling between your mother and yourself. Do you think it will ever be
+in my power to help to overcome it?"
+
+"We will try together, sweetheart, and the great blessing of your love
+will make all life easier, and better for me."
+
+Then Helen's hands strike the opening chords of the hymn and a hush
+falls upon the little group, and with one accord they move nearer the
+organ, and as the last bell of St. Andrew's dies slowly away, their
+voices take up the glad refrain:
+
+     It came upon the midnight clear,
+     That glorious song of old,
+     From angels bending near the earth,
+     To touch their harps of gold:
+     "Peace on the earth, good will to men,
+     From heaven's all-gracious King."
+     The world in solemn stillness lay,
+     To hear the angels sing.
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's A Colony of Girls, by Kate Livingston Willard
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41010 ***