THE WORKS OF KATHLEEN NORRIS

HARRIET AND THE PIPER

VOLUME XI

TO

DANIEL WEBB NYE

DEAR MAKER OF BOOKS AND FRIENDS

HARRIET AND THE PIPER

CHAPTER I

Richard Carter had called the place "Crownlands, " not to pleasehimself, or even his wife. But it was to his mother's newly bornfamily pride that the idea of being the Carters of Crownlands madeits appeal. The estate, when he bought it, had belonged to aCarter, and the tradition was that two hundred years before it hadbeen a grant of the first George to the first of the name inAmerica. Madame Carter, as the old lady liked to be called, immediately adopted the unknown owner into a vague cousinship, spoke of him as "a kinsman of ours, " and proceeded to tell oldfriends that Crownlands had always been "in the family. "

It was a home hardly deserving of the pretentious name, althoughit was beautiful enough, and spacious enough, for notice, evenamong the magnificent neighbours that surrounded it. It was ofcreamy brick, colonial in design, and set in splendid lawns andgreat trees on the bank of the blue Hudson. White drivewayscircled it, great stables and garages across a curve of greenmeadows had their own invisible domain, and on the shining highwaythere was a full mile of high brick fence, a marching line ofgreat maples and sycamores, and a demure lodge beside the mightyiron gates. 

Much of this was as Richard Carter had found it five years ago, but about the house, inside and out, his wife had made changes, had lent the place something of her own individuality and charm. It was Isabelle Carter who had visualized the window-boxes and theawnings, the walks where emerald grass spouted between the bricks, the terrace with its fat balustrade and shallow marble stepsdescending to the river. Great stone jars, spilling the brilliantscarlet of geraniums, flanked the steps, and the shadows of themighty trees fell clear and sharp across the marble. And on a softJune afternoon, sitting in the silence and the fragrance withboats plying up and down the river, and birds twittering andflashing at the brim of the fountain, one might have dreamed one'sself in some forgotten Italian garden rather than a short twohours' trip away from the busiest and most congested city of theworld. 

On one of the wide benches that were placed here and there on thedescending terraces, in the late hours of an exquisite summerafternoon, a man and a woman were sitting. They had strolledslowly from the tennis court, where half-a-dozen young personswere violently exercising themselves in the sunshine, with thevague intention of reaching the tea table, on the upper level. Buthere, in the clear shade, Isabelle Carter had suddenly seatedherself, and Anthony Pope, her cavalier, had thrown himself on thesteps at her feet. 

She was a woman worthy of the exquisite setting, and in her richlycoloured gown, against the clear cream of the marble, the newgreen of the trees and lawns, and the brilliant hues of theflowers, she might well have turned an older head than that of theboy beside her. Brunette, with smooth cheeks deeply touched withrose, black eyes, and a warmly crimson mouth that could be at onceprovocative and relentless, she glowed like a flower herself inthe sweet and enervating heat of the summer's first warm day. Shewore a filmy gown of a dull cream colour, with daring greatpoppies in pink and black and gold embroidered over it; her lacyblack hat, shadowing her clear forehead and smoke-black hair, wascovered with the soft pink flowers. She was the tiniest of women, and the little foot, that, in its transparent silk stocking andbuckled slipper, was close to Anthony's hand, was like a child's. 

The man was twice her size, and as dark as she, earnest, eager, and to-day with a troubled expression clouding his face. It was tobanish that look, if she might, that Isabelle had deliberatelystopped him here. 

She had been behaving badly toward him, and in her ratherirresponsible and shallow way she was sorry for it. Isabelle was afamous flirt, her husband knew it, everyone knew it. There wasalways some man paying desperate court to her, and always half-a-dozen other men who were eager to be in his place. Now it was apainter, now a singer, now one of the men of her husband'sbusiness world. They sent her orchids and sweets, and odd bits ofjewellery, and curious fans and laces, and pictures and brasses, and quaint pieces of china. They sent her tremendously significantletters, just the eloquent word or two, the little oddity of dateor signature or paper that was to impress her with anindividuality, or with the depth of a passion. Isabelle lived forthis, went from one adventure to another with the naive confidenceof a woman whose husband smiles upon her playing, and whoseposition is impregnable. 

But this boy, this Anthony, was different. In the first place hewas young, he was but twenty-six. In the second place he was, orhad been, her own son's closest friend. Ward Carter was twenty-two, and his mother nineteen years older. 

Yes, she was forty-one, although neither she nor her mirroradmitted it readily. Anthony, she thought, must realize it. Hemust realize that his feeling for her was unthinkable, not to sayabsurd. It had taken her by surprise, this last conquest. She hadknown the boy only a few weeks. Ward had brought him home for avisit, at Easter, but Isabelle, besides admiring his unusualbeauty and identifying him with the Pope fortune, had paid himsmall attention. She had been absorbed then in the wretchedconclusion of the Foster affair. Derrick Foster had beendistressing and annoying her unmercifully. After the warm anddelightful friendship of several months, after luncheons and teas, opera and concerts in the greatest harmony, Derrick Foster had hadthe daring, the impudence, to imply--to insinuate--

Well, Isabelle had gotten rid of him, although she could not yetthink of him without scarlet colour in her cheeks. And it had beenon a particularly trying afternoon, when the unshed tears of angerand hurt pride had been making her fine eyes heavier and moremysterious than usual, that this nice boy, this handsome friend ofWard, had gone riding with her, and had shown such charmingsympathy for her dark mood. They had had tea at the Country Club, and Tony, as she had begun at once to call him, had beenwonderfully amusing and soothing. Isabelle, when they came back tothe house, had turned impulsively in the hall, had laid her smallhand, in its dashing gauntlet, upon his big shoulder. 

"You've carried me over an ugly bog, Little Boy!" she had said. "Ilike you--such a lot!"

That was six weeks ago, but in those short six weeks the littleboy that she had patronized had entirely upset her preconceivedideas of him. He was young, and he was absurd, but he did not knowit, and Isabelle began to feel the difficulty of keeping the wholeworld from discovering it before he did. He made no secret of hispassion. He came straight to her in any company; he never lookedat anybody else. The young girls to whom she introduced him boredhim, he was rude to them. To her own daughter Nina, seventeenyears old, his attitude was almost paternal; he ignored Ward as iftheir friendship had never been. Toward Richard Carter, who waspleasantly hospitable toward the lad, he showed an icy andtrembling politeness. 

Isabelle saw now that she had made a mistake. She should havekilled this affair at the very beginning. Tony was not like theolder men, willing to play the game with just a little scorchingof fingers. Appearances meant nothing to Tony, and she had let theplay go too far now to convince him that she did not returnsomething of his feeling. 

Indeed, to her own amazement, his fire kindled fire in return. When he was not at Crownlands she could laugh at him, even thoughher thoughts were full of him. But when he was there, life to herwas more radiant, more full, more glowing with colour andfragrance. The books he touched, the chair he had at breakfast, his young, lithe body in its golfing knickerbockers, or his sleekblack head above the dull black of evening wear, haunted heroddly. He troubled her, but she had neither quite the power norquite the desire to banish him. 

She looked down at him now, content to be alone with her and ather feet, and a hundred mixed emotions stirred her. His feelingfor her was not only pitiable and absurd in him, but it wasrapidly reaching the point when it would make her absurd andpitiable, too. Nina, instinctively scenting the affair, hadalready expressed herself as "hating that idiot"; Ward hadscowled, of late, at the mere mention of Tony's name. Even herhusband, the patient Richard, seeing the youth ensconce himselffirmly beside her in the limousine, had had aside his mildcomment: "Is this young man a fixture in our family, dear?"

"You should be playing tennis, Tony, " said Isabelle. 

"Tennis!" He laughed; there was a slight movement of his broadshoulders. 

"I think Miss Betty Allen was a little disappointed, " the womanpursued. A look of distaste crossed Anthony's face. 

"Please--CHERIE!" he begged. 

There was a silence brimming with sweetness and colour. Tony laidhis hand against her knee, groped until her own warm, smoothfingers were in his own. 

"Does Mr. Carter play golf to-morrow?" he asked, presently. 

"I suppose so!"

"And you--what do you do?"

"Oh, I have a full day! People to lunch, friends of Madame Carter-"

The boy laughed triumphantly. 

"I knew you'd say that!" he said. "Now, I'll tell YOU about to-morrow. You and I are going to slip away, at about one o'clock, and go off in the gray car. We'll go up to--well, somewhere, andwe'll have our lunch under the trees. I'll have Hansen pack ussomething at the club. We'll be back at about four, for the teacallers, and they may have you until I come back for dinner. Afterdinner we'll walk on the terrace--as we did two wonderful, wonderful nights ago, and perhaps--" His voice had fallen to arich and tender note, his eyes were rapt. "Perhaps, " he said, "just before we go in, at the end of the terrace, you'll look upat the stars again--"

"Tony!" Isabelle interrupted, her face brilliant with colour. "Mydear boy--my dear boy, listen to me--"

"Well?" he asked, looking up, as she paused. 

"My dear, " she said, with difficulty, "think where this is goingto end. "

He jerked his head impatiently. 

"Oh, if you are going to begin THAT again!"

"My dear, I have to begin that again! In all reason--in allREASON----"

"Isabelle, what in God's name has reason to do with it!" He kneltbefore her, and caught her hands, and Isabelle had a terrifiedfear that Ward, or Nina, or any one else, might start up or downthe terrace steps and see him. "The instant you realize what youand I are to each other, my darling, " he said, "you begin to talkof reason. Love isn't reason, Cherie. It's the divinest unreasonin the world! Cherie, there's never been another woman for me;there never will be! It's nothing to me that there are obstacles--I love them--I glory in them! I can't live without you; I don'twant to! You're frightened now, you don't know how we can manageit. But I'll find the way. The only thing that matters is that youmust belong to me--you SHALL belong to me--as I to you in everyfibre of my being--"

"Tony--for Heaven's sake--!" Isabelle was in an agony. Somebodywas approaching. He had gotten to his feet, and was gloomilystaring at the river, when Nina Carter, followed by a great whiteRussian hound, came flying down the steps. 

"Mother--" Nina, a tall, overgrown girl, with spectacles on herstraight nose, and straight, light-brown hair in thick braids, stopped short and gave her mother's companion a look of witheringdistaste. "Mother, " she began again, "aren't you coming up fortea? Granny's there, and the others, from tennis, and Mrs. Bellamytelephoned that she's bringing some people over, and there'snobody there but Granny and me!"

Nina was like her New England father, conscientious, serious, gravely condemnatory of the lax and the unconventional. 

"Ask Betty Allen to pour, " said Mrs. Carter, regaining hercomposure rapidly, and assuming the air of hostess at once. 

"Betty went home for a tub, " Nina explained. "She's coming back. But, Mother, " she added, with a faintly reproachful and whiningintonation, "really, you ought to be there--"

Mrs. Carter knew this as well as Nina. But she found the childextremely trying in this puritanical mood. Granting that thisaffair with Tony did her, Isabelle, small credit, at least it wasnot for Nina to sit in judgment. Rebellious, Isabelle fondled theloving nose of the hound with a small, brown, jewelled hand, andglanced dubiously at Tony's uncompromising back. 

"Trot back, Nina love, " said she to her daughter, cheerfully, "andask Miss Harriet to come out and pour. I'll be there directly. We'll come right up. Run along!"

To Nina, in this ignominious dismissal, there was sweet. Sheadored "Miss Harriet, " the Miss Field who had been her governessand her mother's secretary for the three happiest years of Nina'ssomewhat sealed young life. It would be "fun" to have Miss Fieldpour. Nina leaped obediently up the steps, with a flopping ofthick braids and the scrape of sturdy shoes, and the sweet summerworld was in silence again. 

Isabelle sat on, stroking the hound, her soul filled withperplexity. The shadows were lengthening, the shafts of sunlightmore bold and clear. The hound, surprised at the silence, whinedfaintly. 

"I wish it might have been Nina!" Isabelle said. Anthony'seloquent back gave her sudden understanding of his fury. She gotup, and went noiselessly toward him, and she felt a shudder shakehim as she slipped her hand into his arm. "Ah, please, Tony, " shepleaded, "what can I do?"

"Nothing!" he answered, suddenly pliant. "Nothing, of course. " Andhe turned to her a boyish face stern with pain. "Of course you cando nothing, Cherie. I'm not such a--such a FOOL--"his voice brokeangrily--"that I can't see that! Come on, we'll go up and havetea--with the Bellamys. And I--I'll be going to-night. I'll saygood-bye to you now--and perhaps you'll be good enough to make mygood-byes to the others--"

The youthfulness of it did not rob it of real dignity. Isabelle, wretchedly mounting the steps beside him, felt her heart contractwith real pain. He would go away--it would all be over andforgotten in a few weeks--and yet, how she longed to comfort him, to make him happy again!

She looked obliquely at his set face, and what she saw there madeher feel ashamed. 

 On the bright level of the upper terrace tea was merrily inprogress. In the streaming afternoon light the scene wasstrikingly cheerful and pretty: the wide wicker chairs with theirgay cretonne cushions, the over-shadowing green trees in heavyleaf, the women's many-coloured gowns and the men's cool whitesand grays. On the broad white balustrade Isabelle's great peacockwas standing, with his tail fanned to its amazing breadth; twomaids, in their crisp black and white, were coming and going withsilver and china on their trays. 

Miss Field had duly come down to preside, and all was well. Isabelle, as she dropped into a chair, gave a sigh of relief;everyone was amused and absorbed and happy. Everyone, that is, except the magnificent and sharp-eyed old lady who sat, regallythroned, near her, and favoured her immediately with adissatisfied look. Old Madame Carter had her own good reasons forbeing angry, and she never spared any one available from aparticipation in her mood. 

She was remarkably handsome, even at seventy-five; with a crown ofpuffed white hair, gold-rimmed eyeglasses, and an erect and finelypreserved figure. Her silk gown flowed over her knees, and formeda rich fold about her shining slippers; a wide lace scarf wasabout her shoulders, and she wore an old-fashioned watchchain ofheavy braided gold, and a great many handsome pins and rings. Hervoice was theatrically deep and clear, and her manner vigorous andimpressive. 

"Well, my dear, your friends were naturally wondering whatimportant matter kept their hostess away from her guests, " shebegan. Isabelle had not been her daughter-in-law for more thantwenty years for nothing. She shrugged and smiled carelessly, withan indifferent glance at the group. Ward's friends, the tennis-players, and old Doctor and Mrs. Potter and their niece, from nextdoor. Nobody here of any especial importance!

"Harriet is managing very nicely, " Isabelle said, contentedly, asTony, with a sombre face and averted eyes, brought her her tea. 

"So Ward seems to think, " observed Ward's grandmother withacidity. Isabelle laughed indifferently. Her son, slender andtall, and with something of her own eagerness and fire in hissunburned young face, was beside Miss Field, who talked to him ina quiet aside while she busied herself with cups and spoons. 

"Perfectly safe there!" Isabelle said. 

"I should hope so!" old Madame Carter remarked, pointedly. "Atleast if there's any of OUR blood in his veins--but of course he'sall Slocum. They used to say of my Aunt Georgina that she nevermarried because the only man she ever loved was beneath hersocially--"

Isabelle knew all about Aunt Georgina, and she looked wearilyaway. Tony, sighing elaborately, drew upon himself the old lady'sfire. 

"Why don't you go over and join the young people, Mr. Pope?" sheasked, pleasantly. "Isabelle and I can manage very well without acavalier. You're tired, Isabelle--I can always tell it. Be gladthat you're too young to know what that means, Mr. Pope. Go overthere--there's a chair next to Nina. What shall we suspect him of, Isabelle--a quarrel with pretty Miss Allen?--if he avoids theyoung people, and looks like such a thunder-cloud. "

Isabelle sighed patiently. 

"The Bellamys are coming in for awhile, " she observed, withdeliberate irrelevance, "and I hope they'll bring their Swami--orwhatever he is, with them. He must be a queer creature. "

"He's not a Swami, he's an artist, " Tony said, drawn into a casualconversation much against his will. "Blondin--I've met him. He hasa studio up on Fifty-ninth Street--goes in for poetry and musicalinterpretations and I don't know what else. Now I believe it'sIndian philosophies--I can't bear him, he makes me sick!"

He relapsed into gloomy silence, and Isabelle put into her laughsomething affectionate and soothing. 

"He evidently lives by his wits, " she suggested, "which issomething you have never had to do!"

Tony scowled again. It was part of his charm for her that he wasthe spoiled darling of fortune. Handsome and young, and with nofamily ties to restrain him, he had recently come into his ownenormous fortune. Isabelle knew that his New York apartment wasfit for a prince, that his man servant was perfection, that he hadhis own pet affectations in the matter of monogrammed linen, Italian stationery, and specially designed speed cars. His mannerwith servants, his ready check book, his easy French, and hisunruffled self-confidence in any imaginable contingency, coupledwith his youth, had strong attraction for a woman conscious of thefinancial restrictions of her own early years and the limitationsof her public school education. 

"Why don't you go to the club and dress now, and come back anddine with us?" she said, in an undertone. 

"Do you want me?" he asked, sulkily. 

"I'm ASKING you!"

For answer he stood up, and smiled wistfully down upon her, with ahesitancy she knew well how to interpret in his eyes. She shouldnot have asked him to dinner; he should not accept her invitation. Yet he had been longing so thirstily for just that permission, andshe had been yearning so to give it! Happiness came back into boththeir hearts as he turned to go, and she gave him just a quicktouch of a warm little hand in farewell. At such a moment, whenher mood of heroism gave way to melting, Isabelle had a desperatesort of hope that one more concession would not alter theinevitable parting, whenever it came. This time--and this time--and this time--must positively be the last. 

Other guests had come in, and Miss Field was extremely busy, andWard, helping her officially, was busy, too. She had indeedoffered her place to Isabelle, but Isabelle, spurred by hermother-in-law's criticism, would not have disturbed her secretaryfor any consideration now. 

"No, no--stay where you are, my dear!" she had said. And MissField remained. 

"Fun to have you down here!" said Ward, in her ear. 

Harriet Field had an aside with a maid regarding hot water. Thenshe gave Ward an indulgent, an older-sisterly glance. He was inyears almost twenty-two, but at twenty-seven the young woman felthim ages her junior. Ward was broad and fair, his light brown hairwas somewhat tumbled about from the tennis; his fine, strong youngthroat showed brown where the loose collar turned back. Even inhis flat tennis shoes he stood a clear two inches above MissField, although she was not a small woman by any means. He was ajoyous, irresponsible boy, and he and his mother's secretary hadalways been good friends since the day, four years ago now, whenthe silent, somewhat grave Harriet Field had first made herappearance in the family. Ward was so much a child in those daysthat Harriet used to go with him to pick out suits and shirts, andto buy matinee seats for him and his school friends, and theylaughed now to remember his favourite and invariable luncheonorder of potato salad and French pastries. Nina had had a nursethen, and Harriet practised French with both the boy and girl, butnow the nurse was gone, and Ward could buy his own clothes, andNina went to a finishing school. So Miss Field had made herselfuseful in new ways; she was quite indispensable now. The youngpeople loved her; Richard Carter occasionally said to his wife, "Very clever--very pretty girl!" which was perhaps as close as heever got to any domestic matter, and Isabelle confided to heralmost all her duties and cares. She patronized Harriet prettily, and told her that she was too pretty to be getting up to thethirties without a fiance, but Harriet only smiled her inscrutablesmile, and made no confidences on the subject of admirers. Nina, insatiably curious, had gathered no more than that Miss Harriet'sfather had been a college professor of languages, and that heronly relative was a married sister, much older, who had fourchildren, and lived in New Jersey. 

She was a master of the art of keeping silent, this young woman, and but for her beauty she might have been as inconspicuous as shesincerely tried to be. But her simple gowns and her plainly massedhair only served to emphasize the extraordinary distinction of herappearance, and her utmost effort to obliterate herself could notquite keep her from notice. Men raised their eyebrows, with asignificant puckering of the lips, when she slipped quietlythrough the halls; and women narrowed their eyes, and lookedquestioningly at one another. Isabelle, who was far too securelythroned to be jealous of any one, sometimes told her that shewould make a fortune on the stage, but old Mrs. Carter, who forreasons perfectly comprehensible in an old lady who had once beenhandsome herself, detested Harriet, and said to her daughter-in-law that in her opinion there was something queer about the girl. 

There was nothing queer in her aspect to-day, at all events, asshe demurely performed her duties at the tea table. To theoccasional pleasant and surprised "Hello, Miss Field!" shereturned a composed and unsmiling nod of greeting; for the rest, she poured and sweetened, and conferred with the maids, in amanner entirely businesslike. 

She was of that always-arresting type that combines a warm duskyskin with blue eyes and fair hair. The eyes, in her case, were asoft smoky blue, set in thick and inky black lashes, and the hairwas brassy gold, banded carelessly but trimly about her ratherbroad forehead. Her mouth was wide, deep crimson, thin-lipped; ithad humorous possibilities all its own, and Nina and Ward thoughther never so fascinating as when she developed them; it was amouth of secrets and of mystery, of character, a mouth that hadknown the trembling of pain and grief, perhaps, but a firm mouthnow, and a beautiful one. 

And in the broad forehead and the cheek-bones, just a shade high, and the clearly pencilled brows and the clean modelling of thestraight young chin, there was a certain openness and firmness, afortuitous blending of form and proportion that would have madethe head a perfect model for a coin, a wonderful study in pastels. Looking at her, an artist would have fancied her a bold andcharming and boyish-looking little girl, fifteen years ago, withthat Greek chin and that tawny mane; would have seen her sexlessand splendid in her early teens, with a flat breast and an untamedeye. And a romancer might have wondered what paths had led her, inthe superb realization of her beautiful womanhood, at twenty-seven, to this subordinate position in the home of a self-maderich man, and this conventional tea table on a terrace over theHudson. The smoky blue eyes to-day were full of an idle content;the rounded breast rose and fell quietly under the plain checkedgown with its transparent frills at wrists and throat. Harriet mayhave had her moments of rebellion, but this was not one of them. She had been here for four years; she had held more difficult andless well-paid positions for the four years before that; she hadknown fatigue and ingratitude, and snubs and injustices, as everybusiness woman, especially in secretarial work, must know them, and she had no quarrel with this particular occasion. Indeed, Nina's open adoration, Ward's pointed attentions, and Isabelle'sgraciousness were making her feel particularly cheerful, and morethan offset the old lady's disapproval, which was always morestimulating than otherwise to Harriet. 

"Nearly half-past five, Nina, " she said, presently. "Go and changeand brush, that's a darling! You look rather tumbled. "

Nina, reaching for a marron, obediently wandered away, andimmediately the empty chair beside Harriet was taken by anewcomer, Richard Carter himself, the owner of all this smilingestate, who had come up from the little launch at the landing, hadchanged hastily into white flannels, Harriet saw at a glance, andhad unexpectedly joined them for tea. His usual programme was togo off immediately for golf, and to make his first appearance inthe family at dinner-time, but perhaps it had been unusuallytiring in the city to-day--he looked pale and tired, and as ifsome of the grime of the sun-baked streets clung about him still. 

"Tea, Mr. Carter?" Harriet ventured. 

He was watching his wife with a sort of idle interest. She had torepeat her invitation. 

"If you please, Miss Field! Tea sounded right, somehow, to me to-day. It's been a terrible day!"

"I can imagine it!" Harriet's voice was pleasantly commonplace. But the moment had its thrill for her. This lean, tall, tired man, with his abstract manner, his perfunctory courtesies, his nervous, clever hands, loomed in oddly heroic proportions in Harriet'slife. His face was keen and somewhat lined under a smooth crest ofslightly graying hair; he smiled very rarely, but there was acertain kindliness in his gray eyes, when Nina or Ward or his wifeturned to him, that Harriet liked. He came and went quietly, absorbed in his business, getting in and out of his cars with amurmur to his chauffeur, disappearing with his golf sticks, presiding almost silently over his own animated dinner table. Hewas always well groomed, well dressed without being in the leastconspicuous; always more or less tired when she saw him. In theevenings he smoked, listened to music, went early to bed. But henever failed to visit his mother, or pay her some little definiteattention when she was with them; and when Madame Carter was inher New York apartment he called on her nearly every day. 

For Harriet he had hardly a dozen words a year. He merely smiledkindly when she thanked him for the Christmas gift that bore hisuntouched card; if she went to her sister for a day or two, hegave her only a nod of greeting when she came back. Sometimes hethanked her for a small favour, briefly and indifferently; now andthen asked with sharp interest about Nina's teeth or his mother'sheadache. 

But Harriet had known other types of men, and for his verysilences, for his indifference, for his loyalty to his own women, she had begun to admire him long ago. She had not been born inthis atmosphere of pleasure and ease and riches; she was notentirely unfitted to judge a man. There was not much to awakenrespect in the men she met at Crownlands, still less in the women. She liked Ward for his artless boyishness; forgave Anthony Popemuch because he was straight and clean and self-respecting; butthere were plenty of other men, spoiled and selfish, weak andstupid; men who amused and flattered Isabelle Carter perhaps, butamong whom her husband loomed a very giant. Harriet had watchedRichard Carter with a keenness of which she was hardly consciousherself, ready to detect the flaw, the weakness in his character, but she never found it, and after awhile she became his silentchampion, his secret ally in all domestic matters, quick to seethat his mail and his telephone messages were sacred, that hismeals never were late, and that any small request, such as the useof the study for some unexpected conference, or the speedy sendingof a telegram, was promptly granted. 

Isabelle was always breezily civil to her husband; he had long agovanished as completely from among the vital elements of her lifeas if he were dead, perhaps more than if he were dead. Shethought--if she thought about him at all--that he never saw herlittle affairs; she supposed him perfectly satisfied with his homeand children and club and business, and incidentally with hisbeautiful figurehead of a wife. They had quarrelled distressingly, several years ago, when he had bored her with references to her"duty, " and her influence over Nina, and her obligations to hertrue self. But that had all stopped long since, and now Isabellewas free to sleep late, to dress at leisure, to make whatengagements she pleased, to see the persons who interested her. Richard never interfered; never was there a more perfectlydiscreet and generous husband. Half the women Isabelle knew wereattempting to live exactly as she did, to cultivate "suitors, " anddrift about in an atmosphere of new gowns and adulation andorchids and softly lighted drawing rooms, and incessant playingwith fire; it was the accepted thing, in Isabelle's circle, andthat she was more successful in it than other women was not at allto her discredit. 

Even Harriet, who was in her secrets, who saw maid and masseuseand hair-dresser in desperate defence of Isabelle's beauty everymorning, who knew just what scenes there were over gowns andcosmetics, and the tilt of hats--even Harriet admired her. 

"Why not?" said Harriet sometimes to her sister, when she went tovisit Linda, and the subject of the beautiful Mrs. Carter wasunder discussion. "She has a boy and a girl, her house runsperfectly, her husband adores her--"

"Oh, he CAN'T adore her, Harriet!" Linda would protest. "No mancould adore that sort of--of shallowness, and selfishness, andvanity--"

"Well, I assure you he does! I think that sort of thing keeps aman admiring a woman, " the younger sister would maintain, airily. "He sees her looking like a picture all the time, he sees othermen crazy about her--"

"Too much money!" Linda usually summarized, disapprovingly. Butthis was always fuel to Harriet's flame. 

"Too much money? You CAN'T have too much money! I've seen bothsides-don't ever say that to me! There's nothing in this WORLD butmoney, right down at the bottom. If you haven't any, you can'tlive, and the more you have the more decently and prettily--yes, and generously, too--you can live! Look at Madame Carter, she wasdoing her own work when she was my age--not that she ever mentionsthat, now! Can you tell me that she isn't a thousand times happiernow, with her maids and her car and her dresses? And money did it--and if you and Fred had two thousand, or twenty thousand, amonth, instead of two hundred, do you mean to tell me your liveswouldn't be fuller, and richer, and happier? You shake your head, Linda, but that's just to make me furious, for you know it's true!I admire Mrs. Carter, and I assure you that if ever I do marry--which as you know I won't--you may be very sure that money is thefirst thing I shall think about!"

It was their only ground for real dissension. Harriet usually wasready to laugh and forget it almost instantly; but Linda, who wasdeeply spiritual, never ceased to pray that all the dangers oflife at Crownlands would pass safely over the little sister'sbeloved head, and that some real man, "like Fred, " would winHarriet's turbulent and restless heart, after all. 

CHAPTER II

Madame Carter, gathering her draperies about her, was one of thefirst to leave the terrace. Dressing for dinner was a slow andserious business for her. She gave Harriet a cold, appraisingglance as she passed her; Richard Carter had risen to escort hismother, but she delayed him for a moment. 

"Miss Nina gone in, Miss Field?"

Harriet, whose manner with all old persons was the essence ofscrupulous formality, rose at once to her feet. 

"Nina has gone to change her dress, Madame Carter. "

"She took it upon herself to ask you to help us out thisafternoon?" the old lady added, with the sort of gracious crueltyof which she was mistress. Richard Carter gave his daughter'scompanion a look that asked indulgence. Harriet coloured brightly, fixing her eyes upon his mother. 

"Nina brought me a message from her mother, Madame Carter. "

"Miss Nina did?" Madame Carter amended the title as if absently. "Mrs. Carter, " she added, with a glance toward the near-by groupin whose centre they could see the cream-coloured gown with itspink poppies, "told me that she was surprised to see that you had--had stepped into the breach so nicely--" Her son's reproachfulglance had the effect of interrupting her, and she turned to him. "Well, I am saying that it was very nice of Miss Field, Richard, "she protested. "I am sure there is no harm in my saying that, mydear!"

Harriet said nothing, and resumed her seat as the old lady rustledslowly away. Her heart was hot with fury, and she was only partlysoothed by hearing Richard Carter's murmur of reproach: "How canyou be so perverse, Mother--"

"Of all the detestable, horrible, maddening--" Harriet thought, splashing hot water and clattering tea-cups. "Who's coming?" sheadded aloud in an undertone to Ward, as one more motor swept aboutthe carriage drive. 

"What is it, Beautiful?" Ward laughed. Harriet's glorious eyeswidened into smiling warning. His open and boyish admiration was asort of joke between them. Yet in this second, as he craned hisneck to get a glimpse of the approaching guests, a sudden thoughtwas born in her. Honour had compelled her to a generous policywith Ward. She had held his admiration firmly in check, she hadmaintained a big-sister attitude that was as wholesome for herselfas for him. 

But here, she thought with sudden satisfaction, might be heranswer to his grandmother's snubs, might be the realization of herown ambition, after all. Ward was but four years her junior, andWard would be Richard Carter's heir. 

No, that was nonsense, of course. And yet she played with thethought amusedly, enjoying the vision of the old lady's anger andconfusion, and of the world's amazement at the masterly move ofthe quiet secretary. Richard would be generous, thought Harrietidly, Isabelle philosophical and indifferent, but how old MadameCarter would writhe!

"It's the Bellamys and their crowd, " said Ward, watching theapproach of newcomers. "Look at that man with them, that fellowwith the hair--that's Blondin! That's the man I was telling youabout the other night, the man whose name I couldn't remember!"

"WHO?"

Harriet did not know whether she said it or screamed it. She lostall consciousness of her surroundings and her neighbours for a fewterrible seconds; her mouth was dry, her throat constricted, and ahideous weakness ran like nausea through her entire body. Thebrilliant terrace swam in a mass of mingled colours before hereyes; the casual, happy chatter about her was brassy andunintelligible. The hand with which she touched the sugar tongswas icy cold, a pain split her forehead, and she felt suddenlytired and broken. She sat perfectly still, like a trembling littlemouse in a trap, the colour drained from her face, her breastrising and falling as if she had been running. 

Ward had gone across to greet the Bellamys; Harriet fixed her eyeswith a sort of fascination upon the man to whom she presently sawhim talking. Almost everyone else in the group was looking at him, too; Royal Blondin was used to it; one of his favouriteaffectations was an apparent unconsciousness of being observed. 

He talked to everyone, to children, to great persons and small, with the same air of intense concentration with which he was nowhonouring Ward. Well over six feet in height, he had dropped hisleonine head, with its thick locks of dark hair, a little on oneside; his mobile, thin lips were set, and his piercing eyessearched the boy's face with a sort of passionate attention. 

His figure was one to challenge attention anywhere. He wore aloosely cut suit of pongee silk, the collar of the shirt flowingopen, and a blue scarf knotted at the throat. On one of his longdark hands there was a blazing sapphire ring, and about his wide-brimmed Panama hat the folded silk was of the same colour. Harrietcould catch the intonations of his voice, a deep and musicalvoice, which turned the trifles they were discussing into mattersof sudden import and beauty. 

Introductions were in order, everyone wanted to meet the Bellamys'friend, and Harriet saw that it pleased him, for some inscrutablereason, to continue his ridiculous conversation with the flatteredWard, and to accept names and greetings absently, in an aside, asit were, smiling perfunctorily and briefly at the eager girls andwomen, and returning immediately to his concerned and passionateundertones with the boy. 

Isabelle fluttered forward, to fare a little more fortunately. Ward dropped into the background now, and his beautiful littlemother stood in a full sunset flood of light, with her small handin that of the lion, and the cream and black hat, with its pinkroses, close to the drooping, reverential head. 

It was Isabelle who brought him to the tea table. Harriet hadfelt, with a sure premonition of disaster, that it must be. Shemight not escape, there was nothing for it but courage, now. Herbreath was behaving badly, and the muscles contracted in herthroat, but she managed a smile. 

"And this is Miss Field, Mr. Blondin, " said Isabella. "She willgive you some tea!"

"Miss Field, " said Royal Blondin, and his dark hand came acrossthe tea-cups. Harriet, as his thin mouth twitched with just thehint of a smile, looked straight into his eyes, and she knew hewas as frightened as she. But from neither was there a visiblesign of consternation. "No tea, " the man said, making of thedecision a splendid and significant renunciation. "Nothing--nothing!"

"He only eats about once a month, and then it's dates and hay andcamel's milk and carrots!" Ward was beginning. Royal Blondin gavehim a look, deeply amused and affectionate. 

"Not quite so bad, Laddie!" he protested, mildly. 

"We might manage the dates, " Isabelle smiled. Harriet had notspoken because she was quite unable to command her voice. But shegained it now to say in an undertone:

"I think I shall have to go in, Mrs. Carter. I promised Nina somehelp with her Spanish. I wonder--"

"You speak Spanish, Miss Field?" said Royal Blondin, in Spanish. 

This was an invitation to Ward to burst into involved sentences inthe tongue; Royal Blondin turned to him seriously. The rest of thecompany might be bored or not, as they pleased, but he was onlyinterested in testing the boy's accent and vocabulary. As a matterof fact, everyone laughed and listened, perfectly appreciatingWard's mad ventures and the other man's liquid and easyassistance. A few seconds later Harriet Field slipped from herplace, crossed the terrace with her heart beating sick and fastwith fright, and made her escape. 

She ran up the awninged steps that led to the square great hall, and ascertained with relief that it was empty. On all sides widedoorways gave her perspectives: the drawing rooms, in theirbrilliant summer covers; the porches, with wicker tables andchairs; the music room; the breakfast room all cheerful green andwhite; the library, in cool north shadow; and the dining room, long and dark and dignified, where maids were already movingnoiselessly about the business of dinner. Here in the hall was thepleasant shade and coolness, the subtle drifting scent of earlysummer flowers, space, and the simplicity of dark polished floorsand sombre rugs. The whole house seemed empty, lovely, silent, after the confusion of the terrace and the heat of the summer day. 

Harriet mounted the stairs, threaded the familiar, pleasanthallways above. She and Nina had a luxurious suite on the secondfloor, shut off from the rest of the house by a single door, andrather remotely placed in a wing that commanded a superb view ofthe river. There were guest rooms on this floor, Richard Carter'sroom and his wife's beautiful rooms, and there was an upstairssitting room. But Madame Carter and her grandson and his friendshad their rooms on the third floor, the old lady demanding a quietand isolation that her daughter-in-law's proximity did not favour. 

Nina, half-dressed, was sprawling luxuriously on her bed whenHarriet came in. The three rooms of their suite were joined bydoors almost always open; they were small rooms, but to both theyoung women they had always seemed entirely satisfactory. Just nowthey were in shade, but outside the windows the blue riverglittered, and the fresh, heavy foliage of the trees moved softly, and inside was every charm of furnishing, of brilliant flowereddraperies, and of exquisite order. There was a business-like heapof mail on Harriet's big desk; there were flowers everywhere; fan-tailed Japanese gold fish moved languidly about in a tall bowl ofclear glass, and Nina's emerald-green parrot walked upon his gailypainted perch, and muttered in a significant and chucklingundertone. Glass doors were open upon a square porch, and thesweet afternoon air stirred the crisp, transparent curtains. 

Harriet shut the door, and leaned against it, and the world spunabout her. What now? What now? What now? hammered her heart. Ninatossed aside her magazine, and regarded her with affectionatereproach. 

"You ran upstairs!" she said. "I'm lying on your bed because Maudehad the laundry all over mine. Are you going to lie down?"

"No, my dear!" said Harriet, in an odd, breathy whisper. 

"You DID run upstairs!" murmured Nina. She sat up, and put herbare feet on the floor, groping for slippers, and yawned, with ared face. "What time is it?"

"It's--" Harriet shook back the ruffle at her wrist, twisted herarm slightly, and looked blindly down. 

"Well?" said Nina, when she dropped her hand. But Harriet, smilingat her blankly, had to look again. 

"Six, dear--almost. Brush your hair, and get into something, andwe'll have half an hour before dinner comes up. I must bedownstairs for awhile to-night, I want to see just how the newcook sends dinner in Your mother wasn't at all satisfied withluncheon yesterday. I don't know why this comes to me, " she added, busy with her mail in the little sitting room. "Something yourfather ordered through the club. I'll send that to Mr. Fox. Here'sthe bill for your two hats--Miss Nina Carter, by Miss Field. "

"What was the blue one?" asked Nina in the doorway, from a cloudof hair. 

"The-blue-one, " Harriet said, absently, "was forty-five dollars. Not bad for a smart little English hat with a little curled cockfeather on it, was it? It's quite the nicest you've ever had, Ithink. " What now?--What now? hammered her heart. 

"Granny paid three times that for that brown hat last winter, "observed Nina. 

"I know she did, and it was absolutely an unsuitable hat, and yourmother wouldn't let you wear it, " Harriet said, mildly. "You are atype, my dear. You must dress for that type. "

Nina looked pleased. She was at an age when all girls are vain. Few people noticed the appearance of the young heiress of RichardCarter, except perhaps with kindly pity, but it was part of MissField's duty to make the best of it, and Nina was grateful. 

"I'll wear it to Francesca's tea!" she said, of the blue hat. Thesocial bow of a young neighbour, a little older than Nina, was tobe made in a few days' time, at a garden party, and Nina wasabsorbed in the exciting prospect of assisting formally. 

"No, it's not full dress, " Harriet told her. "You'll have to wearthe white mull, and the white hat, and look very girly-girly. "

"My eye-glasses make me look like a school-teacher playing baby, "Nina said, gloomily. Harriet laughed, dazed, but not ungrateful tofind that she could laugh and speak at all. 

"He's come back!" she said in her heart. "My darling child, youaren't going to wear your glasses!" she assured Nina, aloud. "Notif you have to have a dog and a cane! Not if you fall into thefountain!"

"I shall be scared stiff!" Nina grumbled, coming out with herSpanish books. Harriet, distracted for a moment, came to lean overher shoulder, and the terror of half an hour ago began to floodher soul and mind again. She went out to the porch, and lookeddown into the clear shade of the early twilight, under the trees. The terrace was deserted; every sign of the tea-party hadvanished, not a crumb marred the order of the grass-grown bricks. The chairs held formal attitudes, the table was empty. All themotor-cars were gone from the drive. She turned back into theroom, breathing more easily. 

At half-past seven she came up from a little diplomatic adjustingin the service end of the house, to peep at Nina, who was readingin bed, and to go on to Isabelle's room. If Mrs. Carter was alone, she liked to see Harriet then, to be sure of any last message, orto discuss any domestic plan. 

Harriet found her, exquisite in twinkling black spangles, beforeher mirror. Isabelle's hair was dressed in dark and shining wavesand scallops, netted invisibly, set with brilliant pins. There wasnot an inch of her whole beautiful little person that would nothave survived a critical inspection. Her skin, her white throat, her arms and hands and fingernails, her waist and ankles and herpretty feet, were all absolute perfection. The illusion thatveiled her slender arms stood at crisp angles; the silk stockingsshowed a warm skin tint through their thinness; her lower eyelidshad been skillfully darkened, her cheeks delicately rouged, andher lips touched with carmine; her brows had been clipped andtrained and pencilled, her lashes brushed with liquid dye, andwhat fragrant powders and perfumes could add, had been added ingenerous measure. She wore diamonds on her fingers, in her ears, and about her throat, and her gown was held at her full smoothbreast by a platinum bar that bore a double line of magnificentstones. Harriet always thought her handsome; to-night she had toadmit that her employer was truly beautiful. 

Mrs. Carter was in a pleasant mood; she had a good disposition, and there was nothing in her life now to ruffle it. She liked herbright, luxurious dressing room, and the progress of her toilettewas soothing and restful. Her maid had been busy with her fornearly two hours. The air was warm and fragrant, the prospect ofdinner, with its eagerly attendant Tony, rather stirred her, andthe mirror had everything delightful to say. Like all women offorty, Isabelle liked the night, tempered lights and becomingsettings, and the dignity of formal entertaining. Last but notleast, she had a new toy to-night, a great black fan of uncurledwild ostrich plumes whose tumbled beauty she waved about herslowly as Harriet came in, watching the effect in the mirror withintense satisfaction. 

"Oh, pretty--pretty!" Harriet said, seeing it. 

"Isn't it ducky? Anthony Pope just sent it to me--the dear boy. Idon't know where he picks things up, or how he knows what'sright. " Mrs. Carter half-closed the fan, and laid it against herbare shoulder, and looked at it with tipped head and half-closedeyes. 

"Did you see What's-His-Name?" she asked. 

Harriet understood the allusion to the new chef. 

"I've just been down there, " she said. "Everything seems to be allright, and looks delicious!"

"That's nice of you, Harriet, " Isabelle said. The kitchen was notstrictly Harriet's responsibility, but Mrs. Carter had been makingchanges there of late, and the girl's interest and interferencewere invaluable. She laid down the fan, and pushed a silver casetoward her secretary, at the same time helping herself to acigarette. But Harriet shook her head. 

"You're very clever, you know, " Isabelle smiled, through a cloudof pale smoke. "You're always in character, Harriet!"

Harriet smiled her inscrutable smile; there was just thesuggestion of a shrug. She had her own cigarette-case, and notinfrequently used it in Isabelle's presence. But at this hour, when Richard or Ward or Nina, or even Madame Carter, might comein, she felt any familiarity unsuitable. Isabelle, the leastaffected of women, for all her spoiling and vanity, perfectlyappreciated this, and liked Harriet for it. 

"You amuse me, " said Isabelle, making a long arm to brush away theash from her cigarette, "playing your part so discreetly. Yourneat little old-maidy silks--"

"Is it old-maidy?" Harriet asked, mildly, glancing down at thesevere blue cross-barred gown she wore, and straightening atransparent cuff. 

"Not on you!" Isabella assured her. But her thoughts never leftherself long, and presently she discontentedly introduced herfavourite topic: "I could have been a business woman, " sheannounced, thoughtfully, "my father wouldn't hear of it, ofcourse. We had no money!"

"We had no money, and no father, " Harriet observed. "So I had nochoice. At eighteen I had to make my own way. "

"At eighteen I jumped into marriage, " the older woman said, stillwith a reminiscent resentment in her tone. "Mr. Carter had hismother to support, of course. We thought we were pretty recklessto pay sixty dollars rent. He was only twenty, he was getting whatwas supposed to be an enormous salary then. Heavens--it seemsthousands of years ago!"

Harriet, who had imagination, could see it. The little brilliantwife, insisting upon the fashionable apartment, worrying over theextravagances of the one maid. The man eager only to push on, tomore money, more responsibility, wider fields, to make to-day'sextravagance to-morrow's reasonable expenditure. 

Isabelle picked up the fan again, and gave her brilliantpresentment in the mirror a complacent glance. 

"Is Mr. Pope's apartment attractive?" Harriet, who knew where herthoughts were, asked idly. The older woman heard her perfectly, but she affected indifference. 

"Is--I didn't hear you. Oh--Mr. Pope's apartment. My dear, it isperfection--absolutely. I have never seen anything so beautiful, and so beautifully managed. And all by that boy. He has twocoloured women and the man--just a perfect menage. And they adorehim. Absolutely!" She mused happily, her lips twitching with someamusing memory. Then she became businesslike. "Harriet, do you goto the city this week?"

"Nina and the girls are to see Ruth St. Denis on Friday, " Harrietsaid. "I thought Madame Carter would take them, but now she saysno. But if Nina stays with her grandmother overnight, I thought Iwould like to see my sister; she hasn't been very well. That canwait, of course. Miss Jay's tea-party is to-morrow; that'sThursday--"

"And that reminds me that Louise Jay telephoned to-day, and askedme if you would take charge of the tea table, " Isabelle said, witha shrewd glance. 

"At Mrs. Jay's house?" Harriet asked, after a second. 

"Yes, at Francesca's tea-party!"

Harriet hesitated, and the colour crept into her smooth cheeks. 

"I wonder why she asked that?"

"Because, in the first place, no one will drink tea, " Isabelle whowas watching her intently said promptly. "In the second, Morganwon't be there, because she says it's a kiddies' tea. I can't bethere, and presumably Mrs. Jay wants to depend on someone. "

"One wonders, " mused Harriet, in a most unpromising tone, "whetherone is asked as a maid, or a guest?"

"In this case, as a mother, " Isabelle was inspired to answer. "Personally, I should very much like it for Nina's sake. But yousuit yourself!"

The tone denied the words; Harriet knew what she was expected todo. She knew that Isabelle would tell Mrs. Jay, in a day or two, that she had simply mentioned it to Miss Field, and Miss Field hadbeen free to act exactly as she pleased. She knew that faintlyannoyed expression on Isabelle's face. 

"I'll be delighted to help!" she said, lifelessly. "A lot of womenand children, " she reflected, "and nobody drinking tea anyway, this weather!"

"I say, Mater, " Ward said from the doorway, with what he fondlybelieved to be an English accent, "I'm no end peckish, what what?Say, Mother, " he added, becoming suddenly serious, "what do youthink of Blondin? Isn't he a corker? Say, listen, are you going toask him to dinner? Do we have to have the whole Bellamy tribe ifwe ask him, Miss Harriet?"

"DON'T spill things and fuss with things, Ward, " his motherprotested plaintively, protecting her bottles and jars from hisbig hands as he sat down. "Yes, dear, we'll have him. I like himbecause he was so enthusiastic about you. He's really quite aperson. "

"Person--you bet he is!" Ward said. "Gosh, he knows everything. You ought to get him started about--oh, I don't know, philosophy, and the way we all are forever getting things we don't want, andmusic--he can beat the box, believe me! He gave talks at thePomeroys' last year--"

Nina, trailing in in a blue wrapper, sat herself upon a chair, wrapped her garments about her, and entered interestedly into theconversation. 

"'The Ethics of the Everyday', " she contributed. "I remember itbecause Adelaide Pomeroy and I used to be in the pantry, eatingthe tea things. And he talked at our school about Tagore. "

"I remember those talks at Lizzie Pomeroy's, " Isabelle said, thoughtfully. "I wish I had gone! I suppose he's got a book out. Will you see if you can get me anything he's written when you'rein town, Harriet? If we're going to have him here--"

She glanced at herself in the glass, where a more primitive woman, in a jungle, would have commenced a slow, solitary dance and song. If the hint of a scornful smile touched the secretary's beautifulmouth, she suppressed it. She had a little notebook in her pocket, and in it she duly entered the name of Royal Blondin. 

"Too much rouge on this side, Mother, " said Ward. Mrs. Carterpicked up a hand-mirror, and studied herself carefully. When shehad powdered and rubbed one cheek, she thoughtfully rouged herlips again, pouting them artfully, while Harriet and the childrenchattered. Nina was full of excited anticipation. Francesca's teato-morrow, and the box-party on Friday, and a new gown for each-Nina fancied herself already a popular and lovely debutante. Harriet imagined that she saw something of a brother's pity inWard's eyes as he watched her. Ward himself looked his best in hisevening black, and several years older than he really was. 

"We're a handsome couple, Miss Harriet, " said Ward, with a glancetoward the door of solid mirror that chanced to reflect them both. "Aren't we, Mother?"

"You're an idiot!" said Nina, scornfully. Harriet laughedmaternally, but in spite of herself her idle dream of theafternoon returned for a second, and she wondered just how thatfaintly supercilious smile of Isabelle's would be affected if shehad her own right, here in this family group, a Carter of theCarters, daughter of the house. And thinking this, her smoky blueeyes met Ward's, and perhaps there was something in them that hehad not seen there before. At all events, she was ashamed to seehim colour suddenly, and become a little incoherent, and to havehim turn to her his full attention, with a sort of boyishclumsiness that was touching in its way. Imaginary or not, thetrifling episode troubled her, and as Madame Carter camemajestically in and the little clock on the dresser pointed to thehour, she said her good-nights, and carried Nina off again. 

Richard Carter's wife and mother differed in no particular morestrikingly than in their attitude toward the toilet artifices theyboth employed so lavishly. The old lady's beauty was even morethan Isabelle's assisted by art, for her snowy-white hair was awig, her teeth not her own, and her eyebrows quite openlymanufactured without one single natural hair to build upon. But itpleased her generation to regard these facts as sacred, and toassume that the secrets of the boudoir were unsuspected. Even Ninanever saw so much as a powder puff in her grandmother's dressingroom, and any compliment upon her hair or complexion Madame Carterreceived with gracious dignity. 

She looked at Ward's departing back, now, and remarked withpointed reproof:

"My son has never seen his mother even in the act of brushing herhair! There are reserves--there are niceties--"

"Where did you have it brushed--down at the shop?" Isabelle asked, laughing. Madame Carter never failed to be staggered by herdaughter-in-law's irreverence, yet she never could quite resistthe criticisms that courted it. 

"For the last few years, I admit, " she conceded with a somewhatshaken dignity, "I admit that I have had recourse to what theycall 'puffs'--you know what I mean? Made of my own hair, ofcourse--"

"Made of your own imagination!" Isabelle amended, in her ownheart. But she only gave the old lady a somewhat disquieting smileas she picked up the tumbled black fan and led the way down todinner. 

CHAPTER III

Nina was duly dressed for the tea-party the next day, and went toshow herself to her mother while Harriet dressed. The young girlreally did look her best in the filmy white with its severelyplain ruffles, and with a wide white hat on her thick, smoothlydressed hair. Miss Field, too, although she was very pale to-day, looked "simply gorgeous, " as Isabelle expressed it, when she sawthem off in the car, although Harriet's gown was not new, and thelittle flowered hat she had crushed down upon her splendid hairhad been Isabelle's own a season ago. Harriet was in no holidaymood; she felt herself in a false position; this was to be one ofthe times when she paid high for all the beauty and luxury of herlife. 

". .. So then when she came to me, " Nina was recounting thereception of some celebrity at school, "of course I was awfullyshy; you know me!" She was suddenly diverted. "But I'm not as shyas I used to be, am I, Miss Harriet?" she asked, confidingly. 

"Not nearly!" Harriet made herself say, encouragingly. 

"Well, then, " Nina resumed, "when she came to me I don't know whatI said--I just said something or other--I can't for the life of meremember what it was! Probably I just said that I had seen her inher last three plays or something like that, anyway--anyway, shesaid to Miss King that she had noticed me, and she said, 'It's anaristocratic face!' Amy Hawkes told me, for a trade last. Thegirls were wild--they were all so crazy to have her notice them, you know, and I thought--I thought of course she'd speak of Luciaor Ethel Benedict or one of those prettier girls; although, " saidNina, with her little air of conscientiousness, "Ethel didn't looka bit pretty that day. Sometimes she does; sometimes she looksperfectly lovely! But that day she looked sort of colourless. 'Aristocratic'!" Nina laughed softly. "Well, I'd rather lookaristocratic than be the prettiest girl in the world, wouldn'tyou?"

Harriet glanced at her with something like pity. This was Nina inher before-the-party mood. Her confidence and complacency wouldall begin to ooze away from her, presently, and the words thatcame so readily to Harriet would refuse to flow at all to any oneelse. She would come home saying that she hated parties becausepeople were all so shallow and uninteresting, and that shecouldn't help what her friends said of her, she just wouldn'tdescend to that sort of nonsense. 

"Here we are!" Harriet rather drily interrupted the flood. Ninagave a startled glance at the lawns and gardens of the Jay mansionalready dotted with awnings and chairs, and sprinkled with thebright gowns of the first arrivals. They were early, and theirhostess, a handsome, heavily built woman with corsets likearmourplate under her exquisite gown, and a blonde bang coveringher forehead, came forward with her daughter to meet them. Francesca was as slight as a willow, with a demurely droopedlittle head and a honeyed little self-possessed manner. 

"Very decent of you, Miss Field!" breathed Mrs. Jay, in a voicelike that of a horn. "You girls run along now--people will becomin' at any minute. I'm going to take Miss Field to the table. Three hundred people comin', " she confided as Harriet followed heracross the lawn, and to the rather quiet corner of the awningedporch where the tea table stood, "and Mist' Jay just sent me amessage that he won't be here until six. My older daughter, Morgan, is stayin' with the Tom Underbills--you know their place--lovely people--Well, now, I'll leave you here, and you just askfor anything you need--"

The matron melted away; Harriet looked after her broad, retreatingback indifferently. Everyone knew Mrs. Jay, a harmless, generous, good-natured and hospitable target for much secret criticism andlaughter. The odd thing was, old Mrs. Carter had sometimes pointedout to the dutifully listening Harriet, that the woman really cameof an excellent family, so that her little affectations, herfondness for the phrases "my older daughter, Morgan, " and "lovelypeople, loads of money, you know them?" were honest enough, intheir way. She would have loaned Harriet any amount of money, thegirl reflected, smouldering, she would have shown her genuinefriendship and generosity in a crisis. But she would not introducepeople to Harriet this afternoon, and in a day or two she wouldsend Harriet a bit of lace, or a dainty waist, as a delicatereminder that the courtesy had been a business one, after all. 

The afternoon was the perfection of summer beauty, and after a fewmoments' solitude Harriet began to feel its spell. She put hercups and spoons in order, and chatted with a hovering maid. Someelderly persons came out and sat near, and were grateful for thequiet and the tea. From the reception line, on the lawn, came sucha brainless confusion of jabbering and chattering as might wellappall the old and nervous. 

And presently the sun came out for Harriet in the arrival of atall, swiftly moving, dark-eyed woman some ten years older thanshe was herself: Mary Putnam, one of the real friends the girl hadgained in the last four years. Young Mrs. Putnam, Harriet used tothink, with a little natural jealousy under her admiration, hadeverything. She was not pretty, but hers was a distinguishedappearance and a lovely face; she had the self-possessed manner ofa woman whose whole life has been given to the social arts; shehad a clever, kindly, silent husband who adored her; her home, hergarden, her clubs and her charities, and finally she had hernursery, where Billy and Betty were rioting through an idealchildhood. 

"Harriet--you dear child!" said the rich and pleased voice, asMary's fine hand crossed the tea table for a welcoming touch. "Buthow nice to find you here! I'm trying to get some tea for Mr. Putnam's aunt and mother, but, my dear--it's getting very thickout there!"

"I can imagine it!" Harriet glanced toward the lawn. 

"I've been wanting to see you, " Mrs. Putnam said in an undertone. "But suppose I carry them a tray first? Harriet, you are prettierthan ever. I love the green stripes! I've just been trying tothink how long it is since I've seen you. "

"Not since the day you lunched with Mrs. Carter, and that wasalmost two weeks ago!" Harriet's hands were busy with cups andplates; now she nodded to a maid. "Mayn't Inga carry this to yourmother, Mrs. Putnam?" she asked. "And couldn't you stay here andhave some tea yourself?"

Mrs. Putnam immediately settled herself in the neighbouring chair. 

"I'm chaperoning little Lettice Graham for a week, " she began, inthe delightful voice upon which Harriet had modelled her own. "ButLettice is trying her little arts upon Ward Carter. Dear boy, that!"

"Ward? He IS a dear!" Harriet said, innocently. 

"No blushing?" Mary Putnam asked, with a smiling look. The colourcame into Harriet's lovely face, and the smoky blue eyes widenedinnocently. 

"Blushing--for WARD?" she asked. 

Mrs. Putnam stirred her tea thoughtfully. 

"I didn't know, " she said. "You're young, and you know him well, and you're--well, you have appearance, as it were!"

Harriet laughed. 

"Ward is twenty-two, " she observed. 

"And you're--?"

"I shall be twenty-seven in August. "

"Well, that's not serious, " the older woman decided, mildly. "Thepoint is, he's a man. Ward has fine stuff in him, " she added, "andalso, I think, he is beginning to care. It would be an engagementthat would please the Carters, I imagine. "

The word engagement brought a filmy vision before Harriet's eyes, born of the fragrance and sunshine of the summer. She saw a ring, laughter and congratulations, dinner parties and receptions, shopping in glittering Fifth Avenue. 

"Perhaps it would, " she said, with a hint of surprise in her tone. "They are really very simple, and always good to me! But oldMadame Carter, " she laughed, "would go out of her mind!"

"A boy in Ward's position may do much worse than marry a lovelyand sensible woman, " Mrs. Putnam said. "Well, it just occurred tome. It is your affair, of course. But looking back one sees howmuch just the--well, the lack of a tiny push has meant in one'slife!"

"And this is the push?" Harriet said, her heart full of theconfusion and happiness that this unusual mood of confidence andaffection on Mary Putnam's part had brought her. 

"Perhaps!" The smooth, cool hand touched hers for a second beforeMrs. Putnam went upon her gracious way. Harriet hardly heard thebustle and confusion about her for a few minutes. She sat musing, with her splendid eyes fixed upon some point invisible to thejoyous group about her. 

To Nina, meanwhile, had come the most extraordinary hour of herlife. It had begun with the familiar and puzzling humiliations, but where it was to end the fluttered heart of the seventeen-year-old hardly dared to think. 

She had sauntered to a green bench, under great maples, withLettice Graham and Harry Troutt and Anna Poett. And JoshuaBrevoort had come for Anna, and they had sauntered away, with thatmysterious ease with which other girls seemed to manage young men. And then Harry and Lettice had in some manner communicated witheach other, for Lettice had jumped up suddenly, saying, "Nina, will you excuse us? We'll be back directly, " and they had wanderedoff in the direction of the river, giggling as they went. Nina hadsmiled gallantly in farewell, but her feelings were deeply hurt. She hated to sit on here, visibly alone, and yet there was smallobject in going back to the absorbed groups nearer the house. 

Then came the miracle. For as she uncomfortably waited, Ward'sfriend, the queer man with the black eyes and thick hair, suddenlytook the seat beside her. Nina's heart gave a plunge, for if shewas ill at ease with "kids" like Harry and Joshua, how much lesscould she manage a conversation with the lion of the hour! ButRoyal Blondin needed no help from Nina. 

"You're little Miss Carter, aren't you?" he said. "We wereintroduced, back there, but there were too many young men aroundyou then for me to get a word in! However, I was watching you--Iwonder if you know why I've been watching you all afternoon?"

Nina cleared her throat, and gave one fleeting upward glance atthe dark and earnest eyes. 

"I'm sure I don't know why any one should watch me!" she tried tosay. But everything after the first three words was lost in theruffles of the white gown. 

"I'll tell you why. I watched you because, from the moment I sawyou, I said to myself, 'if that little girl isn't utterly wretchedand out of her element, among all these shallow chatterers andgigglers, I'm mistaken!' I saw the lads gather about you, and Ihad my little laugh--you must forgive me!--at the quiet little wayyou evaded them all. Nice boys, all of them! But not worth YOURwhile!"

Nina murmured a confidence. 

"What did you say?" Blondin said. "But come, " he added, frankly, "you're not afraid of me, are you? My dear little girl, I'm oldenough to be your father! Look up--I want to see those eyes. That's better. Now, that's more friendly. Tell me what you said?"

"I said--that Mother expected me to--to like them. "

"To--? Oh, to like the boys. Mother expects it? Of course shedoes! And some day she'll expect to dress you in white, and bid usall to come and dance at the wedding! But in the meantime, Mothermustn't blame someone who has just a LITTLE more discernment than--well, young Brevoort, for example, for seeing that her tame doveis really a wild little sea-gull starving for the sea. Now, lookhere, Miss Nina, you hate all this society nonsense, don't you?"

"Loathe it!" Nina stammered, with a little excited laugh. 

"Loathe it? Of course you do! Of course you do! And you don't wantto fall in love with one of these lads for a year or two, anyway?"

"Oh, my, no!" Nina felt the expression inadequate, but her breathhad been taken away. The man had turned about a little, his eyeswere all for her, and his arm, laid carelessly along the back ofthe green bench, almost touched the white ruffles. They were infull sight of the house, too, and if Lettice or Anna came back, they would see Nina in deep and lasting conversation with the manthat all the older women were so mad about--

"You don't. But--what?" He bent his dark head. 

"I said, 'But I don't know how you knew it'!" Nina repeated, looking down in her overwhelming self-consciousness, but with asmile of utter happiness and excitement. 

A second later she looked up in some alarm. He was silent--she hadsomehow said the awkward thing again I Nina's heart flutterednervously. 

But what she saw reassured her. Royal Blondin had squared himselfabout, and had folded his arms, and was staring darkly into space. 

"How I knew it!" he said in a half-whisper, as if to himself, after a full half-minute of silence that thrilled Nina to thesoul. "Child, I don't know! Some day you and I will read bookstogether--wonderful books! And then perhaps we will begin tounderstand the cosmic secret--why your soul reaches out to mine--why I not only want to know you better, but why it is my solemnobligation to take the exquisite thing your coming into my lifemay mean to us both! You're only a child, " he went on, in alighter tone, "and I can read those big eyes of yours, and can seethat I'm frightening you! Well, this much remains. You and I havesomehow found each other in all this wilderness of lies andaffectations, and we're going to be friends, aren't we?"

"I--hope we are!" Nina said, clearing her throat, with a bashfullaugh. 

"You know we are!" Royal Blondin amended. And in a musing tone headded: "I'm afraid I was a little bitter a few hours ago. And thenI saw you, just an honest, brave, bewildered little girl, wondering why the deuce they all make such a fuss about nothing--clothes and bridge parties and dinners--"

"They never SAY anything worth while!" Nina said, with daring. There was exquisite homage in the dropped, listening head, theeyes that smiled so close to her own. "But if I tell Mother that, she thinks I'm crazy!" she added, lapsing into the schoolvernacular against a desperate effort to sustain the conversationat his level. 

"Because you're a little natural rebel, " interpreted the man, smilingly. "And that's the price we pay for it!"

"I'm afraid I've always been a rebel, then!" confessed Nina. 

"Yes, those eyes of yours say that, " Blondin conceded, sadly. "Andit doesn't make for happiness, Little Girl!" he warned her. 

Nina narrowed her eyes, and stared into the green garden. She wasnot wearing her glasses to-day, and hers were fine eyes, albeit atrifle prominent, and with a somewhat strained expression. 

"Oh, I know that!" she said. "Mother and Father, " she confided, with the merciless calm of seventeen, "they'd like me to beexactly like all the other girls, flirting and dressing, andrushing about all day and all night! But oh--how I hate it! Oh, Ilike the girls and boys--truly I do, and I am popular with themall, I know that! But 'CASES'!" said Nina with scorn. 

"Dear Heaven!" Royal said, under his breath. "No--no--no--that'snot for you!" he murmured. "And yet--" and he turned upon her alook that Nina was to remember with a thrill in the waking hoursof the summer night--"and yet, is it kindness to wake you up, child?" he mused. "Is it right to show you the full beauty of thatquesting soul of yours?"

It was said as if to himself, as if he thought aloud. But Ninaanswered it. 

"I often think, " she said, mirthfully, "that if people knew what Iwas thinking, they'd go crazy! 'Oh, isn't the floor lovely--isn'tthe music divine! Are you going to the club to-morrow? What areyou going to wear?'"

It was not a very brilliant imitation of a society girl's tone andmanner, but Royal Blondin seemed deeply impressed by it. 

"Look here!" he said. "You're a little actress!"

"No. I'm not!" Nina laughed. "But I can always imitate anything oranybody, " she admitted. "It makes the girls perfectly wildsometimes! But Ward's different, " she resumed, going back to themore serious topic. "I envy Ward! He is just as different from meas black and white. Now Ward likes everyone--and everyone likeshim. He just drifts along, perfectly content to be popular, and tohave a good time, and to do the regular thing, and of course heknows NOTHING of moods--!"

"Bless the lad!" Blondin said, paternally. 

"Oh, I manage to keep the appearance of doing exactly what theothers do, " Nina hastened to say, "and I laugh and flirt just asif that was the only thing in life! If people want to think I am abutterfly, why, let them think so! My friend Miss Hawkes says thatI have two natures--but I don't know about that!"

She looked up at him to find his eyes fixed steadily upon her, andflushed happily, with a fast-beating heart. 

"With one of those natures I have nothing to do, " Royal said. "Butthe other I claim as my friend. Come, how about it? Are we goingto be friends? I am old enough to be your father, you know; youmay tell Mother that it is perfectly safe. When the right youngman comes to claim you, why, I'll resign my little friend with allthe good will in the world. But meanwhile, am I going to pick youout some books, am I going to have some talks as wonderful as thisone now and then? No--not as wonderful, for of course this sort ofthing doesn't come twice in a lifetime! Will you give me your handon it--and your eyes? Good girl! And now I'll take you back to bescolded for running away from your own friends for so long. I'mdining with Mother to-morrow. Shall I see you?"

"Oh, yes--if Mother lets me come down!" fluttered Nina. "But, no--we're to be at Granny's!" she remembered. 

"Soon, then!" He left her in the circling group, but all the worldsaw him kiss her hand. Nina wandered about in a daze of pleasureand satisfaction for another half-hour, paying attentions toMother's poky friends with a sparkle and charm that amazed them. Presently Ward and the demure Amy Hawkes found her; the car waswaiting. Miss Field, Ward said, was no longer at the tea table;she had left a message to the effect that she was walking home andwould be there as soon as they were. 

He asked Amy and Nina, whose irrepressible gossip and giggling metwith only silence and scowls from his superior altitude, if theyknew why Miss Harriet had decided to walk. They stared at eachother innocently, on the brink of fresh laughter. No; they hadn'tthe least idea. 

CHAPTER IV

Royal Blondin went straight from Nina to the tea table, which wasalmost deserted now. Harriet saw him coming, and she knew whathour had come. She stood up as he reached her, and they measuredeach other narrowly, with unsmiling eyes. 

There was reason for her paleness to-day, and for the faint violetshadows about her beautiful eyes. Harriet had lain awake deep intothe night, tossing and feverish. She had gotten up more than once, for a drink of water, for a look from her balcony at the solemnsummer stars. And among all the troubled images and memories thathad trooped and circled in sick confusion through her brain, thefigure of this smiling, handsome man had predominated. 

She had always thought that he must come back; for years the fearhad haunted her at every street crossing, at every ring of Linda'sdoorbell. At first it had been but a shivering apprehension of hisclaims, an anticipation of what he might expect or want from her. Then came a saner time, when she told herself that she was anindependent human being as well as he, that she might meet hisargument with argument, and his threat with threat. 

But for the past year or two her lessening thoughts of him hadtaken new form. Harriet had hoped that when they met again shemight be in a position to punish Royal Blondin, to look down athim from heights that even his audacity might not scale. 

That time, she told herself in the fever of the night, had not yetcome. Her pitiful achievements, her beauty, her French andSpanish, her sober book reading, and her little affectations offine linen and careful speech, all seemed to crumple to nothing. She seemed again to be the furious, helpless, seventeen-year-oldHarriet of the Watertown days, her armour ineffectual against thatsuave and self-confident presence. 

"Oh, how I hate him!" whispered the dry lips in the silence of thenight. And looking up at the wheeling grave procession of powderyjewels against the velvet of the sky, Harriet had mused on escape, on a disappearance as complete as her flight years ago had provedto be. 

She had forced herself to unbind the wrappings, to look at the oldwound. She had gone in spirit to that old, shabby parlour to whichLinda and Fred had carried Josephine's crib late every night, andwhere sheet music had cascaded from the upright piano. She saw, with the young husband and wife, a fiery, tumblehead girl offifteen or sixteen, who helped with her sister's cooking andhousework, who adored the baby, who planned a future on the stage, or as a great painter, or as a great writer--the means matterednot so that the end was fame and wealth and happiness for Harriet. 

Fred had brought Royal Blondin in to supper one night, and Royalhad laughed with the others at the spirited little waitress whodelivered herself of tremendous decisions while she came and wentwith plates, and forgot to take off her checked blue apron whenshe finally slipped into her place. 

The man had been a derelict then, as now. But he was nine yearsolder than Harriet Field. He had had the same delightful voice, the same penetrating eyes. He had brought poetry, music, art, intothe sordid little parlour of the Watertown apartment; he hadhelped Harriet to tame and house those soaring ambitions. Seatedon Linda's stiff little fringed sofa, they had drunk deep of Keatsand Shelley and Browning, and Harriet's eyes had widened at whatRoyal called "world ethics. " To live--that was the gift of thegods! Not to be afraid--not to be bound!

Reaching this point in her recollections, the girl recalledherself with a start. She was safe in luxurious Crownlands, it hadall been years ago. But again the abyss seemed to yawn at herfeet. She felt again those kisses that had waked the little-girlheart into passionate womanhood; she shut her eyes and pressed herhand tight against them. So young--so happy--so confident!--plunging headlong into that searing blackness. 

And now Royal Blondin was back again, and she was not ready forhim. She could not score now. But he could hurt her irreparably ifhe would. Isabelle was an indifferent mother, and an incorrigibleflirt, but at the first word, at the first hint--ah, there wouldbe no arguing, no weighing of the old blame and responsibility! Ifthere was the faintest cloud of doubt, that would be enough!Better the driest and fussiest old Frenchwoman for Nina, thedullest and least responsive of Englishwomen. But by all meanssettle accounts at once with Miss Field, and pay her railway fare, and wish her well. 

Harriet had shaken back her mane of hair, had hammered furiousfists together up on the dark balcony. It wasn't fair--it wasn'tfair--just now, when she was so secure and happy! She had flungher arms across the railing, and buried her hot face on them, andhad wept desperate and angry tears into the silken and goldentangle that shone dully in the starlight. 

The stars were paling, and the garden stirred with the firstlanguid breath of the hot day to come, when she suddenly rose andbound up the loosened hair, and went in. Harriet was not yettwenty-seven, and every fibre of her being cried out for sleep. Cold water on the tear-stained face, and the childish prayer shenever forgot, and she had crept gratefully into the soft covers, and had had perhaps four hours of such rest as only comes toyouth. 

So that the morning brought courage. Her heart was heavy andfearful, but she knew that Royal would seek her, and she hopedmuch for the talk that they were to have now. She did not refusehim her hand when he came to the tea table, or her eyes, and therewas friendliness, or the semblance of it, in the voice with whichshe said his name. That he was waiting, perhaps as fearfully asshe, for his cue, was evidenced by the quick relief with which heechoed the old familiarity. 

"Harriet! I find you again. I've been waiting all this time tofind you! I'd heard Ward speak of 'Miss Field', of course! But itnever meant you, to me. I've been thinking of you all night. "

"I've been thinking, too, " she said, simply. 

"It's after six, " Blondin said with a glance about. "We can't talkhere. Can you get away? Can we go somewhere?"

Without another word she deserted her seat, pinned on her hat, andpicked up her gloves. 

"There's a very quiet back road straight to Crownlands, " she said, considering. "We might walk. "

"Anything!" he assented, briefly. 

Guided by Harriet, who was familiar with the place, they slippedthrough the hallway, and out a side door, crossing the lane thatled down to the garage, and striking into a splendid old quietroadway barred now by the shadows of elms and sycamores andmaples, and filled with soft green lights from the thick arch ofnew leaves. They had no sooner gained the silence and solitude itafforded them than the man began deliberately:

"Harriet, I've not thought of anything else since I came upon youyesterday, after all these years. I want you to tell me that you--you aren't angry with me. "

There was a moment of silence. Then the girl said, quietly:

"No. I'm not angry, Roy. "

"You knew--you knew how desperately I tried to find you, Harriet?What a hell I went through?"

If she had steeled herself against the possibility of his shakingher, she failed herself now. It was with an involuntary and bitterlittle laugh that she said:

"You had no monopoly of that, Roy. "

"But you ran away from me!" he accused her. "When I went to findyou, they told me the Davenports had moved away. Won't you believethat I felt TERRIBLY--that I walked the streets, Harriet, praying--PRAYING!--that I might catch a glimpse of you. It was theuppermost thought for years--how many years? Seven?"

"More than eight, " she corrected, in a somewhat lifeless voice. "Iwas eighteen. My one thought, my one hope, when I last saw you, inLinda's house, " she went on, with sudden passion, "was that Iwould never see you again! But I'm glad to hear you say this, Roy, " she added, in a gentler tone. "I'm glad you--felt sorry. Ourgoing away was a mere chance. Fred Davenport was offered aposition on a Brooklyn paper, and we all moved from Watertown toBrooklyn. I was grateful for it; I only wanted to disappear! Lindastood by me, her children saved my life. I was a nursery-maid fora year or two--I never saw anybody, or went anywhere! I thinkLinda's friends thought her sister was queer, melancholy, orweakminded--God knows I was, too! I look back, " Harriet said, talking more to herself than to him, and walking swiftly along inthe golden sunset light that streamed across the old back road, "and I wonder I didn't go stark, staring mad! Strange streets, strange houses, and myself wheeling Pip Davenport about the curbsand past the little shops!"

"Don't think about it, " he urged, with concern. 

"No; I'll not think about it. Royal, don't think that all myfeeling was for myself. I thought of you, too. I missed you. Truly, I missed what you had given my life!"

A dark flush came to the man's face, and when he spoke it was withan honest shame and gratitude in his voice that would havesurprised the women who had only known him in his later years. 

"You are generous, Harriet, " he said. "You were always the mostgenerous girl in the world!"

More stirred than she wished to show herself, Harriet walked on, and there was a silence. 

"I hunted for you, " Royal said presently. "For months it seemed tome that we must meet, that we must talk! I came back from Canadain August, I went to the house; it was taken by strangers. I wentto Fred's paper; he had been gone for months!"

"I know!" Harriet nodded. The wonderful smoky blue eyes met hisfor a second, and there was something of sympathy now in theirlook. "I know, Roy! It was, " she shuddered, "it was a wretchedbusiness, all round!"

"Linda and Fred made it hard for you?" he asked. 

"Oh, no! They were angels. But of course in their eyes, and mine, too--I was marked. "

Silence. Royal Blondin gave her a glance full of distress andcompunction. But he did not speak, and it was Harriet who endedthe pause. 

"Well, that's what a little girl of eighteen may do with herlife!" she said. "I have been a fool--I have made a wreck of mine!Ambition and youth went out of me then. It wasn't anything actual, Roy. But I have known a hundred times why when I should havecourage I had nothing but fear, when I should have self-confidenceI failed myself. Something in my soul got broken!"

"You are the most beautiful woman in the world, " Royal Blondinsaid, steadily, "you are established here, they all adore you! Whydo you say that your life is a wreck?"

"I am the daughter of Professor Field, " said Harriet, "and attwenty-seven I am the paid companion of Mrs. Richard Carter'sdaughter! Oh, well--I was happy enough to have the opportunity. Ihad studied French, you know; and Mrs. Rogers took me abroad withher. She was an outrageous old lady, but not curious! Noreasonable woman could live with her--I made myself endure it. Then I went to her daughter, Mrs. Igleheart, the famoussuffragette, for two years. And the Carters took me from her. " Sheshrugged indifferently. "What of yourself? Where have you been?"

But he was not quite ready to drop the personal note. 

"Harriet, now that we have met, we'll be friends? My life now isamong these people; you'll not be sorry if we occasionally meet?"

"In this casual way--no, we can stand that!" she agreed. The fearsof the night rose like mist, melted away. It was bad enough, butit was not what her inflamed and fantastic apprehension had madeit. He was no revengeful villain, after all. He did not mean toharm her. 

"I've been everywhere, " he said, answering her question. "I madetwo trips to China from San Francisco. I was interested in Chineseantiques. Then I went into a Persian rug thing, with a dealer. Wehandled rugs; I went all over the Union. After that, four yearsago, I went to Persia and into India, and met some English people, and went with them to London. Then I came back here, as a sort ofpress agent to a Swami who wanted to be introduced in America, andafter he left I rather took up his work, Yogi and interpretivereading, 'Chitra' and 'Shojo'--you don't know them?"

She shook her head, sufficiently at ease now even to smile infaint derision. 

"They eat it up, I assure you!" Royal Blondin said, in self-defence. 

"Oh, I know they do!" Harriet agreed. "I've been hearing a greatdeal about you lately! You have a studio?"

"I have--really!--the prettiest studio in New York. I rented myLondon rooms, with my furniture in them, and I have a littleapartment in Paris, too, that I rent. "

"And what's the future in it, Roy?" Now that the black dread waslaid, she could almost like him. 

"The present is extremely profitable, " he said, drily, "and Isuppose there might be--well, say a marriage in it, some day--"

"A rich widow?" Harriet suggested, simply. 

"Or a little girl with a fortune, like this little Carter girl, "he added, lightly. 

Harriet gave him a swift look. 

"Don't talk nonsense! Nina's only a child!"

"She's almost eighteen, isn't she?"

The girl walked swiftly on for a full minute. 

"How do you happen to know that?"

"Is it a secret?"

The possibility he hinted, however remote, was enough to stop hershort, actually and mentally. Considering, she stood still, with aface of distaste. The hush before sunset flooded the quiet road. Abird called plaintively from some low bush, was still, and calledagain. From the river came the muffled, mellow note of a boathorn. Two ponies looked over the brick wall, shook their tawnyheads, and galloped to the field with a joyous affectation ofterror. Nina! By what fantastic turn of the cards was RoyalBlondin to be connected in her thoughts, after all these years, with Nina?

She looked at Blondin, who was watching her with a half-sulky, half-ingratiating air. 

"My dear girl, that was merely an idle remark!" he said. 

"Well, I hope so, " Harriet said, going on, "anyway, she's achild!"

"You weren't--quite--a child, at eighteen, " he reminded her. 

The colour flooded her transparent dusky skin. 

"That's--exactly--what I was!" she said, drily. "But talk to Nina, if you don't believe me! Everything that is school-girly andromantic and undeveloped, is Nina. If you held her coat for her, she would embroider the circumstance into something significantand flattering! She is absolutely inexperienced; she's what Icalled her, a child!"

"I've been talking to her, " Blondin said. His companion looked athim sharply, and after a second he laughed. "There is just onechance in the world that I might make that little girl extremelyhappy!" he said. 

"Don't talk nonsense!" Harriet said again, impatiently. 

"Is it nonsense?" he asked, smiling. 

"It's--preposterous!"

"I suppose, " the man drawled, "that that is a question for theyoung lady, and her parents, and myself, to decide. "

"You suppose nothing of the sort!" Harriet said, sensibly, withoutwasting a glance upon him. And she added in scorn, "I doubt verymuch if it's possible!"

"Very probably it isn't, " he conceded, amiably. "I seem middle-aged to her. I--"

"You ARE thirty-eight, " Harriet said. 

"Exactly! But--don't forget!--I shall have the field to myself. The mother won't interfere. Of the grandmother I have my doubts, but if the father is like the usual American male parent, he willgive the girl her head!"

Harriet bit her lip. This was utterly unexpected. Into hercalculations, up to this point, she had taken only Royal Blondinand herself. If this casual hint covered any truth, then thematter did not stop there. Nina was involved, and with Nina, Wardand Nina's father and Isabelle--

The complications were endless; her heart sickened before them. For she read Nina's susceptible vanity as truly as he, and sheknew besides, what he did not know, that the formidable-appearinggrandmother was secretly a little piqued at Nina's lack ofmasculine attention, and would probably further any romanticabsurdity on the girl's part with all her determined old soul. Nina adored at eighteen by the much-talked-of poet; Nina, youngand gauche perhaps, but married, and entertaining guests in herhusband's studio, would be a Nina far more satisfying to hergrandmother than the bread-and-butter Nina of to-day. 

And yet, the conviction that Royal dared not betray her had beenflooding Harriet's heart with exquisite reassurance during thispast half hour. She was safe; her life at Crownlands took on a newand wonderful beauty with that knowledge. And if she was fit tocontinue there, Nina's companion, Isabelle's confidante, guide andjudge for the whole household, could she with any logic warn themagainst this man?

He had her trapped, and she saw it. If she was to have her safety, as all this talk implied, then she must give him the same tacitassurance. To threaten his standing was to wreck her own. 

"Don't make a tragedy of it, " Royal, watching her narrowly, interrupted her thoughts to say lightly. "The girl will marrywhere she pleases. She makes her own choice. If I can make theright impression on her and convince her father and mother that Iam fit for her, why, it isn't your affair!"

"Isn't it?" Harriet whispered the question, as if to herself. Hereyes looked beyond him darkly; the girl was young and innocent, greedy for flattery, eager to live. What chance had little NinaCarter against charm like his--experience like his? Harrietwondered if she could look dispassionately on while Nina dimpledand flushed over her love affair, while gowns were made andpresents unpacked. Could she help to pin a veil over that stupidlittle head; could she wave good-bye to Royal Blondin and his girlwife; could she picture the room where Nina's ignorance that nightmust face his sophistication, his passion, his coarseness?

They had come to the particular lane that led to Crownlands now, and she stood still by the ivy-covered brick wall, her face darkand sober with thought in the soft, clear twilight. 

"There won't be any kidnapping or chloroform about it!" Royalreminded her. 

"No--I know!" she answered, with a swift glance of pain. "But--"

But what? The alternative was Linda's house, at twenty-seveninstead of seventeen, and with the vague cloud over her even moredefinite than before. Harriet winced. Nina, whispered her mind, was far less ignorant than Harriet had been at her age. 

"Life--the truths of life, " Royal said, as if he read her thought, "may not be to everyone what they--might be--might have been--toyou!" The colour rushed to her face. 

"PLEASE, Roy--!" she said, suffocated. 

"I may never be asked to the house after to-morrow night, " saidBlondin, after a pause, realizing that he was gaining ground. "Shewon't be here to-morrow night. This may be the beginning and endof it. All I ask is that if I am made welcome here, on my ownmerits, you won't interfere! The mere fact that you're living heredoesn't mean that you have the moral responsibility of the familyon your shoulders, does it? Does it?"

"No-o, " Harriet admitted, in a troubled tone. 

"Of course not! You live your life, and I mine. Is there anythingwrong about that?"

He looked down with quiet triumph at the exquisite face, nevermore beautiful than in this soft light, against the setting ofmaples and brick wall. 

"You know you would never look at that girl except for her money, Roy!" she burst out. 

"Nor would any one else!" he amended, suavely. 

Harriet gave a distressed laugh. 

"Come! You and I never saw each other until this week, " Blondinurged. "That's the whole story. "

Before she answered, the girl looked beyond him at the splendidstables and lawns of Crownlands. One of the great cars was in thegarage doorway, its lamps winking like eyes in the dusk. An oldgardener was utilizing the last of the daylight, his back bentover a green box border. Beyond, lights showed in the side windowsof the great house. Harriet could see pinkish colour up at her ownporch; Nina was at home, or Rosa was turning down the beds andmaking everything orderly for the night. She had a swift vision ofthe great hallways, the flowers, the silent, unobtrusive service;of Ward and his friends racketing upstairs; the old ladymajestically descending; of Isabelle at her mirror. Richard Carterwould come quietly down, groomed and keen-eyed; he would glance athis mail, perhaps saunter out to the wide porch for a chat withhis mother before dinner was announced. 

It had never lost its charm for her, her castle of dreams; she hadlonged to be part of just such a household all her life! Now sheactually was part of it, and--if what Mary Putnam had hinted wastrue, if her own fleeting suspicion only a few evenings ago wastrue; then she might some day really belong to Crownlands, in goodearnest!

After all, Nina was bound for some sort of indiscretion; nobodycould save her that! Even if there was any probability that Royalcould carry out his plan. 

Harriet made her choice. 

"Very well, " she said, briefly. "I understand you. I turn in here. Good-night!"

"Just a second!" he said, detaining her. "You won't hurt me withany of them, Ward or the girl, or the father?"

The girl's lips curled with distaste. 

"No, " she said, tonelessly. 

"The look implies that you despise me!" Royal said, smiling. 

"Oh, not YOU!" she said, in a tone of self-contempt. And inanother second she was gone. He saw the slender figure, in itsgreen gown, disappear at a turning of the ivied wall. She pausedfor no backward glance of farewell. But Royal Blondin wassatisfied. 

CHAPTER V

Again Harriet fled through the quiet house as if pursued byfuries, and again reached her room with white cheeks and a fast-beating heart. Nina was not there. She crossed to the window, andstood there with her hands clasped on her chest, and her breathcoming and going stormily. 

"Oh, he's clever!" she whispered, half aloud. "He's clever! Henever made a threat. He never made a threat of any kind! He knewthat he had me--he knew that he had me just where he wanted me!"And looking down toward the lane, invisible now behind the treesand stables, in the gathering dusk, she added scornfully, "You'reclever, Roy. I wonder if there's anything you wouldn't do, if itmade for your own comfort or brought you in money!

"But, at all events, " summarized Harriet, quieting a little underthe soothing influence of solitude and safety, "I'm out of it! Hewon't touch ME. And what he does here, in making his way with thisfamily, doesn't concern me! Nina is old enough to decide forherself--I had my own living to make at her age, and no father towrite me checks for my birthdays, and no Uncle Edward to die andleave me a hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"

She mused about the little fortune, left most unexpectedly fiveyears before to Nina and Ward by an uncle of their mother. EdwardPotter had been a bachelor, had been young when an accident flunghim out of life, and made his niece's children, the twelve-year-old Nina, and Ward at sixteen, his heirs. The expectation had beenthat he would marry, that sons and daughters of his own woulddisinherit the young Carters. But his affianced wife had marriedsomeone else, after awhile, and the fortune had gone onaccumulating for Ward and for the girl whose eighteenth birthdaywas only a few months off now. Harriet wondered if Royal Blondinknew about it. Of course he knew about it! Harriet had seen acheck for one million dollars exhibited, under glass, among thewedding gifts of one twenty-year-old girl a few months ago. Shedid not suppose that Richard Carter would do that for hisdaughter, even if he could. But he would probably double UncleEdward's legacy, and the bride would begin her new life with afortune that was no contemptible fraction of a million. 

"And I am worrying about my responsibility to poor, dear littleNina!" the girl said to herself, with a rather mirthless laugh, asNina herself came into the room. 

Nina had been experiencing what were among the pleasantest hoursof her life. A school friend, Amy Hawkes, had come back with herfrom Francesca Jay's tea, and the two had been prettily invited byIsabelle to join the family downstairs at dinner. Coming at thisparticular moment, it had seemed to Nina that she was emergingfrom the chrysalis indeed. 

But more than that. Amy, who was romance personified, under aplain and demure exterior, had observed Nina's long conversationwith Royal Blondin, and had found an arch allusion to it so wellreceived by Nina that she had followed up that line ofconversation, almost without variation, ever since. By this timethe girls had confided to each other, over a box of chocolates inthe deep chairs of the morning room, everything of a sentimentalnature that had ever happened to them in their lives, and muchthat had not. Amy was convinced that Mr. Blondin was justdesperately in earnest, and that, for the sake of other aspirants, Nina ought not to trifle with him, and Nina, with blazing cheeksand tumbled hair, was assuming rapidly the airs of a sad coquette. 

Amy was to sleep with Nina, and Harriet realized, as shesuperintended their fluttered dressing, that she, Harriet, wouldbe obliged to go to their door five times, between eleven and oneo'clock that night, and tell them that they must stop talking. With the grave manner that always impressed young girls, and witha somewhat serious face, she was busying herself with their frillsand ribbons, when from the bathroom, where Amy was drawing on silkstockings, and Nina had her toothbrush in her mouth, she waselectrified by a chance scrap of their conversation. 

"If I do mention it to Mother, " said Nina, rather thickly, "shewill only scold me! A man of his age--she'd be furious!"

"And don't you think you deserve to be scolded?" said Amy, in adelightfully rebuking undertone. "My dear--he must be in thethirties!"

"No, I don't, Amy!" Nina protested, in a tone of great honesty andinnocence. "I can't help being like that. If I don't like a man, why, I have nothing to say to him! If I do, why--his age--NOTHING--matters!"

She hesitated, and laughed a little laugh of pure pleasure. 

"You flirt!" Amy said. 

"Truly, honestly--" Nina was beginning, when both girls weresmitten into panicky silence by the sound of the slipper Harrietdeliberately dropped on the floor. Nina noiselessly bent herstocky young body far forward, to look through the crack of thebathroom door. Harriet went on quietly spreading the youthfuldinner dresses on Nina's bed, snapped up a dressing-table light, went on into her own room. But she had been taken far more bysurprise herself, if they had only known it, than had Amy andNina. Could Royal possibly have been the subject of theirconfidences? Could he have made such progress in a singleafternoon? Knowing Royal, and knowing Nina, she was obliged toconfess it possible. 

While she stood pondering, in her own beautiful room, there was amodest knock at the door, and Rosa came in with a box. She smiled, and put it on Harriet's desk. 

"For me?" the girl said, smiling in answer, and with somesurprise. Rosa nodded, and went her way, and Harriet went to thebox. It was not large, a florist's box of dark green cardboard;Harriet untied the raffia string, and investigated the mass ofsilky tissue paper. Inside was an orchid. 

She took it out, a delicate cluster of flaky blossoms, poisedcarelessly, like little white hearts, on the limp stem. She openedthe accompanying envelope, and found Ward's card. On the back hehad written, "Just a little worried because he's afraid you're cross at him!"

Harriet stood perfectly still, the orchid in one hand, the cardcrushed in the other. Ward Carter had sent orchids, no doubt, toother girls. But Harriet Field had never had an orchid before froma man. 

She put the card into her little desk, and the orchid into aslender crystal vase. Then she went back to advise Amy and Nina asto gold beads and the arrangement of hair. But a little later, when she was in the big housekeeper's pantry, where several maidswere busy with last-minute manipulations of olives and ice andgrapefruit, Ward came out and found her, soberly busy in her oldchecked silk. 

"Why didn't you wear it?"

"Wear it--you bad, extravagant child! I'll wear it to town to-morrow. "

"No; but--" he sank his tone to one of enjoyable confidences--"butWERE you mad at me?"

"Mad at you? But why should I have been?" Harriet demanded. 

"Oh, I don't know! You looked so glum at breakfast. "

"Well, you had nothing to do with it!" she assured him, in herbig-sisterly voice. "And it was the first orchid I ever had, and Iloved you for it!"

It was said in just the comradely, half-amused voice with whichshe had addressed Ward a hundred times in the past year, butperhaps the boy had changed. At all events, it was with somethinglike pain and impatience in his tone that he said gruffly:

"Yes, you do! You like me about as much as you like Nina, orGranny!"

"I like you--sh! just a LITTLE better than I do Granny!" Harrietconfided. "Don't spoil your dinner with olives, Ward! Don't mussthat--there's a dear! Dinner's announced, by the way. It's quarterpast eight. "

"I'm going!" he grumbled, discontentedly. 

"At any rate, I LOVE the orchid!" Harriet said, soothingly. He waslaughing too, as he disappeared, but something in his face wasvaguely troubling to her none-the-less, and she remembered it nowand then with a little compunction during her quiet evening ofreading. She was tired to-night, excited from the talk withBlondin that afternoon, and by the general confusion and noise ofthe household. Ward--Nina--Royal--their names flitted through herthoughts even when she tried to read; at such a time as this shefelt as if the life at Crownlands was like the current of a riverthat moved too swiftly, or more appropriately perhaps, like somepowerful motor-car whose smooth, swift passage gave its occupantssmall chance to investigate the country through which they fled. Well, she would see Linda on Saturday, and have Sunday with herand the children, and that meant always a complete change and ashifted viewpoint, even when, as frequently happened, Linda tookthe older-sisterly privilege of scolding. 

CHAPTER VI

Linda, who had been Mrs. Frederick Davenport for some seventeenyears, had lived for the last ten in a quiet New Jersey village. The house for which she and her husband paid the staggering rentof forty dollars a month had proved to be in a region toward whichthe expected tide of fashion did not turn, but it remained a quietand eminently respectable neighbourhood, remained almostunchanged, in fact, and Linda was satisfied. 

When Harriet had chaperoned Nina and Amy to the Friday afternoonmatinee, and had duly deposited Amy afterward in the Hawkesmansion, and had escorted Nina to her grandmother's apartment, shewas free to direct Hansen to drive her to the Jersey tube, and tospend a hot, uncomfortable hour in a stream of homegoingcommuters, on the way to Linda's house. She was unexpected, butthat made no difference; the Davenports had little company, andthey were always ready to welcome the beloved sister and aunt. 

Linda's home was a shingled brown eight-room house, built in thefirst years of the century, and consequently showing thesimplicity and spaciousness that were unknown in the architectureof the eighties. It was exactly like a thousand other houses herein the Oranges, and like a million in the Union. There was aporch, with a half-glass door covered by a wire netting door, anda rusty mail box; there was a square entrance hall with a sidewindow and an angled stairway; there was a kitchen back of thehall, and a square parlour with a green-tiled mantel to the left;a square dining room back of the parlour, with a window at theback and another at the side. The side window gave upon theneighbouring house, a duplicate of this house, forty feet away, and the back window commanded an oblong backyard in whichclotheslines and bean poles and a dog house, and a small vegetablegarden protected by collapsing chicken wire, and various pails andbuckets appertaining to the kitchen, all had place. 

But up the slope of meadow beyond this yard were the woods, andthe Davenport children had always considered these woods as a partof their legitimate domain, combining thus, as their mother said, "the advantages of the country with all the conveniences of thecity. " What the conveniences of the city were Harriet was unableto decide, but to Linda's practical mind electric light, adequateplumbing, and a gas stove were all extremely important. 

A chipped cement path led to Linda's steps; there was no frontfence. It was considered vaguely elegant, in the neighbourhood, tolet the fifty-foot plots run together, as boundless estates mightunite. So that the old prim charm of pickets and protectedgardens, and protected babies playing in them, had long agovanished from country homes, and although the lawns here were allwell tended, there was a certain bareness and indefiniteness aboutthe aspect that partly accounted for the little curl of distastethat touched Harriet's mouth when she thought of Linda's home. 

She mounted the three cement steps from the sidewalk level, andthe four shabby and peeling wooden ones that rose to the porch. Onthis hot summer afternoon the front door was open, and Harrietstepped into the odorous gloom of the hall, and let the screendoor bang lightly behind her. There was a confused murmur ofvoices and the clinking of plates in the dining room, but theseceased instantly, and a hush ensued. 

Immediately, in the open archway into the parlour, a girl offifteen appeared, a pretty girl with blue eyes and brown hair, ashabby but fresh little shirtwaist belted by a shabby but cleanwhite skirt, and a napkin dangling from her hand. 

She made a round O of her mouth, and then gave a shout ofpleasure. 

"Oh, Mother--it's Aunt Harriet! Oh, you darling--!"

Harriet, laughing as she put down her bag and divested herself ofher hat and wraps, went from the child's wild embrace into thearms of Linda herself, a tall, broadly built, pleasant-faced womanwith none of Harriet's own unusual beauty, but with a familyresemblance to her younger sister nevertheless. 

"Well, you sweet good child!" she said, warmly. "Fred--here'sHarriet! Well, my dear, isn't it fortunate that we were late! We'dhardly commenced!"

The remaining members of the family now streamed forth: FredDavenport, a thin, rather gray man of fifty, with an intelligentface, a worried forehead, and kindly eyes; Julia, a blonde beautyof twelve; Nammy, a fat, sweet boy of five, with a bib on; andPip, a serious ten-year-old, with black hair and faded blueoveralls, and strong little brown hands scrupulously scrubbed tothe wrist-bones, where dirt and grime commenced again unabated. Josephine, the oldest child, continued to dance about the visitordelightedly, but the little thoughtful Julia disappeared, and whenpresently they all went out to resume the interrupted meal, aplace had been set freshly for Harriet, and a clean plate waswaiting for her. 

"Now, I don't know whether to take this out and heat it up foryou, or whether it's still hot, " said Linda, beaming from herplace at the head of the table. 

"I'll do it!" said Julia, half launched from her chair. 

"Oh, Mother, it's plenty hot enough!" Josephine contended, goodnaturedly. Harriet protested against the reheating plan. It seemedto her the middle of the afternoon, with the blazing, mercilesssunlight streaming across the backyards. She had forgotten thatLinda had dinner at half-past six. 

"Iced tea! Oh, don't you love it? I could die drinking it!" Juliasaid, drawing the beverage from off the ice in her glass withEpicurean delight. 

"You very probably will!" her father said. The children laughedhilariously. Linda put Harriet's plate before her, and Harrietattacked codfish cakes and boiled potatoes and stewed tomatoeswith pieces of pulpy bread in them, with what appetite she couldcommand. The stewed blueberries that followed were ice-cold, andshe enjoyed them as much as the others did. 

The talk ranged wholesomely from family to national affairs. Fredwas a newspaper man, one of the submerged many, underpaid, overworked, unheard, yet vaguely gratified through all the longyears by the feeling that his groove was not quite the groove ofthe office, the teller's desk, or the travelling salesman's"beat. " Here in the little suburban town his opinion gained somelittle weight from the fact that he had been ten years with a NewYork evening paper. Fred held vaguely with labour parties, withsocialists and single-taxers; his sister-in-law had a somewhatcaustic feeling that if Fred had ever given Linda a really capablemaid, his opinions might have been more endurable, to her, Harriet, at least. Linda had had maids, Polack and Swedish girls, and Irish country girls hardly intelligible in speech. But now shehad no maid, she preferred the economy and independence of doingher own housework. 

They sat on into absolute darkness, finishing the last teaspoonfulof blueberry preserve, and the last crumby cooky. Mrs. Davenportwas interested in everything her sister had to say; knew theCarters, and even some of their closest friends, by name, andasked all sorts of questions about them. Josephine, after a half-hearted offer to help with the dishes, departed for a rehearsal of"Robin Hood, " which was to be given by the women of the church astheir annual entertainment. While she was upstairs, little Nammywas sent up to bed, but when it was absolutely necessary to havelights, and the group at the table naturally adjourned, littleJulia and Pip gallantly did their share of the work. 

Harriet knew that work by heart; no amount of absence could evermake her unfamiliar with any detail of it. The clearing of thetable, the shaking of the crumpled tablecloth, the setting of thebreakfast table, the hot glare of electric light in the clutteredand odorous kitchen, the scraping of congealed plates, thespreading of her damp tea towel on the rack by the sink, theselection of a dry towel. 

Linda, she reflected, had had seventeen years--had had somethingnearer twenty-five years of it. For Linda had been onlyJosephine's age when their mother died, and Professor Field'sdaughters had assumed the management of his little home. Lindamight have been anything, thought her sister, as the older womanrinsed and soaped cheerfully, in the insufferable heat of thekitchen, but she had always had cooking and dishes to do. She saidthat she liked them. 

Julia was Harriet's favourite among the children. Pip had been ababy, entirely absorbing his mother, in those terrible days nineyears ago, but Julia had been a delicious, confidential two-year-old, with a warm soft hand, and a flushed little friendly faceunder tumbling curls. Harriet had bathed her, dressed her, fedher, and taken her for silent walks. And on many a moonlit nightthe unconscious little body had been held tight in Harriet's arms, and the unconscious little face wet with passionate tears. 

Julia had never known this, but Harriet never forgot it, and shelooked at Julia lovingly, as the small, sturdy girl in her shabbylittle school-frock went to and fro busily. 

"And now we can talk!" Linda said at last, when the kitchen wasdark and hot and orderly, and the children gone upstairs to bed inhot darkness, and she and Harriet had taken the seats on thesmall, hot porch. "This is a terrible night--nine o'clock--andthey are hardly settled off yet!"

Nine o'clock. They would still be at dinner at Crownlands, and theriver breeze would be blowing the thin curtains of Harriet'sFrench windows straight into the cool, fresh room. She would beout on the porch, now, looking at the river lights, her bookforgotten in her lap. At the head of the table Richard Carterwould be sitting, in his cool and immaculate white, and at thefoot, sparkling and beautiful, with her fresh bare arms and herfirm bare shoulders, her exquisitely modelled hair and her brighteyes, Isabelle. And beside her, to-night, Royal Blondin, musical, poetical, playing the game with all his consummate art, scoringwith every glance and word--

Fred was at the piano. It was a poor piano, and he was a poorplayer who smoked his old pipe while he painstakingly fingeredMendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" or the score of "The Geisha. "But Linda loved him. 

"He will putter away there, perfectly content, for an hour, " shetold Harriet. "And at ten you'll see him starting to getJosephine. They're great chums--she thinks there's no one in theworld like Daddy!"

"How are things at the office?" Harriet asked. 

"Oh, just about the same! Old Frank Judson died, you know, and ofcourse Fred expected the A. P. Desk. But Allen had a nephew, justout of Yale, it seems, and you can imagine how poor old Fred feltwhen they put him in. However, I said he wouldn't last, and hedidn't last! So Fred has that desk now, and of course he istremendously pleased. "

"More money in it?" Harriet asked, practically. 

"Well, there will be. Allen hasn't said anything about it, butFred is sure he will. But since Fred's mother died, we've feltvery much easier. It was an expense, and it was a responsibility, too, " said Linda, with her plain, fine, unselfish face onlyvaguely visible to Harriet in the starlight. "And we were aboutsix months clearing up the final expenses. But now, with onlyourselves and the children, it makes me feel positively selfish! Idid tell Mrs. Underhill that I would try to sew regularly for theBelgians, and there's the Red Cross, I always manage that. But--Iknow you'll be as glad as I am, Harriet, we are really saving, atlast. "

"Well, you told me so last Christmas, " Harriet said, sympathetically, "when you and Fred took the Liberty Bonds--"

"Yes, that. But I mean really, for our home, now. And--but don'tmention this, Harriet, for we are in perfect DREAD that someoneelse will have the same idea--you know that old place we've beenwatching for years? Well, Mr. Adams told David Davenport that hebelieved that it could be had for seven or eight thousand dollars, and perhaps only one thousand or fifteen hundred paid down. "

Harriet remembered the place perfectly, a shabby, fine old houseon a corner, with trees and an old stable, a plot perhaps onehundred feet wide, a street flanked by new wooden houses and youngtrees. Linda and Fred had wanted this house since the Sunday walk, wheeling Pip in the perambulator, when they had first seen it. 

"We could do wonders with that house!" said Linda, enthusiastically. "Not all at once. But it has electric light in, that we know, and one bath--"

Harriet's thoughts had wandered. 

"How's David?"

"Lovely. He always comes to us for Sunday dinner, " Linda said. "And he always asks for you!" she added, with some significance. David Davenport, Fred's somewhat heavy and plodding brother, asuccessful Brooklyn dentist, had never made any secret of hisfeeling for the beautiful Harriet. "David is a dear, " his sister-in-law said, "the most comfortable person to have about! And he isdoing remarkably well. He is going to make some woman very happy, Harriet. He and Fred both have that--well, that domestic qualitythat wears pretty well! We've promised to give the children apicnic on the ocean a week from Sunday, and you'd be perfectlytouched to see how David is planning for it. We're to spendSaturday night with him--"

"I like David!" Harriet said, in answer to some faint indicationof reproach in her sister's tone. But immediately afterward sheadded, in a lower voice: "Ward Carter has had Royal Blondin at thehouse this week!"

Linda's rocker stopped as if by shock. There was an electricsilence. When she spoke again it was with awe and incredulity andsomething like terror in her tone. 

"Royal Blondin! He's in England!"

"He was, " Harriet said, drily. "He's been in New York for twoyears now. "

"Harriet! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know, Sis. He came to tea last week--stepped up and heldout his hand--I hadn't even seen him since that night in yourWatertown house--"

Linda shuddered. 

"I know--I remember!" she said in a whisper. And she addedfervently, "I hoped he was dead!"

"So did I!" Harriet said, simply. 

There was another moment of silence. Then Linda said:

"Well, what about it? What did he say--what did you say?"

"Nothing very significant; what was there to say?" Harrietanswered. "Our meeting was entirely accidental. He had no idea offinding me; was as surprised as I was. " She stopped abruptly, musing on some unpalatable thought. "You wouldn't know him, Linda. He is a perfect freak, " she said, presently, "talks about Karmaand Nirvana and I don't know what all! Whether he's a Theosophistor a Brahmin I don't know--"

"For Heaven's sake!" Mrs. Davenport commented, in healthy surpriseand contempt. 

"New thought, and poetry, and the occult, and Tagore and theRussian novelists, and the Russian music, " Harriet said, "helectures about them and he has been extremely successful! He wearspongee coats and red ties, and has his hair long, and--well, younever saw women act so about anything or anybody!"

"Royal Blondin!" Linda exclaimed, aghast. "Perhaps their makingfools of themselves will make it not worth his while to botheryou, " she speculated, hopefully. 

"He's having dinner with the Carters to-night, " Harriet said. Tothis Linda could only ejaculate again an amazed:

"Royal Blondin!" And as Harriet merely nodded, in the gloom, sheadded, vigorously, "Why, he hadn't a PENNY! He was always anidiot--he didn't have enough to EAT ten years ago!"

"Well, he has enough to eat now! Ward told me that he gets threehundred dollars for his drawing-room talks--his 'interpretivemusings', he called them. And he has a book of poetry out, and hereviews poetry for some magazine--"

"Well, THAT--" Mrs. Davenport was still dazed with astonishmentand indignation. "That REALLY--" she began, and stopped, shakingher head. "Tell me EVERYTHING you said!" she commanded. 

"I will!" Harriet's voice fell flatly. "I came home to talk itover with you. " But it was fully five minutes later that she beganthe inevitable confidences. "We talked--Roy and I--" she said, briefly. "He doesn't belong in my life, now, any more than I do inhis! We simply agreed to a sort of mutual minding of our ownbusiness--"

"Thank God!" Mrs. Davenport said, fervently. "He--he doesn't wantto--he doesn't still feel--he won't worry you, then?" she askedsomewhat diffidently. Harriet's laugh had an unpleasant edge. 

"He is after bigger game than I am, now!" she said. 

"The brute!" her sister commented in a whisper. "It--it is allright, then?" she asked, a little timidly. 

"All right!" Harriet echoed, bitterly. "I haven't drawn a happybreath since I saw him! All that time came up again, as fresh asif it were yesterday--except that I HAVE climbed a little way, Linda; I was happy--I was busy and useful--and I had--I had myself-respect!"

And suddenly the bright head was in Linda's lap, and she wassobbing bitterly. Linda, with a great ache in her heart, circledher arms, mother-fashion, as she had circled them a hundred times, about her little sister. 

CHAPTER VII

Harriet slept in the room with Julia and Josephine that night, orrather tossed and lay wakeful there. The light of a street lampcame squarely in on the white ceiling, and although the hall doorwas open, there was no breath of air moving anywhere. The childrenslept in attitudes of youthful abandonment; Harriet heard Fred andLinda murmuring steadily, and could imagine of what they spoke;little Nammy awakened, and there was an interval of maternalcomforting, and then silence. 

At about two o'clock the wind streamed mercifully in, hot andthick, but prophetic of rain, and Harriet, wandering about to makewindows fast, encountered Linda, on the same errand. When theworst of the crackling and flashing was over, the girl glanced ather watch again. Three o'clock, but she could sleep now. She sankdeeply into dreams, not to stir until Linda's alarm clock, hastilysmothered, thrilled at seven, and the small girls rose withcheerful noise, to let streams of hot sunshine upon her face. 

Her head ached; she brushed Julia's hair as a sort of bribe forturning the small girl out of the bathroom, and was in the tubwhen Pip hammered on the door for his turn. Linda was in a whirlof blue smoke in the kitchen; Fred shouted a request for a littlemore hot water; Josephine set the table with languid grace, entertaining her aunt with a description of "Robin Hood. "

Her face beaming with satisfaction, Linda assembled her brood. There were cocoa and coffee and muffins and omelette and Fred'slittle bottle of cream, and his paper, and there was, as always, Linda's spontaneous grace before meat: "I wonder if we're thankfulenough, when we think of those poor people in Poland and Belgium!"

Immediately after breakfast the two small girls attacked theirSaturday morning's work with a philosophic vigour that rathertouched their aunt. This morning Linda would leave the whole lowerfloor to their ministrations while she thoroughly cleaned thefloor above. Josephine must bake cake or cookies, all thedishwashing and dusting and sweeping must be done before Mothercame down at twelve to put finishing touches on the lunch. Fredhad hurried away after his hasty meal; the boys were turned outinto the backyard, which Pip was expected to rake while he watchedhis small brother. 

Harriet's heart ached deeply for them all as she watched theJersey marshes from the car window a few hours later. The poorlittle pretty girls, gallantly soaking their small hands indishwater and lye, eager over the church production of "RobinHood" and a picnic with Uncle David at Asbury! Josephine was to bea stenographer when she finished High School, and little Julia hadexpressed an angelic ambition to teach a kindergarten class someday. Nina, at their ages, had had her pony, her finishing school, her little silk stockings, and her monogrammed ivory toilet set, her trip to England and France and Italy with her mother andbrother and grandmother. 

Suppose that she, Harriet, was right in suspecting that Ward'sfeeling was more than the passing gallantry of a light-heartedboy? She bit her lip, narrowed her idle gaze on the meadows thatflew by the car window. It would be a nine-days' wonder, hismarriage at twenty-two with his mother's secretary, more than fouryears his senior. But after that? After that there would benothing to say or do. Young Mr. And Mrs. Ward Carter wouldestablish themselves comfortably, and the elder Carters wouldvisit them; Isabelle absorbed as usual in her own mysteriousthoughts, and Richard Carter--

Harriet's thoughts, none too comfortable up to this point, stoppedhere, and she flushed. It was impossible to see Richard Carter, asshe saw him every day, in the role of husband, father, son, andemployer, without holding him in hearty respect. She liked himthoroughly; she knew him to be the simplest, the most genuine andhonest, of them all. He had none of his wife's airy selfishness, none of his mother's cold pride. Nina was far more of a snob thanher father, and Ward--well, Ward was only a sweet, spoiled, generous boy, at twenty-two. But Harriet always saw behind RichardCarter, the years that had made him, the patient, straightforward, hard-working clerk who had been sober, and true, and intelligentenough to lift himself out of the common rut long before thegolden secret that lay at the heart of the Carter Asbestos Companyhad flashed upon him. Money had not spoiled Richard; he still heldwealth in respect, while Ward ordered his racing car, and Ninayawned over twelve-dollar school shoes. 

No; she would not enjoy telling Richard that she was to marry hisson. Those keen eyes would read her through and through, and whileher father-in-law might love her, and see her beauty and charmwith all the rest of the world, Harriet knew that she must beginan actual campaign for his esteem on her wedding day. The prospecthad an unexpected piquancy. She had little fear of its outcome. She would make Ward Carter a wife for whom his father must come tofeel genuine gratitude and devotion. Every fibre of her beingwould be strained to make the Carter marriage a success. She knewwhat persons to cultivate, and what elements to weed out of theirlives. There would be children, there would be hospitality andmusic and a garden. And Ward should seriously settle down to hisbusiness, whatever it might be, and show himself a worthy son ofhis clever father. 

Isabelle, simply because of her supreme indifference to whateverdid not affect her own personal affairs, would be easy to handle. Her son's marriage might pique her, momentarily, but less, on thewhole, than the discovery that she had gained eight pounds, orthat new wrinkles had appeared about her eyes. She would veryprobably choose the position of championing Harriet, if only toinfuriate the old lady. Madame Carter would of course be frantic, but Ward's wife need have no fear of her. And Nina--

"I would very soon put a stop to that Blondin affair!" thoughtHarriet at this point. But a sharp little wedge of fear enteredher heart at the same second. It would not do to anger Royal, thatend of the tangle must be handled very carefully. Whateverinfluence she might have with Nina must be used with discretion. 

"After all, Nina must live her own life, as I have to live mine!"she thought. And her mind drifted to the happier thought of what abrilliant marriage on her part would mean to the little girls whowere so busily cleaning an eight-room house in a little Jerseysuburb. Josephine and Julia should come to visit her, they shouldhave little frocks that would befit the pretty nieces of Mrs. WardCarter; they should have a taste of polo games and country clubs, and in a winter or two Josephine's first formal dance should begiven in Aunt Harriet's house. 

"Why not--why not?" Harriet asked herself, as she reached MadameCarter's pretentious apartment house, and was whisked upstairs. She was to meet Nina here, and she glanced about for the biglimousine at the curb, as an indication that the old lady might beready to accompany them back to Crownlands. But there was no carin sight. The maid's first statement was that Miss Carter had gonehome with her brother, and when Madame Carter came magnificentlyinto the room, Harriet could see from the nature of her head-dressthat she did not intend to assume a hat for some hours. When Mrs. Carter meant to go out, her maid pinned and pressed and veiled herhat immovably, while dressing her, as a fixture, with the puffsand braids and curls of white hair. 

"Well, our bird has flown!" said the old lady. Harriet could seethat she was pleased about something. 

"Gone home with Ward?" Harriet asked. Madame Carter never shookhands with her; there was conscious superiority in the littleomission. She sank into a chair, and Harriet sat down. 

"Ward and his friend, this Mr. Blondin, " Madame Carter said. "Avery interesting--a most unusual man. A very good family, too--excellent old family. Yes. Nina assured us that she had to waitand go home with her Daddy, but that--" Madame Carter gave

Harriet a deeply significant smile--"but that didn't seem toplease Somebody very much!" she added. "So I told Nina I thoughtGranny would be able to make it all right with Daddy, and off theyoung people went. "

She rocked, with a benignly triumphant expression, and acomplacent rustle of silken skirts. Harriet, beneath an automaticsmile, hid a troubled heart. Royal was losing no time, Ward hisinnocent instrument, and this fatuous old lady of course playinghis game for him! Madame Carter had always spoiled Nina insomething a trifle more defined and malicious than the usualgrandmotherly fashion. She had indulged the child in chocolateswhen the doctor's prohibition of sweets was being scrupulouslyenforced by Isabelle and Harriet; she had permitted late hours andunsuitable plays when Nina visited her; she had encouraged hergranddaughter in a thousand little snobberies and affectations. And she had taken a mischievous pleasure in thwarting Harrietwhenever possible, emphasizing the difference in her position andNina's, humiliating the companion whenever it was possible, inways that were far less subtle than Madame Carter imagined them tobe. 

Harriet saw now that she was pleased and flattered by an olderman's apparent admiration of Nina; and that she would further thegirl's first definite affair in every way that lay in her power. It was maddening; it was exasperating beyond words. An honestwarning would have merely flattered her with its implication ofher importance; ah, no, Isabelle and Harriet might try to hold thechild back--but Granny knew girl nature better than either ofthem!

"Well, then, I must follow them home, " Harriet said, pleasantly. "You don't come back to-night?"

To this Madame Carter very pointedly made no answer; her planswere not Miss Field's business. She rocked on placidly, in herornate, pleasant room, at whose curtained and undercurtained andoverdraped windows the summer sunshine was battling to enter. Itwas a large room, but seemed small because the rugs were two andthree deep on the floor, and there was so much rich, darkfurniture, so many lamps and jars and pictures and boxes andframes, handsome but heterogeneous treasures that must alwaysremain in exactly the same positions. The several tables wereangled carefully, their draperies lay precisely placed, year afteryear; Harriet knew that all the ten rooms were just the same, andthat the old lady liked to walk slowly through them, and note thelace over satin, the glint of ranked wineglasses, the gleam ofpolished silver, the clocks and candlesticks. There were certainornate ashtrays for Richard and Ward, there was a magnificentpiano player, for which his grandmother bought the boy a dozenrolls a month, selecting them with splendid indifference on one ofher regal expeditions downtown, and there was a massive Victrola, which had once delighted Nina for hours at a time. 

"The child is growing up!" the old lady said, smiling at somethought. "Well, we must look for love affairs now!"

Harriet felt that there was small profit in following this line ofconversation. She glanced at her twisted wrist. 

"I think I will make that two o'clock train, Madame Carter, unlessthere is some errand I might do for you?" she said respectfully. 

This courtesy, from a beautiful young woman to an old one, alwaysantagonized Madame Carter. Harriet knew that she was casting aboutfor some honeyed and venomous farewell, when the muffled thrill ofthe bell came to them, and the footsteps of Ella were heard. Immediately afterward Richard Carter came quickly in. 

He met Harriet at the door. 

"How are you, Miss Field? Tell Nina to hurry; I've got about fiveminutes!" he said, pleasantly. 

"Don't keep Miss Field; she is making her train!" said his mother, coming forward under full sail, and laying both hands about his. "I'll explain about Nina. Come here--you have time to sit downwith your mother, I hope!"

Richard Carter gave his mother the peculiarly warm smile that wasespecially her own. 

"Went on with Ward, eh?" he said, in his hearty voice. "That's allright, then. Oh, Miss Field!" he called, after Harriet'sdiscreetly retreating back, "the car's downstairs. Wait for methere; I'll run you home in half the time the train takes. I'mplaying in the tennis finals, Mother--"

Harriet, turning for just a nod and smile, heard no more. Hisvoice dropped to a filial undertone, and he sank into a low chair, with his hands still clasping the old lady's hand. But as sheentered the lift, the girl said to herself, with a passionate sortof gratitude: "Oh, I like you! You're the only genuine andunselfish and kind-hearted one in the whole crowd!"

She went down to the street, and saw the small car waiting. He wasdriving himself to-day. With a great sense of comfort andrelaxation Harriet got into it, and was comfortably established, and tucked in snugly, when Richard came down. He smiled at seeingher, got into his own seat; the machine slipped smoothly intomotion, the hot and sordid streets began to glide by. 

"Ever think how illuminating it would be, Miss Field, if we kept alist of the things that are worrying us sick, and read 'em over afew weeks later?"

"I suppose so!" the girl said, a little surprised, and yet withfervour. "We'd have a fresh bunch then, and be worrying away justas hard!"

The spontaneous response in her tone made Richard Carter laugh. 

"I've had something on my mind for two months, " he said, "to-day Iran into the fellow I thought was going to make the trouble--wehad lunch together, and everything was settled up as calm as aJune day! I feel ten years younger than I did at this timeyesterday! What made me think of it was that I had it on my mindthat you and Nina and the bags would be a crowd in this car when Icame out to my mother's a few minutes ago. I was figuring onsending the bags on to-morrow, and so on and so on--"

"It's often that way, " Harriet smiled. "Only money trouble reallyseems to have a solid, tangible form, " she added, thoughtfully. 

"Combined with some other, " he surprised her by answering quickly, as if he were quite at home with his subject. "If there isn'tsickness--or drink--"

"Oh, you can't say that, Mr. Carter!" Harriet was at home here, too. "Everybody who is respectable and hard working and soberdoesn't get rich---"

"No, not rich!" He was really interested. "But our contentionisn't that riches are the only happiness, is it?" he countered. 

"No, but I say that money trouble is a very real thing, " sheanswered, quickly. 

"There is a golden mean, Miss Field, between being rich and beingpoor!" he reminded her. 

"I suppose I am rather bitter, " Harriet said, enjoying thisconfidence more than she could stop to realize, "because I havejust been to see my sister in New Jersey. She has four children, pretty well grown now, and her husband is really a good man, and asteady man, too--he is a sort of Jack-of-all-trades on a Brooklynnewspaper. I suppose Fred is paid sixty dollars a week, and theysave on that! But--"

"She's unhappy, eh?" asked the man, with a sidewise glance. 

"Linda?" Harriet laughed ruefully. "No, she's not! She's toohappy, " she said, with a little laugh that apologized for thesentiment. "She washes and cooks and plans all day and all night!I'm the one who worries. It makes me sad to have her work so hardfor so little--"

She sensed his lack of sympathy, and stopped short, in a littlevague surprise. There was a brief silence while he took the carskillfully through a somewhat congested side street, then theywere leaving the hot city behind, and the fresh breath of theriver was in their faces. Harriet, in self-defence, sketched theDavenport home for him in a dozen sentences. 

"You might tell your brother-in-law, from me, " Richard Cartersaid, presently, "that there isn't much that money will buy HIM!"

Harriet flushed. She had had perhaps a dozen brief conversationswith Richard Carter before to-day, but they had never touched sopersonal a note before. 

"I sounded mercenary!" she said, a little uncomfortably. "But Ididn't mean to be. I suppose it is because I see so many thingsthat money would do for my sister; I'd love so to have thechildren beautifully dressed and well educated. Little Pip, rakingthe yard to-day!--when he ought to be in some wonderful Montessorischool!"

"Oh, nonsense!" the man said, heartily. "Lord--Lord, I rememberSaturday morning, in a little Ohio town, and raking up the leaves, too! That won't hurt them. I wish--I've often wished, that Nina'slife ran a little more in that direction, " said her father, frankly. "It's hard not to spoil 'em when you have the chance!Girls--well, perhaps it isn't so bad for girls. But I look atWard, now, and I wonder what on earth is going to keep that boystraight. This Tony Pope, for instance--it's too much, you know!They don't know the value of money, and they don't know the valueof life!"

"Ward is too sweet to be spoiled, " Harriet ventured, somewhattimidly. 

"You like the boy?" his father asked. 

"I? Ward?" She was taken unawares, and flushed brightly. "Indeed Ido!"

"I'm glad you do, " Richard Carter said, in quiet satisfaction. "I've imagined sometimes that you have a good influence on him--he's impressionable. " He fell into silence, and for some timethere was no further speech between them. Harriet was content toenjoy this restful interval between the hurry and crowding ofLinda's house and the currents and cross-currents that she mustencounter at Crownlands. She watched the green country go by, thetrees silent and heavy with their rich foliage, the villagesblazing with the last June roses. It was oppressively hot, yesterday's storm had not much relieved the air, but Harriet wasconscious of a lazy feeling that it did not so much matter now, the weather was no longer of importance. A mere accident had madeit natural for Richard Carter to drive her home, and yet she waspleasantly thrilled by the circumstance. 

They flew by the great gates of the country club, and turned inpast Crownlands lodge, and Harriet got out, at the steps, andturned her happy, flushed face toward the man to thank him. Alittle spraying film of golden hair had loosened under her hat;her cheeks had a summer burn over their warm olive; her eyes shonevery blue. Whatever she saw in his face as he smiled and nodded ather pleased her, for she went upstairs saying again to herself, "Oh, you're real----you're honest--I LIKE you!"

It was delightful to get back into the familiar atmosphere, tocatch the fragrance of flowers in the orderly gloom downstairs, totake off her hat and her hot, dusty clothing, and have a leisurelyhot bath; to put on fresh and fragrant summer wear, and to godown-stairs presently, rejoicing in being young and comfortable, and tremendously interested in life. A maid stopped to questionher; there were letters to open; she felt herself instantly a partof the establishment again, and at home here. The significance ofRichard Carter's parting look, its honest admiration andfriendliness, augmented by her own glance at a chance mirror onher way upstairs, stayed with her pleasantly. 

At one end of the terrace there was an awning whose shade fellupon the brick flooring and the jars of bloom; and this afternoonit also shaded Isabelle, in a basket chair, and the big hound, andTony Pope. Harriet cast them a passing glance, and wondered alittle in her heart. The boy was handsome, and fascinating, andrich, but it was just a little unusual to have Isabelle so openlyinterested in any one. There were no other callers this afternoon;Nina had driven to the golf club with her father, and might beexpected to remain there for tea, if any entertainment offered, orto return home when Hansen brought the car back. 

The thought of Nina brought Royal Blondin again to Harriet's mind, and she was conscious of a little internal wincing. But that riskmust be faced simply, as one of the unpalatable possibilities oflife. That Royal would take some step against which she must, inhonour bound, protest; that Nina should engage herself to him, andNina's parents consent; that no fortuitous circumstance shouldplay into Harriet's hands, and that she should be obliged toantagonize him openly. Was unthinkable on this peaceful, goldenafternoon. The canvas was too big, the cast of characters toolarge, there must be some shifting of scene, some change in plot, before anything so momentous occurred. 

Yet the danger, faint though it might be, was already influencingher. She was committed to a certain amount of diplomatic silencenow; her position here had subtly changed since the hour thatbrought Royal Blondin back into her life a few days ago. Linda'sconcern, and her own agony of apprehension when she first saw him, had shown her just how frail was her hold upon this pleasant andsmooth existence, and in self-defence she had begun for the firsttime to think of making it more definite. If she was to have allthe terrors of maintaining a dangerous position, at least shemight be sure of its sweets. 

Undefined and vague, all this was still somewhere in thebackground of her thoughts as she returned to Crownlands, and whenshe met Ward Carter, wrestling with the engine of his own ratherdisreputable racing car, out in one of the clean, gravelled spacesnear the garage. His coat was off, his fresh, pleasant facestreaked with oil and earth, his sleeves rolled up to the elbow. 

Harriet, who had wandered out idly, felt a little quickening ofher pulses as she saw him. There was no mistaking the pleasure inhis eyes as she came close. 

"Spark plugs?" she asked, with the sympathy of one to whom thepeculiarities of the car were familiar. 

"She's fixed now; I've just cleaned 'em, " Ward announced, flingingaway his cigarette, and straightening his back. "She'll go like abird, now. When did you get back?"

"Your father drove me home, like the angel he is. You came withNina?"

"Nina and Blondin. Then I drove him on to the Evans's. But shebegan to act queer on the way home, " said Ward, fondly, of thecar. "Say--get in and try her, will you?" he asked, eagerly. 

"If you could wipe your face---" Harriet murmured, offering ahandkerchief. He declined it, but snatched out his own, anddistributed the dirt on his face somewhat more evenly. "Come on--come on, be a sport!" he said. But perhaps he was as muchsurprised as delighted when she very simply stepped into the lowfront seat. There was a friendly nearness of her fresh whiteruffles, and a thrilling fragrance and sweetness and youngnessabout her this afternoon that was new. Miss Field always, inWard's simple vocabulary, had been a "corker. " But now he gave hermore than one sidewise glance as they went dipping smoothly up anddown through the green lanes, and said to himself, "Gosh--when shecrinkles those blue eyes of hers, and her mouth sort of twitchesas if she wanted to laugh, she is a beauty--that's what SHE is!"

And dressing for dinner, some time later, he found himselfstopping short, once or twice, with his tie dangling in his hand, or his brushes aimlessly suspended, while he calculated thechances of encountering her again--in the pantry, in one of thehallways, in the side garden, where she often went, at abouttwilight, with a book. 

About a week later they met for a few moments in this very sidegarden. It was early evening, and twilight and moonlight weremingled over the silent roses, and the trimmed turf, and the lowbrick walls. The birds had long gone to bed, and the first dewswere bringing out a thousand delicious odours of summer-time. Harriet's white gown and white shoes made her a soft glimmering inthe tender darkness; Ward was in informal dinner clothes, with theshine of dampness still on his sleek hair, and the pleasantfreshness of his scarcely finished toilet still about him. 

They came straight toward each other, and stood very closetogether, and he took both of Harriet's hands. 

"Now, what is it--what is it?" the man said, quickly. "I've beenwaiting long enough. I can't stand it any longer! I can't go awayto-morrow, perhaps for two weeks, and not know!" "Ward, " the girlfaltered, lifting an exquisite face that wore, even in the faintmoonshine, a troubled and intense expression, "can't we let it allwait until you get back?"

"I'll keep my mouth shut, nobody suspects us, if that's what youmean!" he answered, impatiently. "But--why, Harriet, " and his armwent about her shoulders, and he bent his face over hers, "Harriet, why not let me go happy?" he pleaded. 

"You'll see a dozen younger girls at the Bellamys' camp, " Harrietreasoned, "girls with whom it would be infinitely more suitable--"

"PLEASE!" he interrupted, patiently. And almost touching her warm, smooth cheek with his own, and coming so close that to raise herbeautiful eyes was to find his only a few inches away, he added, fervently, "You love me and I love you--isn't that all thatmatters?"

Did she love him? Harriet hoped, when she reviewed it all in therestless, tossing hours of the night, that she had thought, inthat moment, that she did. It was wonderful to feel that strongeager arm about her, there was a sweet and heady intoxication inhis passion, even if it did not awaken an answering passion inreturn. Under all her reasoning and counter-reasoning in the nightthere crept the knowledge that she had known that this was coming, had known that only a few days of encouraging friendliness, only afew appealing glances from uplifted blue eyes, and a few casualtouches of a smooth brown hand must bring this hour upon her. Andback of this hour, and of a man's joy in winning the woman heloved, she had seen the hazy future of prosperity and beauty andease, the gowns and cars and homes, the position of young Mrs. Ward Carter. 

But she told herself that all that was forgotten in that magicfive minutes of moonlight and fragrance and beauty in the rosegarden; she told herself that she really did love him--who couldhelp loving Ward?--and that she would save him far better than hecould save himself, from everything that was not loving andhelpful and good, in the years to come. 

She had let him turn her face up, in the strengthening moonlight, and kiss her hungrily upon the lips, and she had sent him in tohis dinner half-wild with the joy of knowing himself beloved. Harriet had gone in, too, shaken and half-frightened, and with hislast whispered prophecy ringing in her ears:

"Wait a year--rot! I'll go to the Bellamys', because I promisedto, but the day I come back, and that's two weeks from to-day, we'll tell everyone, and this time next year you will have been mywife for six months!"

CHAPTER VIII

A most opportune lull followed, when Harriet Field had time tocollect her thoughts, and get a true perspective upon the eventsof the past week. On the morning after Ward's departure for theBellamys' camp she had come downstairs feeling that guilt waswritten in her face, and that the whole household must suspect herengagement to the son and heir. 

But on the contrary, nobody had time to pay her the leastattention. Nina was leaving for a visit to Amy Hawkes, at theextremely dull and entirely safe Hawkes mansion, where fourunmarried daughters constituted a chaperonage beyond allcriticism. Isabelle Carter was giving and attending the usualluncheons and dinners, her husband absorbed in an especiallyimportant business deal that kept him alternate nights in thecity. The house was quiet, the domestic machinery runningsmoothly, the weather hot, sulphurous, and enervating. 

A letter from Ward brought Harriet's colour suddenly to hercheeks, on the third morning, but there was no one but Rosa tonotice her confusion. Ward wrote with characteristic boyishness. They were having a corking time, there was nobody there as sweetas his girl was, and he hoped that she missed him a little bit. Hewas thinking about her every minute, and how beautiful she wasthat last night on the terrace, and he couldn't believe his luck, or understand what she saw in him. 

There were seven sheets to the letter; each one heavily engravedwith the name of the camp, "Sans Souci, " and the telephone, post-office, telegraph, and rail directions charmingly represented bytiny emblems at the top of the letter-head. Harriet smiled overthe dashing sentences; it was an honest letter. She felt a thrillof genuine affection for the writer; he would never grow up toher, but she would make him an ideal wife none-the-less. She wentabout his father's home, in these days, with a secret happinessswelling in her heart. It would not be long now before thesecretary and companion must take a changed position here. It wasnot the least of her satisfactions that Ward wrote her that Royalwas at the camp, planning a trip to the Orient. But before he wenthe talked of giving a studio tea for Nina. "I think he is slightlymashed on the kid, " wrote Ward, simply. 

With Royal in China, Nina safely recovering from her June fever, and Harriet affianced to Ward, the summer promised serenelyenough. Harriet answered the letter in her happiest vein. Herreply was but two conservative pages; but she said more in thedouble sheet of fine English handwriting than Ward had said inthree times as much space. A charming letter is one of the fruitsof loneliness and reading; Harriet was sure of her touch. Hisfather, his mother, and Nina each had an epigrammatic line or two, and for his grandmother Harriet dared a little wit, and smiled toimagine his shout of appreciative laughter. 

She dined as usual alone, that evening, and was surprised, atabout eight o'clock, to receive the demure notification from Rosathat Mrs. Carter would like to see her. Harriet glanced at amirror; her brassy hair was as smoothly moulded as its tendency tocurve and ring ever permitted, and she wore a thin old transparentwhite gown that looked at least comparatively cool on thisinsufferably hot evening. With hardly an instant's delay she wentdownstairs. 

On the terrace outside the drawing-room windows they were at acard table: Richard, looking tired and hot in rumpled white, Isabelle exquisite in silver lace, and young Anthony Pope. Nearby, Madame Carter majestically fingered some illustratedmagazines. 

It appeared that they wanted bridge; it was too hot to eat, toohot to dance at the club, too hot--said Isabelle pathetically--tolive! Harriet had supposed her dining alone with her infatuatedadmirer, but it appeared that Richard had driven his mother outfrom the city in time to join them for salad and coffee, and thatthis angle of the terrace, where the river breeze occasionallystirred, was the only spot in the world that was approximatelycomfortable. 

Obligingly, Harriet took her place, cut for the deal. But her eyeshad not fallen upon the group before she sensed that something waswrong, and she had a moment's flutter of the heart for fear thatsomeone suspected her, that she was under surveillance. Had Royal--had Ward--

She turned a card, took the deal, found Anthony Pope her partner, and entered into the game with spirit. Richard's first words toher were reassuring; if there was constraint here, she was notinvolved in it. 

"No trump--says little Miss Field. Well, that doesn't seem tofrighten me. Two spades. "

"I think we might try three diamonds, Miss Field, " Anthony said, gravely and pleasantly, and Harriet felt herself acquitted of anyapprehension in that direction as well. It only remained forIsabelle to show friendliness. 

"Du hast diamonten and perlen, you two. I can see that! You'redown, Harriet!" Mrs. Carter said, thoughtfully. Harriet beganthoroughly to enjoy herself! If they were all furious, at least itwas not with her. She speculated, as she gathered in her tricks. Was it conceivable that Richard did not enjoy the discovery of thetete-a-tete dinner? But Isabelle had often been equallyindiscreet, and he had never seemed to resent it before. Harrietknew that Isabelle was ill at ease; she suspected that Tony wasfurious. The old lady was obviously quivering with baffledinterest and curiosity. 

In the little pool of light over the card table the air seemed togrow hotter and hotter; there was suffocation in the velvetdarkness. A distant rumble of thunder broke heavily on thesilence, the sky glimmered with shaking light, and the greatleaves of the sycamores turned languidly in a hot breeze. Harriet, the only interested player, was unfortunate with Tony, unfortunatewith Isabelle. After three rubbers the game ended suddenly;Richard said he had some letters to write, and was keeping Foxwaiting in the library; Anthony scribbled a check, said brief andunfriendly good-nights; Isabelle merely raised passionate darkeyes to his. She was languidly gathering in her spoils when thelights of his car flashed yellow on the drive and he was gone. Harriet, who had lost more than twenty dollars, gave a ruefullaugh. The old lady watched everyone in expectant silence. 

But when Richard spoke it was only to Harriet, and then in anundertone almost fatherly:

"You lose no money when we ask you to oblige us by playing, mydear. I won't permit that! Twenty dollars and forty cents, was it?Consider it paid. "

"Oh, but truly--" she was beginning to protest. The grave look inhis eyes, the authoritative nod, interrupted her, and with apleasant little sensation of protection and of friendliness shehad to concede the point. Immediately afterward he said good-nightto his mother and wife, and went in to his study. Madame Carterfollowed him in, and went upstairs, but Isabelle sat on moodilyshuffling and reshuffling the cards, in the bright soft light ofthe terrace lamps. 

"Wait a minute, Harriet, " she said, briefly, and Harrietobediently loitered. But Isabelle seemed to have nothing to say. Her eyes were on the cards, her beautiful breast, exposed in thelow-cut silver gown, rose and fell stormily, and Harriet saw thatshe was biting her full under lip, as if anger seethed strongwithin her. In the gleam of the lamps her dark hair took the shineof lacquer; there were jewelled combs in it to-night, and thejewels winked lazily. 

Bottomley, the butler, came out, and began discreetly to adjustchairs and to supervise the carrying away of ashtrays and coffee-cups. 

"Come upstairs to my room; I want to speak to you!" Isabelle said, suddenly. Harriet followed her upstairs, and they entered thebeautiful boudoir together. Here Isabelle dropped into a chair, sitting sidewise, with one bare arm locked across its rococo back, and stared dully ahead of her, a queen of tragedy. Her silverscarf fluttered free, and the toe of a spangled slipper beat withan angry, steady throb on the floor. 

Germaine came forward, evidently more accustomed to this mood thanHarriet was. Like a flash the high-heeled shoes, the silver gown, and the brocaded stays were whisked away, and a cool, loose silkrobe enveloped Isabelle, and she took a deep, cretonned chair bythe window. The lights were lowered, Isabelle nodded Harriet tothe opposite chair. Then at last she spoke. 

"Can that creature hear?"

Harriet, thrilled, glanced toward the dressing room, and shook herhead. 

"I ask you, " said Isabelle, with a great breath of angerrestrained, "I ask you if any woman in the world could stand it!"

"I knew something was wrong, " Harriet murmured, as the other madea dramatic pause. 

"Wrong!" Isabelle echoed, scornfully. "You saw the way Mr. Carteracted. You saw him make me ridiculous--make a fool of me! The boywill never come to the house again. "

"Oh, I don't think that!" Harriet said, in honesty. 

"Mr. Carter stalked in upon us, at dinner--" his wife said, broodingly. She fell into thought, and suddenly burst out, "Harriet, my heart aches for that boy! My God--my God--what have Idone to him!"

She rested her white full arms on the dressing table, and coveredher face with her hands. Harriet saw the frail silk of thedressing gown stir with her sudden dry sobbing. 

"My God--if I could cry!" Isabelle said, turning. And Harrietrealized, with a shock, that she was not acting. "Mr. Carter onlysees what I see, " she added, "that it must stop. But I am afraidit will kill him. He isn't like other men. He--" She opened adrawer, fumbled therein. "Read that!" she said. 

Harriet took the sheet of paper, pressed it open. 

"'My heart, '" she read, in Tony Pope's handwriting. "'I will goaway from you if I must. But it will be further than India, Isabelle, further than Rio or Alaska. While we two live, I mustsee you sometimes. Perhaps outside the world there is a place bigenough for me to forget you!'"

"Now--!" said Isabelle, rising and beginning restlessly to walkthe floor. "Now, what shall I do? Send him away to his death, orrisk Mr. Carter's insulting him again, as he did to-night! AnthonyPope means it, Harriet--I know him well enough for that. His wholelife is one thought of me. The flowers, the books, the notes--heonly wakes in the morning to hope for, to plan, a meeting, and thedays when we don't meet are lost days. You don't know how I'vebeen worrying about it, " said Isabelle, passionately, "I'm sickwith worry!"

She fell silent. Germaine appeared with a tray, and began toloosen and brush the dark hair, and Isabelle went automatically tothe business of creaming and rubbing, still shaken, but everyminute more mistress of herself. With the thick, dark switch gone, Harriet was almost shocked by the change in the severely exposedforehead and face. Isabelle looked fully her age now, more thanher age. But the younger woman knew that however honest her desireto disenchant her young lover, no woman ever risks his seeing herthus. Isabelle might weep, and pray, and suggest supremesacrifice, but it would be the corseted and perfumed and beautifulIsabelle from whom Tony parted, whom Tony must renounce. 

"Well!" said the mistress, sombre-eyed still, and with a stillheaving breast. "There was something else, Harriet--Gently, please, Germaine, my head aches frightfully. Oh, Harriet, will yousee what this Blondin man wants with Nina? She tells me hesuggested some sort of summer party in his roof garden; I don'tknow quite what it is. But her heart is set on it. They seem tounderstand each other--I always felt that when Nina's affairs didbegin, she would pick out freaks like this! But, " Nina's mothersighed, resignedly, "that's all right. He's interesting, andeveryone's after him, and if it pleases her--! And will you go tothe Hawkes' for her in the morning? Hansen is going at--I don'tknow what time, in the big car. Don't--" Germaine had gone to thebathroom for a hot towel, and Isabelle dropped her voice, almostaffectionately--"don't worry about this little scene, Harriet. Itwill be quite all right!"

"Oh, surely!" The companion's voice was light and cheerful; shewent upstairs only pleasantly excited and thrilled. And at thebreakfast table next morning Harriet could show the head of thehouse the same bright assurance. She was young. Life was like afascinating play. Richard had come downstairs early, and they hadtheir coffee alone. 

"Nina?" asked her father. 

"She comes back to-day, " Harriet said. "Mrs. Carter is going tohave her masseuse, so she won't be down. She asked you to rememberthat you are dining at the Jays' to-morrow. There's to be tennisat about four. "

"Finals, " he said, nodding. "Jim Kelsoe and one of the Irvins--"

"Judson Irwin, " the girl supplied. 

"Was it?" Richard Carter went out to his car apparently wellpleased with himself and his life. Harriet started for the Hawkes'with a philosophic reflection or two as to the ephemeral qualityof married quarrels. 

She brought Nina back at noon, a garrulous and complacent Nina, who could pity the elder Hawkes as girls who "never had admirers. "When they reached the driveway of Crownlands, Harriet recognizedthe car that was already there, and said to herself that AnthonyPope would join them for luncheon. But just as she and Nina wereabout to enter the cool, wide, dark doorway, Anthony himselfpassed them. He was almost running, and apparently did not seethem. He ran down the shallow steps and sprang into his car, whichscattered a spray of gravel as he jerked it madly about, and wasgone before she and Nina had ended their look of surprise. Harrietdetected a magnificent astonishment in Bottomley's mild elderlyglance as well; she went slowly upstairs, with a dim forebodingfar back in her heart. 

In Nina's room were three flowers from Royal Blondin. Nina saidhastily, and in rapture: "Water lilies!" but a ten-year-old memorytold Harriet that they were lotus blooms. Another girl had hadlotus blooms years ago; Harriet wondered if Royal always sent themto the women he admired, or rather, to the one whose favour was, for the moment, to his advantage. 

Nina had no such thoughts. Radiantly and amazedly she turned toHarriet. 

"Oh, Miss Harriet, look! They're from Mr. Blondin! Oh, I do thinkthat is terribly nice of him. The idea! The IDEA! We were speakingof a poem called 'The Lotus Flower'. Did you ever? I think that isterribly decent of him, don't you? Shan't I write him? Would you?Hadn't I better write him right now? Will you help me? I do thinkthat is terribly decent of him, don't you?"

And so on indefinitely. Harriet felt rather sorry for the gauchelittle creature who flung aside her hat and wrap, and sat bitingher gold pen-handle, and spoiling sheet after sheet of paper. Butthere was protection in Nina's absorption, too; she was far toohappy to know or care that Harriet felt somewhat worried, or tomake any comment when they went down to lunch to find thatIsabelle begged to be excused. They lunched alone with the oldlady. 

At about three, when the important note was written, and Harrietand Nina were idling on the shady terrace, with the hound, the newmagazines, and their books, Hansen brought one of the small closedcars to the side door. Five minutes later Isabelle, in a thinwhite coat, a veiled white hat, and with a gorgeous white-furredwrap over her arm, came out. Germaine was with her, carrying twoshiny black suitcases. Isabelle, Harriet thought, looked superblyhandsome, but Germaine had evidently been scolded, and had redeyes. 

Isabelle came over to give her daughter a farewell kiss. 

"Mrs. Webb has telephoned for me, ducky. Your father isn't cominghome to-night, but have a happy time with Miss Harriet, and I'llbe back in a day or two. "

"I thought that you were dining to-morrow at the Jays'!" Harrietsaid. That she had not been mistaken did not occur to her untilshe saw the colour flood Isabelle's face. 

"I forgot it. But I wonder if you will be sweet enough totelephone to-morrow morning, and say that I am obliging an oldfriend?" Isabelle said, smoothly. "I shall be with Mrs. Webb inGreat Barrington, Harriet. She made it a personal favour, and Icouldn't refuse! Good-bye, both of you. All right, Hansen!"

They swept away, leaving Harriet with a strange sense ofnervousness and suspense. The summer air seemed charged withmenace, and the silence that followed the noise of the car oddlyominous. She looked about nervously; Nina was drifting throughVanity Fair, the sun was warm, and the air sweet and still. Butstill her heart was beating madly, and she felt frightened and illat ease. 

Madame Carter was on the terrace when they came back at five froman idle trip to the club, reporting that her son had just returnedunexpectedly from the city, and had gone in to change for golf. 

Nothing alarming here, yet Harriet experienced a sick thrill ofapprehension. Something abnormal seemed to be the matter with themall this afternoon!

"Did you call me, Mr. Carter?" She hardly knew her own voice, ashe came down the three broad steps from the house. Her hands feltcold, and she was trembling. 

"Do you happen to know where Hansen is, Miss Field?"

"Driving Mrs. Carter to the Webbs' at Great Barrington, " the girlanswered, readily. "Will young Burke do? Mrs. Webb telephoned, andMrs. Carter left in a hurry. She did not expect you to-night. Hansen ought to be back at about seven, I should think--"

He was not listening to her; abruptly left her. When Harriet wentinto the house she saw nothing of him. But she knew he had notgone away for the usual golf, and was conscious still of that oddfluttering of mind and soul, that presage of ill. She made herusual little round, spoke briefly to a maid about some fallendaisy petals, consulted with the housekeeper as to the newcretonne covers. A man was to come and measure those covers thisvery afternoon--perhaps this was he, modestly waiting at the sidedoor. 

But no, this man briefly and simply asked to be shown to Mr. Carter, remarking that he was expected. He disappeared into thelibrary; Harriet saw no more of him for an hour, when he silentlyappeared beside her, and asked to see the chauffeur Hansen as soonas he came. 

Richard brought the strange man to the dinner table; but there wasnothing in that to make the dinner so unnatural. To be sureRichard ate little, and spoke hardly at all; but this Mr. Williamswas quite entertaining, and the old lady in good spirits. Nina, pleased at being downstairs, as she and Harriet usually were whenher father and mother were not at home, or when there was nocompany, also contributed some shy remarks. But Harriet was besetwith sudden fits of nervousness, and oppressed by a heavy sense ofimpending disaster. She said to herself that she wished heartilythe weather would break and clear, she felt like "a witch. "

At eight Hansen was back, presenting himself in his dusty road-coat; Mr. Carter immediately drew him with Williams into thelibrary. Nina loitered up to bed, but the old lady and Harrietremained downstairs. They did not like, but they sometimes amused, each other. Suddenly came the summons: would Miss Field pleasestep into the library?

Hansen was going out as she came in; Richard was at the big flat-topped desk, the man Williams standing somewhat in shadow. Harriet's heart leaped; they were going to ask her about Royal. 

"Just a moment, Miss Field, " Richard said. "Will you sit down?"And as Harriet, looking at him in frightened curiosity, did so, hebegan quietly: "We are in some trouble here, Miss Field. I hardlyknow how to tell you what we fear. Did you notice anything strangeabout--Mrs. Carter's--manner to-day?"

"I thought I did, " Harriet admitted. 

"Did you think of any reason for it?"

Harriet gave the stranger a glance that made him an eavesdropper. 

"I fancied that it was connected with--with what distressed herlast night, Mr. Carter. "

"You may speak before Mr. Williams, " Richard said. He looked down;was silent. "I asked him to help me, " he added, slowly. "Was youngMr. Pope here to-day?"

"This morning, I don't know how long, " Harriet said, with a greatlight, or darkness, breaking in upon her mind, "he was leavingwhen Nina and I came home. "

Richard gravely considered this, and nodded his head. 

"And immediately afterward Mrs. Carter went away?"

"Not immediately. Not until three. "

"Do you know who took the telephone call from Mrs. Webb?" Richardsaid. 

"No, because nobody did. No person named Webb called from GreatBarrington, or anywhere else, to-day, " said Williams, breaking indecidedly, his voice a contrast to Richard's hesitating tones. "Asa matter of fact, Hansen didn't drive to Great Barrington. Twomiles from your gate here, Mrs. Carter gave him other directions. "

"What directions?" Harriet asked, antagonized by his manner, andfeeling her cheeks get red. The man evidently had small respectfor womanhood. 

"He drove to New London, " Richard supplied. "Pope's yacht isthere. "

His manner was very quiet, he spoke almost wearily, but Harrietfelt as if a cannon had exploded in the study. She turned white, looked toward Williams, whose mouth was pursed in a silentwhistle, looked back at Richard, who was making idle pencil markson a tablet of paper. 

"I've had New London on the wire, " said Mr. Williams. "Mr. Popehad been getting ready for a cruise. The chances are that theyhave already weighed anchor. "

"On the other hand, " Richard said, glancing at his watch, "we havean excellent prospect of finding them there. I was not supposed tocome home until to-morrow night. I found Mrs. Carter's message atfive, twenty-four hours earlier than she expected me to. Williamsmay be mistaken, of course, " he finished, with a glance at thedetective. 

"Not likely!" said Williams, with a modest shrug. 

"However, even if he is right, " Richard resumed, "the chances arethat they are still there, and if they are, I will bring--my wifeback with me to-night. Meanwhile, I leave the house in your care, Miss Field. I needn't tell you that my mother and Nina must bekept absolutely ignorant of what we suspect. You'll know what totell them, in case I should be longer away. If our calculationsare wrong, there's no telling where I may follow Mrs. Carter. Ileave this end of things to you!"

The trust he placed in her, and something tired and patient in histone, brought the tears to Harriet's eyes. 

"I'm sorrier than I can say, " she said, huskily. 

"I know you are! It's--" Richard passed his hand over hisforehead--"it's utter madness, of course. But, please God, we cankeep it all hushed up. She has Germaine with her; Hansen I cantrust. We're off now, Miss Field. I'll keep you informed if Ican. "

Harriet went back to the drawing room with her heart big withpride. He had mentioned Hansen and Germaine, but he KNEW that hecould trust her! The event was sensational enough, was horrifyingenough. But back of the excitement lay the joy of being needed andbeing trusted. 

"Mr. Carter going away again?" said Madame Carter. 

"Mr. Williams came up from the city to consult him aboutsomething, " Harriet explained, smoothly. "They may have to goback. "

"To-night!" ejaculated the old lady. And immediately she added, suspiciously, "What'd he want Hansen for?"

"Doctor and Mrs. Houghton, " Bottomley announced, in his soothingundertone. Harriet could have embraced the uninteresting elderlycouple who entered smilingly. They beamed that it was so hot--theywere going up to the club; couldn't the Carters join them?

"Mrs. Carter went to visit a friend in Great Barrington, " MadameCarter explained, "and my son has one of his clerks here, and mayhave to return to the office to-night. Too bad!"

"But how about another lesson in bridge, Doctor Houghton?" Harrietventured. The old wife was instantly enthusiastic. 

"Yes, now, Doctor! This is a splendid chance, for I know MadameCarter isn't too good a player to be patient. "

"I don't want to bore this pretty girl to death!" protested theold man, gallantly. But Harriet had already signalled theattentive Bottomley, and when Richard Carter came to say good-night a few minutes later they were on the terrace, and hilariousover the beginner's mistakes. Even Madame Carter enjoyed this; shewas a poor player, but she shone beside the Houghtons, and Harriettook care to consult her respectfully, and agree seriously as tobids and leads. 

"Good-night, Mother!" said Richard, touching with his lips thecool old forehead, next to the white hair. "Wish I could play withyou fellers and girls!"

"You!" said old Mrs. Houghton, archly. "You'd scare us to death!"

Richard went smiling to the car, hearing Harriet murmur as hewent: "I think he has a two heart bid, don't you Madame Carter?You bid two hearts, Doctor . .. "

CHAPTER IX

That Isabelle's madness would run its full gamut did not occur toHarriet until the next day. Then, as the serene hours moved by, and there was no word and no sign from Richard, the possibilitiesbegan to suggest themselves. It seemed to her incredible that anywoman would risk all that Isabelle had, for the sake of a fieryboy's first love, and yet, on the other hand, there was the memoryof Isabelle's suffering two nights ago, and here were the amazingfacts to prove it. 

The girl went about in a dream, sometimes imagining the meeting ofhusband and wife, sometimes trying to fancy Isabelle with herlover. As was inevitable, the older woman seemed to lose somethingcharming and intangible in this confession of definite weakness. To be adored by any man merely adds to her glory, but the instantshe concedes him an inch, the Beauty throws down her halo, thewhole affair becomes mundane and vulnerable. Harriet might haveenvied Isabelle once, now she saw her frail, forty, her woman'spride weakened by admitted passion, and was sorry for her. She hadhad all men at her feet, now she must feel herself fortunate ifshe could hold one. 

And with Isabelle's shame came a wholesome sting of shame toIsabelle's companion. Harriet had seen nothing harmful in thisaffair a few days ago; it was the way of this world of theirs. Butshe felt within her now the awakening of something clean andstern; she found in her mind odd phrases and terms--"a marriedwoman's duty, " "her sense of honour, " "owing it to her husband andchildren. "

It was for few women to enjoy the popularity that Isabelle hadknown. But any woman might run away with a rich admirer. Harriet'sadmiration for the cleverness with which Isabelle conducted thispretty playing with fire disappeared, and in its place came thesharp conviction that old-fashioned women like Linda had somejustification, after all; it was "dangerous, " it did "lead tosin, " it could indeed "happen once too often. "

Harriet felt her own lapsing morality regaining its standard. Justnow, when Nina most needed her mother, when Richard was strugglingwith difficult business conditions, when Ward was engaged--

She interrupted her thoughts here, and tried to make herself feellike a woman engaged to be married. Somehow the fact persisted inbaffling her. There was an unreality about it that prevented herfrom tasting the full sweet. Engaged--to a rich man, and a richman's son. Well, perhaps when Ward came back, it would seem morebelievable. 

But Ward might come back to a changed home. Harriet fancied aquiet wedding, herself afterward as the true head of thedisorganized family. She would be Nina's natural chaperon, then, her father-in-law's--for Richard would be that!--naturalconfidante. The prospect, and every hour of this warm and silentday seemed to make it more definite, brought the wild-rose colourto her face, and made her heart beat faster. It was certainly alife full and gratifying beyond her dreaming, and it was almostsettled now! If Ward did not figure very prominently in thisbright dream, she told herself that Ward should have no cause forgrievance. He should always be first in everything; but if hiswife enjoyed her position, her connections, her place in thefamily, surely there was no harm in that! There was but onestumbling block: Royal Blondin. Her heart stopped at him. 

She had been standing at one of the hall windows, a window deepset in the brick wall, and commanding through elms and beeches thepath to the tennis court. Down this path Nina and Francesca Jayhad recently disappeared, with their rackets, for some practice. The sun was high, and the sky cloudless; under the trees there wasa softly mottled pattern of light and shade. Outside the windowthe hound was lying, his nose on his paws, his eyes shut. Harrietremembered walking in such a summer wood, years and years ago, alittle girl with yellow braids, holding tight to her mother'shand. They had sat down on the ground, and her mother and fatherhad talked, and the little girl had lain on her back for whatseemed hours, looking at the sky. 

There seemed to be no time for idle walks and dreaming in thewoods nowadays. Harriet had been four years at Crownlands, and hadlooked out at this wood a thousand times, but she had never lostherself in it, or lain staring up through branches there. She wasalways too busy: the business of eating, and of amusing theothers, and of keeping the machinery moving, had always absorbedher. Personalities, microscopic buzzing of midges, had blotted outthe beautiful arches and aisles; and if ever Harriet walkedthrough the wood now, she was with chattering women; she waswondering if this one, or that one, or the other one, was hurt, orneglected, or piqued, was paired with the wrong person, or hadreally intended the meaning that might be read into a look ortone. 

--Hands pressed her eyes tight, and she came back to the presentmoment with a start. Ward Carter was behind her. He laughed at herconfusion, and they sat down on the window seat together. Yes, hewas going back to the Bellamys', and so was Blondin, but they hadboth come in just for lunch and the drive. They had driven ahundred and twenty miles that morning, what? And they were goingto drive back that afternoon, what-what? And how about eats, olddear?

Instantly he brought reassurance to her. Ward was such a dear! Ofcourse she loved him. 

"But you weren't a very good boy last night!" she said. Theirhands were locked; but she had shaken a negative when he wouldhave kissed her. Bottomley was everywhere at once. 

"Rotten!" he confessed, easily. "I played poker, too. No man oughtto do that when he's edged. Sorry--sorry--sorry. Bad, bad, badlittle Edward! I lost two hundred to Bates, a curse upon him. Butthat was nothing; once, there, I was over twelve hundred in. Listen. When we're married it's all off. No smoking, drinking, gambling, wine, women, or song, what?"

"You may not know it, but you never spoke a truer word!" the girlsaid. His shout of laughter was pleasant to hear. 

"Listen. Does the Mater know it? About us, I mean?"

"Oh, Ward--nobody knows it! Hush!" His mention of his motherbrought back realization with a rush, and she added uncomfortably, "She's at Great Barrington. "

"Oh, darn! I wanted to see her! She wrote me, and told me sheloved me, and that she didn't think she had been a very goodmother to me!" He laughed, youthfully, with a bewildered wideningof his eyes. "I thought she was sick. Well, maybe we can stopthere going back. "

"Where did you leave Mr. Blondin?"

"He beat it down to the tennis court. Say, listen, is there achance that he's stuck on Nina? It looks to me like what the watchcomes in!"

Harriet glanced at her wrist before she answered him. Her heartwas sick within her. Close upon her radiant dream had come thisshadow, far more a shadow now, when her responsibility hadinfinitely increased, and when she had had proof of the love andrespect in which they held her here. 

"I don't think so!" she said, briefly. "I'll find Bottomley, andhave lunch put ahead. "

"You don't like him!" Ward said, watching her closely. 

"I don't like him for Nina!" she amended. 

The boy followed her while she gave her order. Then they went outinto the blazing day together. 

"Nina isn't going to have more than a scalp a day, " said herbrother, fraternally. 

"Nina has a fortune!" the girl remarked, drily, opening her widewhite parasol. 

But Ward was rapidly squandering an equal amount, and it was notimpressive to him. 

"Lord, he could marry a girl with ten times that! Look here, youdon't think a man like Blondin would consider that!" he protested. 

"I would rather see Nina dead and buried!" The words burst fromHarriet against her will, against her promise to Royal. There wasno help for it, her essential honesty would have its way. "I makea splendid conspirator!" she said to herself, in grim self-contempt. 

"Talk to him!" Ward, fortunately, was not inclined to take her tooseriously. "You'll like him! Gosh, he certainly has a good effecton me, " added the youth, modestly. "He doesn't drink, and he talksto me--you ought to hear him!--about character being fate, and allthat! Say, listen, before we get out of the woods--?"

His sudden sense of her nearness and beauty belied the carelesswords. Harriet found his arms tight about her, her face tipped upto the young, handsome face that was stirred now with tremblingexcitement. The quick movement of his breast she could feelagainst her own, and the passion of his kisses almost frightenedher; she was held, bound, half-lifted off her feet. 

"Ward!" she gasped, freed at last, and with one hand to herdisordered hair, while the other held him at arm's-length. "Dear!PLEASE!"

It was no use. Soul and senses were enveloped again, and close toher ear she heard his whisper: "I'm mad about you! Do you knowthat! I'm mad about you!"

"I think you are!" she stammered, breathless and laughing. "Youmustn't do that! You mustn't do that! Why, we might be seen!"

Breathless, too, he flung back his hair, and stooped to pick upher parasol. 

"Do you think I care!" he panted, indifferently. "I wouldn't careif the whole world saw!"

"Sh--sh!" By the magic only known to youth and womanhood Harriethad gathered herself into trimness and calm again. She took herparasol composedly. Her eyes told him the whole story. Nina andRoyal Blondin were two hundred feet away, coming up from thetennis court. 

The four met cheerfully; apparently all at ease. Nina wasstammering and blushing a trifle more than usual, but Royal'spresence would account for that. Ward burst into a stream ofidiotic conversation; Harriet found herself sauntering ahead ofthe young Carters, discussing Sheringham fans with the dilletant. 

"You fool--fool--fool!" she said to herself. What had they seen?What new twist to the situation would Nina's suspicions afford?Richard Carter trusted her; this was no time to tell him that sheloved his son. Did she love Ward?--or with his keen and kindlyeyes would Ward's father see exactly what she saw in the marriage?Caught kissing in the woods--like Rosa or Germaine; it wasunthinkable! She, with her hard-won prestige of dignity andreserve, exposed to Nina's laughing insinuations, or, worse, Nina's prim disapproval. How she had weakened her position here!How she had risked--her heart contracted with pain--severing ofher association with Crownlands. 

Luncheon, under its veneer of gaiety and foolishness, offeredfresh terrors. For old Madame Carter had come down, and itoccurred to Harriet that if Nina had seen anything in the wood, she might naturally interest her grandmother with an account ofit. Nina rarely had so interesting a topic of conversation. Theold lady would go instantly to her son. And Richard--Harriet couldimagine him, tired, harassed, heartsick over the recentinexplicable weakness of his wife, having to face another woman'streachery, having to listen to the demure announcement of thelittle secretary's engagement to his son. 

Perhaps not treachery, exactly, thought Harriet, as the birds, andthe asparagus, and the crisp little rolls went the rounds. Sheate, hardly knowing what she tasted, and spoke with only a partialconsciousness of what she said. No, not treachery exactly, especially if she went to Richard first with the news. 

But break in upon his painful speculations with the blitheannouncement? What must he think of such utter lack ofconsideration? He was experiencing the most overwhelming shock ofall his life now; he must shortly be exposed to all the whirl ofscandal: the silenced gossip, the averted eyes of his world, theweeklies with their muddy insinuations, the staring fact headlinedabove his breakfast bacon. This was her time to efface herself andthe household, to help him to lift the load. 

"I'm afraid I wasn't listening, Mr. Blondin?"

"Miss Nina and I want to know what day we may have our party?"Royal repeated. 

"The studio party?"

"The roof-garden party. We're going to have it from half-past sixto half-past seven only, because then it won't be too hot. Weshall only ask the people we like! Gira Diable will come and dancefor us, and Tilly will read something--"

"That's Unger Tillotson, the actor!" Nina interpolated, ecstatically. 

"We're not sure that we'll let Francesca and Amy come, " Blondinpursued. "Maybe we won't let them know anything about it! Andeverybody has to wear costumes, so that the picture won't bespoiled. "

"He doesn't like Amy and Francesca, " Nina confessed, with a guiltylittle laugh. 

"Not at all. I like them very much. " Blondin's languid, rich voicecorrected her. Nina shrank sensitively. "I think they're verycharming little schoolgirls. But I don't want them for myfriends!"

At this Nina blossomed like the rose. Emotion choked her, and shelooked down at her plate with a fluttering laugh. This wasirrefutable; before Miss Harriet and Ward and Granny, too. 

"That's what I meant!" she murmured, thickly. 

"Why not have it at night, with lanterns?" Harriet said, quiteinvoluntarily. And again a pang of self-contempt swept over her. It was hateful, it was incredible, but she was playing his game ascalmly as if doubts and reluctance had never entered her heart. 

"People won't go to the city, summer evenings, " Royal explained, "but a great number are there in the afternoons. And thentwilight, over the city, and the bridges lighting up--I assure youit's like fairyland!"

"I wonder if I am to be invited to this party?" said MadameCarter, royally. She had been watching this exchange ofpleasantries with approval. 

"You? You're the queen of the whole affair!" Royal assured her. "You don't have to costume unless you feel like it. "

"Oh, Granny'll have the nicest there!" Nina predicted, gaily. Hergrandmother bridled complacently, although shaking a magnificenthead. Harriet knew that she would spend as much time upon herdress as the youngest and most beautiful woman who attended. 

"Come, " said Madame Carter, brightly, "you didn't think I wasgoing to let you carry out this little plan without a chaperon!"

If there was a self-conscious second after this remark it was nomore than a second. Harriet's quick colour rose, but before Nina'snervous little laugh had died away Blondin said easily:

"Ah, we'll surround the Little Duchess with chaperons; I'm notgoing to be a party to her losing her heart anywhere around MYdiggings!"

"From what I said at luncheon, I hope you didn't imagine that Ithought there was anything--well, in questionable taste, in yourcoming to Nina's party!" said Madame Carter to Harriet an hourlater, when the men had started on their long run back to camp, and she was about to go upstairs for her daily siesta. 

"Not at all; I understood perfectly!" Harriet assumed an air ofabstraction, of pleasant unconcern. Her red lips were firm, andclosed firmly after the brief answer. The smoky blue eyes regardedMadame Carter with innocent expectancy. The girl was amazinglyhandsome, thought the old lady reluctantly. 

"Of course, if Mrs. Carter can spare you, and considers itsuitable, you will be there!" said Madame Carter, amiably, mounting the first stair. 

"Surely!" Harriet said, with a murderous impulse. She watched theerect, splendid old figure ascending. What was there about thisold lady that could put her, and indeed almost any one else whochanced to be marked by her dislike, into a helpless fury ofanger? "If I were once safely married to Ward, " the girl said toherself, "if--"

It was a tremendous "if, " of course. There were a great manythings now that might turn the scales one way or another. Richard's attitude was supremely important. He might feel that hisson was taking a wise, a desirable step. He might feel that tohave the boy settled was to lift just one care from the many thatburdened his shoulders. On the other hand, was it more probablethat this untimely announcement, with its accompanying merry-making and rejoicing, would utterly exasperate and antagonize him?Harriet fancied him asking, with weary politeness, just what theirplans were? Did Ward propose to finish college? Had he formed anyidea of the means by which he should earn his living? He had hisuncle's legacy, of course, the larger part of it. Did the youngpeople propose to begin with that?

Harriet perfectly understood Richard's attitude to the average sonof the average wealthy family. She had heard his caustic commentsupon them often enough. He had earned his own education; he showedfor Isabelle's spoiling of her son the patience of helplessness. To make a man of Ward, in his father's estimation, would havemeant a readjustment of their entire scheme of living andthinking. It was simpler, pleasanter, to sacrifice Ward to thegeneral comfort, especially as he, Richard, was very busy, and asthere was always a possibility that the women were right, andwould make a man of him anyway. Harriet's keen eyes saw, ifIsabelle's did not, that Ward had been steadily gaining in hisfather's good graces for the last year or two. His cheerful, casual manner masked no weakness, every muscle in the young, bigbody was hard from tennis and baseball. If there were sins ofself-indulgence, natural to youth and money and charm, Ward neverbrought them home with him. Lately he had begun to talk of gettingout of college at Christmas time, and "getting started. " Hisfather watched him, Harriet saw, almost wistfully. Was the ladreally becoming a man, in a world of men?

"The probability is that he will favour our engagement, " Harrietreflected. But this was no time to risk the chance of crossinghim. She must wait. She must choose the lesser risk of Nina makingmischief with old Madame Carter; the contingency was there, but itwas a remote contingency. 

CHAPTER X

At four o'clock Richard came home, and the instant Harriet saw hisface she realized, with a shock even sharper than the originalmoment of incredulity, that he had had no success in his search. He was alone. 

She was standing in one of the doorways of the lower hall when hecrossed it, but he did not see her. His face was drawn and gray, he looked hot and rumpled and utterly weary; more, he who hadalways been the pink of well-groomed perfection looked old. Heasked Bottomley briefly if Madame Carter was in her room, and, being informed that she was, went hastily upstairs. 

Harriet could only imagine, later, that he had gone in to see hismother before brushing and changing, or perhaps to avoid Nina, whowith Amy catapulted down the stairway a few seconds after he wentup. At all events, it was to the old lady's beautiful sitting roomthat Harriet was summoned a few minutes later. She knew at oncethat he had told his mother all he knew and feared. 

Madame Carter was shockingly agitated. She had a deep sense of thedramatic, but she was not entirely acting now. Her face was paleunder its rouge, and the painful tears of age stood in her eyes. She was sitting erect in a chair beside the divan where Richardsat; he did not look up as Harriet came in, but continued tostroke his mother's hand. 

"Miss Field!" said Madame Carter, "we have just had a mostterrible--a most unexpected--blow!"

Harriet simulated expectancy. 

"There is every reason to believe, " pursued Madame Carter, majestically, "that my unfortunate daughter-in-law, Mr. Carter'swife, Isabelle, has yielded to the passion of her lover! No, letme talk, Richard, " she interrupted herself, as the man raisedhaggard eyes to watch her impersonally, "far better to face thefacts, my dear! My son tells me, Miss Field the--the well-nighincredible statement that--forgetting the honour of womanhood, andthe tender claims of maternity--"

"Miss Field, " Richard did not have the manner of interruption, buthis quiet voice dominated the other voice none-the-less. MadameCarter fell silent, and watched him with mournful pride. "MissField, " he said, "we want your help. The facts are these: Williamshad all the roads watched; they did not go by motor. Mrs. Carterreached New London at five o'clock yesterday; Pope's boat, theGeisha, pulled out at half-past six. From what Williams' menpicked up, at the dock, Pope did not expect her, was to havesailed this morning. She arrived, and evidently he thought it wiseto hurry their start. The pier had a dozen boxes for the Geisha onit, groceries and what not, that they left behind! They willprobably skirt the coast for a few days, and put in somewhere forsupplies. But that"--he passed his hand wearily across hisforehead--"that doesn't concern us now. We got there at ten lastnight--hours too late, of course. " His voice fell, he mused, witha knitted brow. "Well!" he said, suddenly recalling himself. "Now, Miss Field, I want you to get hold of Ward. I want the boy home atonce! He must know. But there is of course a chance that Mrs. Carter is--is planning to return. There may be a woman friend withher--it's not probable, but it's possible. I don't want any one inthe house, or out of it, to suspect, and if you think it ispossible, I should like Nina protected!"

"I understand, " Harriet said, quietly, in the silence. 

"You will remember, Richard, " Madame Carter said, in the accentsof Lady Macbeth, "that this is exactly what I always expected! Itold you so, twenty years ago. You brought it on yourself, mydear. A Morrison--who ever heard of the Morrisons?--their mother--Mrs. Banks tells me--was a school teacher! I have always felt--!"

Harriet heard the man's patient murmur as she slipped away. Shecrossed the hall, and for the first time in four years enteredIsabelle's suite unannounced. It was in exquisite order; streamsof late afternoon light were falling on the gay walls and thebright chintzes. The novels Isabelle had been skimming, the goldservice of her dressing table, the great four-poster with itsdeeps of transparent white embroideries over white, all spoke ofthe beautiful woman who had spent so many hours here. On thedressing table, with its splendid length doubled in the mirror, was the great fan that her hand had idly wielded, only a few daysago, in an hour of domestic felicity and happiness. And theinanimate plumes, that Harriet picked up and idly unfurled, hadplayed their little part in the drama that had ended that brightscene once and for all. 

What to tell Nina?--Harriet wondered, going downstairs. But Ninaproved pleasantly indifferent to the maternal absence when she andAmy came up from the tennis court for tea. To the guest or two whocame calling Harriet, installed quite naturally now behind thecups and saucers, explained that Mrs. Carter was visiting withfriends--having a beautiful time, too, apparently. To anaccidentally direct remark from Amy she answered that she believedthey were taking a motor trip just at the moment, but she wouldforward a note, if Amy liked. Madame Carter did not come out fortea; they were very quiet on the terrace. But Richard was there, and Amy and Nina were developing their youthful conversationalarts upon him, when a maid came to stand respectfully besideHarriet. "If you please, Miss Field, Mr. Bottomley would like toknow if you are to have your dinner downstairs to-night, please, "said Pauline, incidentally feeling as if she was in a dream ofbliss. Her last position had been in a well-to-do stationer'sfamily in Newark, and consesequently she might have entered intothe feelings of Miss Field far more intelligently than eitherimagined. 

Harriet hesitated, glanced at Richard, wondering if he had heard. More rested on this decision than there was any estimating. Shedared not decide. 

"Miss Field will dine downstairs, " Richard said, without glancingin their direction. And when the maid had gone he said withpleasant authority, "I wish you and Nina would do that regularly, Miss Field, when you have no other plan. "

"Thank you, " Harriet said, with her heart singing. 

Perhaps Nina suspected that something about his high-handeddomestic readjusting was unusual. She looked from her father toHarriet, and after a moment's silence asked abruptly:

"When is Mother coming back?"

"I don't know!" her father answered, quickly. 

"Say, listen, are we going to dress?" asked Amy. Nina, instantlydiverted, suggested that they go in. Nina's awkward bigness andAmy's mousy neutral tones were as well displayed in one garment asanother, but both girls debated over pinks and blues, crepes andmulls, every evening, as if the world was watching them alone. Harriet lingered for only a word. 

"Mr. Carter, it occurred to me that old Mrs. Singleton is going toCalifornia, in her own car, to-morrow. Would it be possible to letNina and Amy and the household generally think--"

"Yes?" he encouraged her as she paused dubiously. He had risen tohis feet, and fixed his tired eyes on her face. 

"I was wondering if we might confide in Mrs. Singleton--she wasalways very fond of Mrs. Carter--and give out the impression thatMrs. Carter had suddenly decided to make the trip with her. "

"That's an idea, " Richard said, thoughtfully. "I could see Mrs. Singleton to-night--and--and talk it over. "

"It might serve for only a few days, " Harriet submitted. 

"Yes, I see, " he agreed, slowly. 

"Well, I can give Nina a hint now!" Harriet said, going. The lategolden sunshine struck her bright hair to an aureole, as she wentup the brick steps and disappeared. 

But it was too late for any soothing deception of Nina. A scenewas in full progress in Nina's bedroom, and Harriet's eye had onlyto go from the prone form on the bed to the crushed newspaper thathad drifted to the floor, to know that the secret was out. Isabelle's face, radiant and happy, looked out from the page. Itwas flanked by two smaller pictures, Richard's and Anthony Pope's. Harriet could see the big letters: "Young Millionaire--Wife ofRichard Carter. " The deluge was upon them. 

"Oh--it's a lie--it's a lie! My beautiful little mother!" Nina wassobbing. "Oh, no, it's not true! It's a lie! Oh, how shall I everhold up my head again--to be disgraced--now just when I'm soyoung--and ha-h-happy!"

"Nina, my child, control yourself!" Harriet, ignoring the staringand pale-faced Amy, sat down on the edge of the bed, and shook thegirl slightly. "You mustn't give way! Come now, my dear, you mustface this like a woman. Think how your father and Ward will lookto you--"

Acting, all of it, said Harriet in her soul. But despite theyouthful appetite for heroics, there were real tears in Nina'seyes, as there had been in her grandmother's a few hours ago. 

"Yes, that's true!" she said, wiping a swollen face on thehandkerchief Harriet supplied. "But oh--I don't believe it, and myfather will sue them for libel, you see if he doesn't! My mother'sthe purest and sweetest and best woman ALIVE--and I'll KILL anyone who says any different!"

"Oo--oo, to see it in the paper there, right on the bed, " saidAmy, in her reedy, colourless little voice, as Nina stoppedsuddenly. "Oo--oo, I thought Nina would die!" Nina began to cryagain, but more quietly. "I guess I had better go--" Amy finished, plaintively. 

"Oh, no!" said Nina in a choked voice, as she clung to her friend. "No, darling! you stay with me. Oh, I must go see my father, andmy poor, poor grandmother! Oh, Amy, perhaps you HAD better go, formy family will need me to-night. My mother--!" said Nina, cryingagain. 

She and Amy parted solemnly, with many kisses. 

"It's a thing that might happen to me, or to any girl, " said Amy, gravely. Harriet had an upsetting vision of stout, high-bustedMrs. Hawkes, panting as she discussed the details of the Red Crossdrive, but she was very sympathetic with the young girls, and evenagreed with Nina, when Amy was gone, that it would be much moresensible to take her bath, and put on her white organdie, and thengo find her father. 

They dined almost silently, and were about to disperse quietly forthe night, after an hour of half-hearted conversation in thedrawing room, obviously endured by Richard simply for his mother'ssake, when Ward burst in. He had travelled almost four hundredmiles by motor that day, his face was streaked with dirt and oil, and ghastly with fatigue. He went straight to his father. 

"Say, what's all this!" he said, in a voice hardly recognizable. Harriet saw that he had been drinking. "I got your wire, and westarted. I thought the Mater was sick, perhaps. My God--THATworried me!" he broke off bitterly. "Blondin came with me; westopped on the road for dinner, and the man had a paper there. Isthat what you wanted me for--I don't believe it! It's a dirty lie, and the bounder that put that in the paper--"

"I'm glad you came home, my boy, " Richard said. "I've been waitingfor you--"

Harriet heard no more; she slipped from the room. There weregenuine tears in her own eyes now; for the boy had flung himselfface downward against a great chair, and was crying. All thehousehold knew it; Harriet could read it in Bottomley's carefullyusual manner and quiet speech. In the little music room across thehall Royal Blondin was waiting. 

"This is a terrible thing!" he said, seriously. 

"Oh, frightful!" Harriet agreed. A rather flat silence ensued. Sheseemed to have nothing to say to Royal now. 

But she was not surprised when a moment later Nina came softly in, the picture of girlish distress, with her wet eyes and fresh whitegown. 

"I thought it best to leave Ward with Granny and Father, " Ninasaid, in vague explanation, going straight to Blondin, who rose, dusty and weary, but with a solicitous manner that was infinitelysoothing. 

"I hoped you wouldn't mind just seeing me, " he said in a low tone. "I'm not quite family, and yet I felt myself nearer than all theneighbours and friends, eh?"

"I shan't see any one for ages, " Nina murmured, plaintively, "butyou--you're different. "

"And shall we talk about her sometimes?" Royal pursued, stillclose to her, and holding both her hands. "As she was, beautifuland sweet and good. For who are you and I, Little Girl, to judgewhat passion--what love will do with human hearts?"

"Yes, I know!" Nina, who never could keep pace with him, saidmournfully. 

Harriet could hear the undertones, and imagine what they said. Shefelt extremely uneasy. If this unforeseen calamity had lifted hersuddenly in the family estimation, it would appear to be drawingRoyal Blondin closer as well. 

His manner, she had grudgingly to admit, was perfection. WhenRichard and Ward joined them a few moments later, he expressedhimself with manly brevity to the older man. He realized, saidBlondin simply, that he was absolutely de trop; he had merelyimagined, as "the lad" had imagined, that the sudden summons fromcamp meant illness or ordinary emergency, or he would not haveintruded at this time. He would not express a sympathy that mustsound extremely airy to the stricken family. And now, if theywould lend him Hansen, he would go over to the club---

"Nonsense!" Ward said. "You're all dirty and tired and hungry, andso am I. We'll clean up, and then we'll have something to eatfirst! Miss Harriet'll look out for us. "

"And I'd like to see you for a moment in the library, Miss Field, "Richard said, rather wearily. He had been obviously displeased atseeing the stranger, but Blondin's manner would have won a harderheart than his. "I want something sent to the papers, " Richardexplained, in an undertone. 

Ah--they all wanted her, and needed her! How quick, and howefficient, and how self-effacing Harriet was, as she went aboutthe business of making them all comfortable! She and Nina talkedwith the young men while they demolished the cold roast and drankcup after cup of coffee. Then Blondin selected several books, andwent upstairs, and Harriet and Nina disappeared in their ownrooms; but Ward came downstairs again, and he and his fathersettled in the library for a talk. 

They talked deep into the night, Harriet knew, for she herself wassleepless, and she could see from the upper balcony that a streamof golden light was pouring across the brilliant flowers beneaththe library windows. 

She had wrapped herself in a warm robe, over her thin nightgown, and thrust her feet into fur-lined slippers, and after Nina wasfathoms deep in youthful slumber Harriet crept out to the balcony, and sat thinking, thinking, thinking. She reviewed the incredibleevents of the past few days, and the actors drifted before hervision fitfully: Isabelle, white-bosomed and beautiful, in herprime; Tony Pope, passionate and wretched; Royal, low-voiced, dreamy, poetic, with his eloquent black eyes; Nina, newlyawakened; Ward, weak, boyish, ardent; Madame Carter full oftheatrical dignity and well-rounded phrases, and lastly--simple, strong, anxious to protect them all, even from their own follies--Richard. 

"Not one word of blame, not one ugly insinuation, " she mused, "yetshe has shamed him, and he is so honourable; and she has made himconspicuous, when he is so modest!"

She thought of Isabelle, fresh from Germaine's careful hands, lying in her exquisite white against the cushions of a deck chair, smiling, in the rosy flattering light under the green awning, atthe infatuated man beside her. Isabelle was a splendid sailor, andloved the sea. They would land at some dreamlike Italian city, rising in tiers of pink and cream and blue beside the sapphireMediterranean, and Isabelle would unfurl her white parasol, andwalk beside him through the warmth and beauty--

"Ugh!" said Harriet, with a healthy uprush of utter disgust. Thesefew months would not be cloudless for Isabelle, by any means. Andafter them, what? Was it conceivable that those fatal sixteenyears would fail to identify Tony and Isabelle wherever they went, even if the press was not eagerly assisting them? Supposing thatIsabelle never thought of Crownlands, of her handsome son and heryoung daughter, of the man whose patience and cleverness hadlifted her to all this luxury from an apartment in a small town, would no memory of the place she had held, and the friendships shehad commanded, haunt her? Truly there was always society for theIsabelles, but to Harriet's clean sense it seemed but the societyof a jail. 

"I wouldn't change places with her!" Harriet decided, in the softsilence and darkness of the summer night. 

From Isabelle's problem her thoughts went to her own, to RoyalBlondin. She was wakeful and restless to-night simply because shecould not decide just how much she need fear him. Firstly, wasthere any reason for antagonizing him, and secondly, would he hurther if she did? For Royal could not punish her without punishinghimself, and could not banish her from Crownlands if he ever hopedto show his own face there again. 

Nina, reaching her room that night, had flung her arms aboutHarriet's neck. 

"Oh, I'm so happy! Oh, Miss Harriet, were you ever in love?" shehad demanded, with a girl's wild, exultant laugh. 

This was moving very fast indeed. Harriet had managed asympathetic yet warning smile. 

"I think I have been. But, my dearest girl, you'll be in and out adozen times before the real thing comes along!"

Nina had smiled inscrutably at this, and slightly diverted theconversation. 

"Don't you think it was awfully decent of Mr. Blondin to want togo off to the club to-night? Oh, I thought he looked perfectlystunning when he looked at Father that way! He told me totelephone the club to-morrow if I felt like just a quiet walk. Ofcourse I shan't see any one for weeks, after this. But he saidsome day when I'm in town with Granny he didn't see why wecouldn't go over and have a cup of tea with him, even if wepostponed the regular tea. Do you? He's different from any one Iever knew. He says I am different from any girl he ever knew. Doyou think I am? I said I thought I was just like the others, except that I like to read poetry and have my own ideas aboutthings, and that I couldn't flirt, or wouldn't if I could, andthat the average boy just bored me. I said that those things weresacred to me--"

Sacred to her! Long after the chattering voice was still, Harriet, out on the balcony, remembered the phrase and winced. There wouldbe small sacredness in the hour that gave Nina to Royal Blondin. And yet, if in his cleverness he won her first tenaciousaffection, it would be a difficult thing to prevent. Isabella, hernatural protector, was gone; Richard saw nothing; the old lady wason the lovers' side, and Ward also had been captivated by Blondin. It was only Harriet, only Harriet, who saw and who understood. 

Was he so bad? She tried to ask herself the question honestly, andan honest shudder answered it before it was fairly framed. Nearlytwenty years Nina's senior, with an interest that could not, heconfessed, have existed except for the girl's fortune, that wasarraignment enough. But there was more. Harriet knew the smoothcoldness, the contemptuous superiority that within a year or twowould blast the youth and self-confidence of a dozen Ninas; sheknew what his moral code was, a code that made desire andopportunity the only law, and that honoured passion as thecrowning emotion of life. She tried to picture Nina's marriage, their early days together, the breakfast table, where the crudelittle girl blundered and floundered in conversation, her helplessdevotion, that would annoy and exasperate him. She saw Nina'snear-sighted eyes welling with hurt tears; Nina's check bookeagerly surrendered to win from her lord a few delicious hours ofthe old flattery, the old attention. Harriet fancied Nina, poor, plain, obtuse little Nina, home again: "But you don't know howhard it is, Father. He is never there any more--he hardly everspeaks to me!"

"It would take a clever woman to hold him, " Harriet thought, "andit wouldn't be worth a clever woman's while. "

Nina-Ward-Royal-Richard. The wearying procession began again. Royal might treat her with honesty and honour. He was not small ineverything, and she had never done him harm. But--there might comethe terrible moment when she had to face Richard with theconfession. Yes, she had known him before. Yes, they had enteredinto a tacit compact. Yes, she had kept from Nina's father asecret that, while it might be unimportant, certainly should havebeen told him. 

Impossible to think the thing to any conclusion! Too manypossibilities might alter the entire situation. If she weremarried safely to Ward, for example--? But then she dared notmarry Ward until Royal's attitude was finally defined. For if herposition were dangerous now, what would it be if she had committedherself irrevocably to deception by marriage? Ward's young, crudeintolerance sitting in judgment upon his wife!--Harriet shivered. 

Suddenly she fell upon her knees, and dropped her bright headagainst the wide balustrade. She wanted to be a dignified, honourable, helpful woman; not selfish, like Nina; not anintriguer, like Isabelle; not proud, like Madame Carter. Somethingwas changing in her heart and soul; she did not feel angry andbitter any more. With Royal's reappearance had come therealization that the old, sad time was no longer a living wound inher life, it was merely a memory, young, and mistaken, and to beforgotten. For years she had felt that it had maimed her; now itseemed only infinitely pitiable. She could go on, to honour andhappiness, despite it. And how she longed to go on, with nofurther handicap! If he would go away again, and leave hermistress of the field. She only wanted her chance. She wanted towin her way, here in this fascinating world; she wanted to bebeloved and successful; above all she wanted to be GOOD!

For a long time Harriet had not prayed. But now, in a few words, and quite without premeditation, there burst from her the mostsincere prayer of her life. She looked up at the stars. 

"God!" she said, softly, aloud, "help me! Make me do what isright, however hard it is. Father, don't let me make anothermistake!"

CHAPTER XI

Sudden peace and confidence flooded her spirit. She sat on, dreaming and planning, but with no more mental distress. With theprayer she had gained, in some subtle fashion, a new self-respect. She would not let him frighten her again; after all, while shecommanded her own soul, Royal Blondin could not hurt her. 

"And he shall not marry Nina, either!" Harriet decided, going in, stiff and cold, but full of resolution. She looked at a clock, itwas almost four. Three hours' sleep was not to be despised, butHarriet was in no mood for it. Instead she took a bath, and justas the dawn was beginning to flood the world with mysterious half-lights and long wet shadows, she crept out into the dew-drenchedgarden, and with a triumphant sense of being alone, went into thewood. Early walks were one of her delights. She was rarely aloneotherwise; her position afforded her almost every other luxury, but not often this one. Nina's plans were usually cut to fitHarriet's; even the shortest errand, or least interesting tripinto town was pleasanter to Nina than her own society. 

It was exquisite in the wood. The light flashed on wet leaves, thebirds were awaking. A little steamer went up the satiny, dreamingsurface of the river, and when Harriet walked through the village, heartening whiffs of boiling coffee and wood smoke came from thelabourers' cottages. She was young; she could have danced withexultation in the hour and mood. It was almost seven o'clock whenshe came back, glowing, beginning to feel warm and headachy, beginning to realize that the July day would be hot, beginning tobe conscious of the eight-mile tramp. In the garden at Crownlandsshe met Royal, leaving the house. 

He studied her approvingly. 

"Harriet, do you know you are extraordinarily easy to look upon?What gets you up so early?"

"I've been walking, " she said, briefly and unresponsively. Hissocial pleasantries instantly antagonized her, and he saw it. 

"Well, I thought perhaps I had better get out. I'm at the club fora day or two. I believe Miss Hawkes, Rosa, the eldest sister, wants me to get up a reading, the great Indian Epic Poems, something along that line. It's for the Red Cross, of course. " Heyawned, and smiled at the early summer sky. "Ward tells me, " headded, giving the girl a sharp glance, "that you and he--eh?"

Harriet flushed. 

"I'm sorry he told you!"

"Oh, my dear child!" Blondin made a deprecatory motion of hishands. "Of course, I think you're very wise, " he added. 

This smote upon her new-born self-respect, and all the glorydeparted from the day. She had taken off her loose white coat, andpushed back the hat that pressed upon her thick, shining hair. Itclung in damp ringlets to the soft duskiness of forehead andtemples, her cheeks glowed rosily under their warm olive, and herclouded smoke-blue eyes were averted; he could see only the thick, upcurling black lashes that fringed them so darkly. The man sawher breast rise and fall with some quick emotion as he half-smilingly watched her. 

"The lad gets a beautiful and wise and very discreet wife, " he wasbeginning, but Harriet silenced him angrily. 

"We need not indulge in compliments, Roy! If I marry Ward--"

"If--? I supposed it definite!"

"Well, when I marry him, then, it will be because I truly---" Shepaused, halted at the great word. "Because I truly do admire andcare for him, " she substituted, somewhat lamely. 

"It isn't quite a pillar of smoke by day, and of fire by night?"he suggested, quietly. Harriet saw the words written, in thehandwriting of a girl of seventeen, and had a moment of vertigo. She attempted no answer. "In other words, you would hardlyconsider him if he had his own way to make, if he had a salary oftwo hundred a month, like Fred Davenport!" Royal added. "There's acertain magic about a background of motorcars and Sherry's, andthe opera Monday nights, and the bank account, isn't there?"

Silence. But it was only for a moment. Then Harriet raised hereyes. 

"He loves me, " she reminded the man, quietly. "I don't know what aboy's love is worth; he's only twenty-two, after all. But he doeslove me! But believe me, Royal, you couldn't hurt me--as you AREhurting me!-if there was no truth in what you say. Ward has hadthree years at college--I've not been a member of the family allthat time without knowing that he is not a saint! He has lived asother men do--as women permit decent men to live, I suppose. Nina's different. She's younger. She has never had an affair---"

"We were not discussing Nina!"

"No, I know it. But you reminded me that what I object to in you, with her, I myself am doing with him--or something very like it!Except that--" Harriet floundered a little, but regained herthread--"except that he does care for me, " she repeated; "he lovesbeauty--I can say that to you without your misunderstanding!--andthen, he knows me, we have been intimate for years, we arecongenial!"

"He knows everything about you, " Royal repeated, innocently, as ifthe defence she made were perfectly acceptable. But again she wasstung to silence. 

"I am going to tell him frankly, exactly what you have said tome, " Harriet said, presently, with decision and relief in hervoice. "I shall remind him that I have always been poor, and thatit is utterly impossible for me to separate the thought of himfrom the thought of what my life as his wife would gain. "

"Be careful how you play your hand alone!" the man said. "Halfconfidence isn't much more than none at all!"

A moment later they parted: the woman entering the house for a cupof coffee, and some conference with butler and housekeeper, andthe man starting off briskly for his early walk. But Blondin wassmiling, as he went upon his way, and Harriet was white with angerand impotence. 

"I'll put everything else I have in this world in the balance, Roy!" she said to herself, in the sunshiny silence of thebreakfast room. "But I'll hold no more stolen conversations withyou! I'll break my engagement with Ward, I'll go to Richard Carterand humiliate myself, I'll go back to Linda's house without apenny in the world--but I'll be done with you! Thank God, howeverthe story may sound, especially with your interpretations on it, you haven't my honour in your keeping, though you may seem tohave!"

The house was absolutely quiet; the clock on the stairs struck asilvery seven. Harriet went noiselessly to her own room; Nina wassleeping heavily. She flung off her clothes, sank into bed. Andnow at last sleep came, deep, delicious, satisfying. Nina awoke, had her breakfast in bed, tubbed and dressed, and still Harrietslept on. 

"Miss Harriet, it's nearly noon!" The monitory voice penetrated atlast; Harriet awoke, smiling. "Father's gone to the city, and Wardwith him, " Nina said, "and I telephoned the club and asked Mr. Blondin to lunch--Granny said I might. And the papers--you oughtto see them! Father said to Bottomley that he was to say that thefamily was not answering the telephone. Granny was darling to methis morning. She thinks I could keep house for Father. I said no, thank you, not while Miss Harriet was here. She said, Oh, no, shedidn't mean immediately, but if you married, or something. But ofcourse I may move into Mother's room, after awhile, although--isn't it funny?-I keep thinking that she may come back. And Fathersaid I was not to leave the place to-day. I had nine letters; Amysaid that she had cried all night, and Mrs. Jay wrote Father, andoh--Father had a letter from Mother written just before the boatwent; he didn't show it to any one. And she said they were goingto Italy, and maybe Spain, he told Granny. Isn't it TERRIBLE?"

Thus Nina, excited and pleased by the importance of being so closeto the calamity. 

"I'll be dressed directly, " Harriet said, in a matter-of-factvoice. "Get at your Spanish, Nina, and I'll be with you in a fewminutes!"

A day or two later there was a family conference in the library, and Harriet realized more clearly than ever that it was impossibleto forecast the march of events. Richard announced that afterconsideration he had decided that it would be wiser for the familyto weather the storm of talk that would follow Isabelle'sdisappearance, in some neighbourhood less connected with her. Hehad therefore leased an establishment on Long Island, where thechildren could have their swimming and tennis, and his mother herusual nearness to town, but where they would be comparativelyinaccessible to a curious press and public, and might disappearfor a grateful interval. The life at Huntington would be lessformal than at Crownlands, but the house he had taken wascomfortable and roomy; there would be plenty of room for Nina'sgirl friends and Ward's guests. Miss Field, Bottomley, and Hansenwould please see to it that the move was made with all possibleexpedition. He would join the family there every week-end, possibly now and then during the week, and he hoped the changewould do them all good, and bridge the difficult first months of--their misfortune. "I have explained to my mother and thechildren, " he said, quietly, to Harriet, "that Mrs. Carter hasasked for a divorce, which will, of course, be immediatelyarranged. 

"The trip, " he ended, turning to his mother, "is only about thedistance this is, in the car. I've not seen the place, but I'mconfident that you'll like it. "

"I shall of course remain there steadily, Richard, " said the oldlady, with graciousness. "The length of the trip makes nodifference. You naturally have not had time to consider--howshould you--that there is a change in your circumstances, my son. The presence of an older woman in your house is imperative. "

He smiled at her patiently, and Ward laughed outright. 

"You mean on Miss Field's account, Mother?"

Madame Carter was outraged at this outspokenness; she had supposedherself somewhat obscure. 

"If I do, my dear, it is a feeling that any WOMAN would share withme, although possibly men--as the less delicate--"

"Oh, shucks, Granny!" Ward said, affectionately. "Where did youever get that line of dope?"

"Never mind, Ward, " his father interrupted in turn. "We needn'tdiscuss that now. We'll be delighted for every hour you can spendwith us, Mother, whether it's for Miss Field's sake or ours. She'll take care of us all, and herself into the bargain, I'm sureof that. Now, Miss Field, about your check book; I've arranged---"

"The world, my dear, is less blind than you imagine!" his motherreminded him pleasantly, gathering her draperies for departure. 

"Well, about your checks, " Richard said, with his indulgent smile, when she was gone. "Where were we?"

"I have never respected and admired and been so grateful to anyhuman being as I am to you, " thought Harriet. "I think you are thefinest and the strongest man I ever saw in my life!" Aloud shesaid, "I can send Bottomley and his wife, and one or two of thegirls down to-day, if you think best. Then he can telephone me howthings go. "

Nina interposed an objection on the score of the tennis tournamentat the club, was overruled, and departed in her turn to discover, as Harriet tactfully suggested, the condition of her bathing suit. Ward had already gone to do some necessary telephoning, so thatHarriet and her employer were alone. 

"Now, Miss Field, " Richard said, when various details ofmanagement were delegated, "you understand that you are in chargefrom now on. My mother will--well, you know how to handle her! Sheis old--enjoys her little bit of mischief sometimes! Anythingunusual you can refer to me; I shall be there every week, anyway. "

He paused, and ruffled the scattered papers that were on the flat-topped desk before him. Harriet watched him anxiously. She thoughthe looked tired and old, and her heart ached at the troubledattempt he was making to simplify the tragedy for them all. He wasnot handsome, she reflected, but surely there had never beenkeener or pleasanter gray eyes, and a mouth so strong when it wasin repose, so honest when it smiled. Not like Ward's ready andincessant laughter, not like Royal Blondin's carefully calculatedamusement. 

Reaching this point in her thought, facing him with her wholebeautiful face alive with emotion and interest, Harriet smiledherself, involuntarily and faintly. It was a smile of almostdaughterly sympathy and comradeship, friendly and innocent, andwholly irresistible. As usual, her masses of hair were trimlypinned and braided, but stray little golden feathers had loosenedabout the soft olive forehead, and the neck of her thin whiteblouse was open, showing the straight column of her young throat;the effect was unstudied and youthful, almost childishly engagingand fresh. 

Richard, catching the look, was perhaps unconsciously cheered byit. Even at forty-four, and under his present difficulties andharassments, he must have been dead not to be refreshed by thevision of earnest youth and beauty that was so near him in thetempered summer light of the great library. 

"Thank you!" he said, as if she had spoken. "There is one morething, Miss Field, " he added, idly rumpling his papers again, andthen moving his fine hand to his thick brown hair, whose shiningorder he rumpled, too. "About this man Blondin. Do you knowanything about him?"

A more direct shot at her innermost fastnesses could hardly havebeen made. Robbed of breath and senses by the suddenness of it, and with dry lips, Harriet could only falter a repetition:

"Know anything about him?"

"I don't know much, and what I do know I don't like, " Richardcontinued, noticing nothing amiss in her manner, perhaps becausehe was so deeply absorbed in what he was saying. "He's a handsomefellow; he knows his subject, I guess. He's the modern substitutefor the mediaeval minnesinger, " he added, "a sort of fatherconfessor--and the women like to talk to him! But I don't likehim. Now, I don't know how he feels to Nina, or she to him, but asyou know, she will come into her uncle's fortune in a few months, unless the trustee, who is myself, decides to defer payment foranother three years. I merely want to say that it might be as wellto intimate to this young fellow that there are conditions underwhich I would see fit to defer it, and anything that brought himinto that connection would--well, would constitute one!"

"I didn't know of that!" Harriet exclaimed, in such obvious reliefthat the man smiled involuntarily. 

"Then you agree with me?" he asked, eagerly. 

Here in the sombre sweetness of the library, with the man sheadmired and respected above all others looking to her forconfidence and counsel, what could she say? Even had Royal Blondinbeen present, Harriet might have cast every secondaryconsideration to the winds as readily. As it was, she could onlytell him the truth. 

"Oh, yes--yes! I told Ward that I would rather see Nina dead!"

"Why do you say so?" Richard asked. "Now, I'll tell you why I do, "he added, as Harriet was, not unnaturally, groping for definitephrases, "I've been watching this man. I had his record lookedinto. There's nothing extremely bad in it--he seems to be agentleman adventurer. But there was an affair several years ago, his name mixed into some divorce, and it developed then that heholds rather peculiar ideas about free love, naturalrelationships--I needn't go into that. I don't want him mixed upwith my family. I'm going to speak to Ward about it, warn him thathis sister's happiness mustn't be risked by having the fellowabout at all. Meanwhile, you can take it up with Nina. Just lether see that she isn't the only girl who has ever listened to himreading 'In a Gondola. ' You might hint that there was a good dealof talk about him five or six years ago; there was a Swedishwoman--I didn't get the details!--but I imagine trial marriagecomes pretty close to it. You're tired, " said Richard, abruptly. 

"Indeed I'm not!" the girl protested, with white lips. 

"You don't imagine the man is serious?" Richard asked, alarmed byher manner. 

"I don't know!" Harriet answered at random. "They've--they'vehardly known each other three weeks!"

"Ah, well! And she's only seventeen, " her father said. "Distracther, amuse her--if she's inclined to mope a bit. Get ridinghorses!"

No time to think--no time to trim her course. Harriet must plungeblindly ahead now. 

"Mr. Carter, would you--if you think wise--give your mother a hintof this? Madame Carter is romantic, you know--"

"Oh, certainly! Certainly!" he said, approvingly. "I'll speak toher. We must keep Nina a little girl this summer. And, Miss Field--"

It was said with only a slight change in the pleasant voice. Butit brought a sudden change in their relationship, a tightening ofthe bonds that were all Harriet's world now. 

"--Miss Field, I may say here and now that it is an unmixedprivilege, in my estimation, " Richard Carter said, simply, "thatmy daughter, and my son, too, for the matter of that, should havethe advantage of your influence, and your example, at this time. Of course it infinitely simplifies my own problem. But I don'tmean only that. I mean that with your knowledge of the world, ofwork and poverty--I know them, too, I know their value--you areinfinitely qualified to balance their whole social vision justnow. I have never been unappreciative of the value of a simple, good, unspoiled woman in my household. I have seen the effect in athousand ways. But at the present moment, I hardly know where Icould turn without you. I can only hope that in some way theCarters may be able to repay you!"

The secretary's shining head dropped, and she rested her elbow onthe table, and pressed a white hand tight across her eyes for amoment of silence. When she faced him again her face was a littlepale, and her magnificent eyes heavy with tears. 

"I love all the Carters, " she said, simply. "I only wish I were--half what you say!"

And without another word she stood up, folded into a tiny oblongthe paper upon which she had been making a few notes, and wentslowly to the library door. More deeply stirred than she had beensince the days of her passionate girlhood, she turned on thethreshold for a look of farewell. But Richard Carter had left thedesk, and was kneeling on one knee before his safe; he hadforgotten her. Harriet went across the hall, mounted the stairs, and found her own room. She was hardly conscious of what she wasdoing or thinking. 

"Oh, what shall I do?" she whispered. "He trusts me to protecther! Oh, why didn't I--the moment I knew that Royal was thinkingof her--why didn't I go to him then, and make a clean breast of itall! Now--now I've promised! And they trust me and love me--andwhat shall I do! Oh, God, " whispered Harriet, sinking on her kneesbeside the bed, "You know that I am good--You know that I canreally help them all--can really protect the girl! You know how Ihave chosen what was fine and good, all these years, how I havelonged for an opportunity to be useful and happy! Don't let himcome into my life again, and spoil it again. Don't let RichardCarter lose faith in me, and despise me! I don't know what's thematter with me, " sobbed Harriet, burying her brimming eyes in thepillows; "I never cry, I haven't cried like this for years andyears! I think I'm losing my mind!"

CHAPTER XII

The move to Huntington was made quickly and quietly, and lazyweeks followed, to Harriet weeks of almost cloudless content. Sheand Nina walked and rode, swam and practised their tennis stroke, paddled about in a canoe, motored over miles of exquisite country. Madame Carter was often with them, suggesting, disapproving, meddling, awaiting her chance to score. Ward, early in August, after a serious talk with Harriet, joined some friends for a motorrun of three thousand miles, and presently was sending them postcards from Monterey and Tahoe. There was naturally no entertainingor formal social life for the family this summer, but Richardalmost always brought men down for golf, over the week-ends, andseemed, if quiet and reserved, to be well content. 

They had been in the new home only a few days when Harriet hadreason to stop short in a busy morning of unpacking with one handupon her heart, and a great satisfaction in her eyes. Nina, reading from a note from Royal Blondin, announced the sensationalnews that he had broken his ankle. He was with friends at Newport, and must remain there now for weeks, perhaps a month. Nina wasplease to write him, and to give his regard to Miss Field, and askher not to forget him. 

Harriet was quite willing to overlook the delicate menace of themessage for the sake of the other news. For several weeks theywere safe. Nina did not know the family Royal had been visiting, there was a long interval before she could possibly see him again. He would write to the girl, of course, and Harriet knew with whatabsorbing emotion she would look for his letters. But Nina wasyoung and Nina wrote wretchedly, and anything might happen, thought Harriet, consoling herself with a vague argument that wasin itself youthful, too. 

Old Madame Carter was the only stumbling block now; there was noquestion of her definite hostility. It was partly the jealousy ofage for youth, of departed beauty for beauty in its prime, but itwas mainly actuated by the old lady's sense of pride, her firmbelief that there was some mysterious merit of birth in the Carterblood, and that to friendship with the Carters a mere upstart, asecretary, a working-woman, could not with any justice aspire. Ina thousand ways, many of them approaching actual mendacity, sheundermined Harriet's usefulness, and annoyed and distracted thedomestic force. If Harriet decided that the weather was too warmfor an out-of-door luncheon, Madame Carter pleasantly overruledher, and there was much running to and fro for the change. Messages undelivered by the old lady were attributed to thesecretary's carelessness, and there was more than one occasionwhen Harriet had no choice between silence toward Madame Carter orthe flat accusation of untruthfulness. 

Every hour under his roof, however, helped to convince her thatRichard Carter was unaware of very little that transpired there. His reading of Nina's young secret had proved that; Harriet neverremembered his ready allusion to "In a Gondola" without surprise. How he had managed to obtain that particular detail she could notimagine. But she hoped that he read the relationship between herand his mother as truly, and that time would reconcile the oldlady to her presence in the house. 

With September came changes. Blondin wrote that he was limpingabout with a stick, and wanted to limp down to them as soon asthey would ask him. Ward was home again, as always irresponsible, a little older and in some vague way a little coarser, Harrietthought, but still a most enlivening element in the quiethousehold. Madame Carter had brought with her, for several weeks'stay, a friend of Isabelle's, a pretty, dashing little grasswidow, Mrs. Tabor. The resolute brightness and sweetness withwhich Ida Tabor attempted to amuse Richard gave Harriet some hintof the plan which was taking shape in the back of his mother'shead. But she could only make Mrs. Tabor comfortable, and fit hersomehow into the youthful plans of the household. 

"Miss Harriet, " Nina said, without preamble, lying flat on thegently rocking float, and catching little handfuls of water as shespoke, "what'll I wear to-morrow?"

Harriet had already settled this question several times, but shewas always patient with Nina. 

"White is prettiest, " she said; "didn't we decide for theorgandie?"

"The white with the rolled hem, " Nina said with unction, "and palepink stockings, and white shoes. "

"That will do nicely!" Harriet, always happiest in the water, wassitting on the edge of the float, with her feet idly splashing. Aglorious September sun blazed down upon the water, there wasabsolute silence up and down the curving shore. Above the plumytops of the trees, rising abruptly from the beach with itsweather-burned bath houses, the gables and porches of the new homeshowed here and there. There were other country mansions scatteredup and down beside the blue waters of the Sound, but the Cartershad no sense of having neighbours. 

Nina, Ward, and Harriet fairly lived in the water, and Ward hadunconsciously served his father's cause by bringing home with hima tongue-tied pleasant youth named Saunders Archer, whose presencein the house had helped to keep Nina pleased and amused. She hadalready imparted to Harriet the valuable information that Saundershad never known his mother, and had never had a sister, "and ofcourse I have always been such an oddity in the family, " saidNina, "that I got right at his confidence in that dreadful way ofmine! He said he didn't know why he talked to me so frankly. "

Harriet had seen to it that a variety of delightful plans awaitedthe young people at every turn. The retirement natural after therecent domestic catastrophe was too dangerous to risk now. Theydrove to Piping Rock, to Easthampton; they yachted and swam; andthe evenings were filled with riotous entertainments of their owndevising, and once or twice with country club dances ten or twentymiles away. And Harriet hoped, hoped, hoped, feverishly, incessantly, wearyingly, that the danger was past. 

But Amy came down, mild and colourless as ever, yet still morepoised, more socially adept than Nina, and with Amy innocentlydiverting Saunders's bashful attentions, Nina returned to thoughtsof Royal. The "to-morrow" for which the white organdie had beenselected was to bring Royal for his first visit to Huntington. Hewas coming down with Madame Carter and Mrs. Tabor in her car. Theman, the old lady had protested indignantly, had already beenasked to visit them, and it was preposterous, just because Richardfancied every man who looked at Nina was in love with her, that heshould be insulted! No matter, Richard said, in an aside toHarriet, accepting the situation philosophically, there was noneed for suddenness. Harriet tried to be philosophical, too. Richard was bringing two men down for golf this week-end, and withSaunders and Amy, Royal and Madame Carter and Mrs. Tabor, thehouse would be filled. She had plenty to do with the managing, theendless details that were brought her mercilessly, hour afterhour, by maids and housekeeper. And yet under her quiet busynessand her happy hours with the young people there lurked incessantlya fretted sense of danger approaching. 

Something of this was in her mind as she and Nina basked on thegently heaving float, in the sunshine. Amy, with no particulardesire to hide the fact that she was a better swimmer than Nina, had essayed a swim to the buoy, a hundred yards out in thechannel. Nina, therefore, was naturally turned to thoughts of amale who quite frankly did not admire Amy; and she talkedincessantly of Blondin. Harriet, the best swimmer among them, remained with Nina, and now fancied she saw an opening for alittle talk she felt extremely timely. 

"Mr. Blondin likes you, Nina, just because you aren't flirtatiousand silly, like the other girls. But he isn't the sort of man toget very deeply interested in any woman, dear. "

"No, I know he's not!" Nina said, quickly, turning suddenly red, and looking attentively at the print of her wet hand on the dry, hot boards. 

"And I would be sorry if he were, " Harriet pursued, not tooseriously, "for I want you to marry a man of your own age, whenyou do marry, and not a man who has had--well, other affairs, whohas that confidential, flattering manner with all women!"

"If you think I don't realize perfectly that you don't like RoyalBlondin, you are mistaken!" Nina said, airily, even with a yawn. "I am perfectly able to manage my own affairs in THAT direction!"

"Yes, I know, dear. But we want you--" Harriet was beginningpacifically. But Nina angrily interrupted:

"Oh, I know you and Father talk about me, if THAT'S what youmean!"

"No, dear, listen. We want you to see other types of men, to seeall kinds. You will be rich, Nina--"

"Why don't you say that Royal is after my money!" Nina burst out, with symptoms of tears. The ready name frightened Harriet afresh;she knew that they corresponded, that grass was not growing underRoyal's feet. She and Nina were sitting close together now, theirdrying hair tossed backward, their faces flushed. "The first man Iever really liked, " Nina said, with a heaving breast, "the firstman who ever understood me--!"

"Nina, " Harriet said, "you don't want to have to write yourhusband a check on your honeymoon?"

She felt it a cruel cut; but seventeen years of flattery andsmoothness had armed Nina in impregnable complacence. She gave asneering laugh that trembled on the brink of tears, and tried tocontrol a mouth that was shaking with anger. One look of utterscorn she did manage, then she shrugged not so much her shouldersas her whole body, and flung herself furiously into the water. Harriet called "Nina!" first impatiently, and then coaxingly. Butthe younger girl swam steadily to the shore, and Harriet saw her aminute later, shaking herself outside the shower, before shedisappeared into the big bath house. With a grave face, as sheabsentmindedly tossed and spread the glorious mass of herglittering hair, Harriet sat on, pondering. They had reached acrisis; Nina, between delicious confidences to Amy and aggrievedappeal to Royal, would commit herself now. There was no help forit; she, Harriet, must act. 

Amy and Saunders swam by her, breathless and screaming as theymade for shore, and fought and shrieked under the shower. Thenthey, too, entered the dressing rooms, and there was absolutesilence in the world. Harriet had entirely forgotten Ward, untilhe swam under the float, and with a characteristic yell, rosestreaming like a seal under her very feet. 

Genuinely startled, she gratified him with a scream, and they bothlaughed like children as he flung himself dripping on the hotboards, and proceeded to bake luxuriously in the sun. 

"It's the most gorgeous thing I ever saw, do you know that?" heasked, with one hand touching the river of sparkling gold thatblazed and tumbled on her shoulders. "Listen, Harriet, do youremember the little talk we had some weeks ago?"

"Perfectly, " she said, a little unwillingly. 

"Before I went to California, I mean, " he further elucidated. 

"Yes, I know what you mean, Ward!"

"Well, how about it?" the boy said, after a pause. Harriet, herbeautiful flushed face framed in curtains of shining hair, wasregarding him steadily, and almost sorrowfully. 

"Do you mean to ask if I have changed?"

"Well--" he looked up. "I thought you might! They do--the ladies!"

"It wouldn't be fair to you. Ward, " the girl said, slowly, after apause. "I love you, but I don't love you the way your wife will!"

"Why do you talk like that--it's all bunk!" he said, impatiently. "If you try it and don't like it, why, you can get out, can'tyou?"

"Ward, don't say those things!" the girl said, distressedly. 

"I want you!" he said, sullenly. "I'm crazy about you! My God--"

"Ward, please don't touch me!" she said, sharply, getting to herfeet with a spring, as he put his arm about her. "Don't--! I shalltell your father if you do!"

"You didn't talk that way at Crownlands last June, " the man said, sulkily. "I don't see what has made such a difference now!"

"I think perhaps I'm different, Ward. The summer--" Harriet'svoice died into silence. Her eyes were fixed upon the figure of aman who came down the little pier, and dove into the shiningwater. Two minutes later, with a great gasp of satisfaction, Richard Carter drew himself up beside them. 

"Ha! That is something like! My Lord, the water is beautiful to-day! How about the buoy? Who swims with me to the buoy?"

"Come on, Harriet!" Ward said, poising. 

The girl hesitated, glanced toward the shore. Saunders, with awhite-clad girl on each side of him, was walking up to the house. 

"Did your friends come down with you, Mr. Carter?" she asked, before quite abandoning all responsibilities. 

"Briggs and Gardiner--yes. They're getting into golf clothes. We're going to play nine holes anyway, at the club. What time isdinner?"

"Eight o'clock. Unless you prefer--"

"No, no! Eight is fine. We'll be back at seven. My mother and Mrs. Tabor and Blondin will be down from town at about six. "

Harriet rose, too, and bundled the glory of her hair into a bluerubber cap that made her look like a beautiful rosy Frenchpeasant. With no further speech she made a splendid dive, and themen followed her. 

It was one of life's beautiful hours, she thought, as in a greatsplash of salt water she reached the buoy, and hung laughing andpanting to its restless bulk. Ward had preceded her by a fullminute, Richard was half a minute behind her. With muchvainglorious boasting from the men, they all rested there beforethe homeward swim. Harriet hardly spoke, her cup was full to thebrim with a mysterious felicity born of the summer hour, theheaving waters, and the joyous mood of father and son. WhenRichard praised her swimming she flushed in the severe blue cap, and the blue eyes met his with the shy pleasure of a child. It waswhile she was hastily dressing, in the hot bath house a littlelater, that a sudden thought came to her, and flushed the lovelyface again, and brought her to a sudden pause. 

A tremendous thought, that made her breast rise suddenly, and hereyes fix themselves vaguely on space for a long, long minute. Herpalms were damp, and she put them over her hot cheeks. But that--she whispered in the deeps of her soul, that was nonsense!

When Blondin arrived she did not see him, for Mrs. Tabor andMadame Carter, elaborately entering at five, reported him"perfectly wonderful" on the trip down, and that he had shown suchtransports at the sight of the woods and the water that they hadput him down perhaps a mile away, to walk alone for the rest ofthe way, and commune with his own exquisite soul. The expectantlywaiting Nina, at this, followed Amy upstairs in the direction ofthe white organdie, and Harriet felt a little premonitory chill. 

"Oh, Miss Field!" said Madame Carter's voice, an hour later, asHarriet passed her door. The old lady had been talking with hergrandson, while she was resting, magnificent in a pale bluenegligee, but her maid was now extremely busy at the toilet table, and an elaborate dinner costume was laid out upon the bed. Harrietentered. 

"Well, how has the little household been running?" asked MadameCarter, who had been away for almost a week. "Miss Nina lookssweet. " And without waiting for a reply, which indeed would havebeen of no interest to her, she added, blandly, "Ward tells methat you are a beautiful swimmer!"

"Ward did not find that out to-day, " Harriet said, mildly, thusinformed that her radiant hour with both the Carters was known tothe mother and grandmother. 

"My son is a brilliant man, " said Madame Carter, with apparentirrelevance, "but the most brilliant men in the world are thestupidest in domestic life, isn't that so?"

Harriet, ready for the knife, said pleasantly that perhaps it wassometimes so. 

"Now my son, " Madame Carter said, confidentially, "is a man ofscrupulous honour. But he is capable of placing a young woman, and"--she bowed graciously--"a beautiful young woman, in a veryfalse position! I confess that if I were in that young woman'splace, I should resent it. I should feel--"

"If you mean me, " Harriet said, interrupting the smooth, innocentold voice, "I assure you that I do not feel my position here atall false--" ["She always gets me wild, and gets me talking, "Harriet added to herself, with anger at her own weakness, "but Ican't help it!"] And aloud she finished, "I am Nina's companion, and in a sense, housekeeper--"

"Pilgrim is housekeeper, " Mrs. Carter corrected, Miss Pilgrim, aone-time maid, was really Mrs. Bottomley, and had been managerbelow stairs for a long time. 

"There are things Pilgrim cannot do, " Harriet suggested. 

"I feel myself the difficulty of explaining your position here!"said the old lady, raising both hands and arms in an elaborategesture of deprecation, and smiling kindly. "You put me in a falseposition, too!"

But Harriet had now reached the point she always did reach, sooneror later, in these talks with Madame Carter, the point of mentallypitying the old lady, and recollection that after all hermischievous tongue could do no real harm. 

"You will have to discuss that with Mr. Carter, of course!" It wasalways ace of trumps, and Harriet only blamed herself for everbeginning a conversation with anything else. Now she retired fromthe field with all honours, forcing herself to dismiss theunpleasant memory the instant she was out of reach of MadameCarter's voice. But the old lady fumed for an hour, and took upthe subject with her son when he came dutifully in to take herdown to dinner. 

"Ida feels as I do, " she said, when Mrs. Tabor, charming in blue, joined them on the way downstairs. Richard felt a sensation ofanger. It was poor taste to involve a casual stranger like IdaTabor in this rather delicate family discussion. But he thoughtthat the little widow showed excellent sense in her rather slangyfashion. 

"Well, of course, she's filled the bill this summer, Dick, ab-so-loo-tely! But, let me tell you, that Nina of yours is beginning totake notice, and she won't need a governess forever! With you tokeep an eye on things generally, Nina will soon be able to manageDad's affairs. I know just how you feel--never'll forget howutterly blank I felt when Jack Tabor just quietly packed histrunks and walked out! Why, I couldn't get hold of myself formonths!"

"Where is Miss Field?" Richard was looking for the demure bluegown and the bright head as they joined the young groupdownstairs. 

"She is not coming down, Richard, " his mother explained. 

"Why not?" he asked, abruptly. His mother gave him a magnificentlook, warning, silencing, appealing. 

"I'll explain it to you later, dear!" she said, half-annoyed andhalf-pleading. "You may announce dinner, Bottomley!"

Bottomley duly announced dinner. But he might have added somethingto the conversation, had he been permitted. He had had some simpleand direct conversation with Madame Carter, not an hour before, and had in consequence sent up a dinner tray to Miss Field. Rosa, taking the tray, had been instructed to say simply that MadameCarter had told Mr. Bottomley that Miss Field wished her dinnerupstairs. But Rosa was perfectly in touch with the situation, too, and carried the news below stairs that Miss Field had got as redas fire, and had stood looking from Rosa to the tray, and from thetray to Rosa, for--well, full five minutes, before she had said, "Thank you, Rosa, you may put it there on the table!"

Madame Carter sparkled her best that evening. Mrs. Tabor, too, carried along the conversation noisily if not brilliantly, untilthe young people got well under way. Richard was rather silent, but then he was always silent. And after awhile the rich, significant tones of Royal Blondin were heard. It was well afternine when they all drifted out into the cool dimness of the porchfor coffee; Ward started music, Saunders and Amy danced. The menattempted a little pool, but were too weary, and by half-past tenMrs. Tabor had tripped upstairs after the young girls, with abuoyant good-night for her host, and the old lady, lingering for aminute, had a chance to explain. 

"About Miss Field, dear. I gave her just a kindly hint as to thepropriety of her being ALWAYS present at dinner, and she wassensible enough to take it! Now and then, of COURSE--"

He jerked impatiently. 

"I wish you would be a trifle more careful with your kindly hints, Mother! Miss Field is a most exceptional girl--"

"My DEAR boy, " said the old lady, fanning rapidly, "I could getyou a dozen women infinitely more capable--"

"--and I don't want her feelings hurt!" Richard finished, with areturn to his usual gentleness. 

"You won't hurt her feelings!" his mother predicted, roundly. "Notwhile the entire household is taking her orders, and the bankhonouring her checks--oh, no, my dear! don't worry about that!"

"To-morrow night, " Richard said, half to himself, "I shall make ita point to ask her to come down to dinner. If she prefers herroom--"

"Richard, " his mother said, in a low, furious tone, "if you dothat, you may be kind enough to excuse me! While poor Isabelle washere, while Nina was a child, it was all well enough! But nothingcould be more unfortunate for your daughter, for your young son, than to have any fresh gossip--the sort of thing people are onlytoo ready to say, and are beginning to say now!"

"Why, how you do cook up things from whole cloth, Mother!" the mansaid with his indulgent smile. "You see the thing too closely, youare right in the middle of it!"

"I see that Harriet Field is an extremely pretty woman, " hismother said, hotly. 

Richard looked from the tip of his unlighted cigar into hismother's eyes, looked back again. 

"Why, yes, I suppose she is!" he said, thoughtfully. "Gardinersaid something about it just now. Said she'd make her fortune inthe movies. "

"I don't know about that, " Madame Carter said, indifferently. 

"Why can't you consider that we are fortunate to have her, Mother?"

"Because I don't want to see you in a false position before theworld, my son. You must consider---"

The man kissed her hand lightly, with a laugh that closed theconversation. 

"Consider nothing! It's all nonsense!" he said, and as she beganher leisurely and dignified ascent he turned toward the porch andthe solace of his cigar. While he and the other men smoked andmused, he decided to see Harriet and have a long talk with her thenext day, to tell her that no matter what his mother said or didher word in the house was law, to assure her that in his eyes atleast her position was secure beyond any question. Even with thevaried group at the table to-night, he had missed her; there wasan influence even in her silences, and a certain power in her veryglances. 

"Why the boy isn't heels over head in love with her I don't know!"he thought of Ward. And when Gardiner, who had had merely a chanceencounter with her in the hall spoke again of the gold hair anddark blue eyes, Richard fell into a benevolent dream of the littlesecretary married to Gardiner, who was rich and a bachelor, and avery decent fellow, too. He fancied young Mrs. Gardiner coming tovisit the Carters, and himself toasting her at a formal dinner, and wondered if he had ever seen Harriet in evening dress. Hewould tell her to-morrow that she must get an evening gown. Richard, always the man of business, selected the hour on Sundaythat would be most suitable for his talk with her. He and theother men would get up at seven, and go to the country club, wherethey would manage eighteen holes before breakfast was served onthe club porch, the famous chicken Maryland and waffles of whichthe golfers dreamed for six days. After that they might get into agame of bridge, pleasantly tired, well fed; there were lessagreeable things to do than sit on the shady club porch, orderingmild drinks, and quarrelling over two or three hard-foughtrubbers. Nina and her crowd were to lunch at the club; last SundayHarriet Field had come out with Nina and looked on for a hand ortwo, other people were drifting about, and it was extremely socialand agreeable. 

But he would be home to dress for dinner, at six, and then hewould get hold of Miss Field, and somewhat clear up the situation. Richard slept upon the resolution, and arose in the sweet summermorning to a satisfied recollection of it. He looked from hiswindow into the green, warm garden, and saw Miss Field herselfemerging from the wood, and Nina's friend, Blondin, beside her. Harriet had evidently been to church; she carried a prayer-book; abroad-brimmed hat made the slender figure, from this distanceanyway, extremely picturesque. The man and she were in earnestconversation. 

"Now THAT" thought Richard, still paternally busy with matrimonialplans for her, "that wouldn't do at all. I hope she isn't wastingany time on that fellow. He's clever, he has a good manner, but byGeorge, that girl could marry any man, and make him a magnificentwife, too! I rather thought we'd disposed of this Blondin, anyway!But they seem friendly enough--"

For they had parted with a nod unmistakably familiar. 

CHAPTER XIII

Blondin had been waiting for her at the church door. Harriet, coming out, had indicated without a word that he might walk besideher. The service had been ill-attended, and the few women whodrifted away from it did not walk in their direction, so theyfound themselves alone. Harriet had been realizing ever since hisarrival that Blondin had lost none of his unique and bafflingcharm. His handsome person, his unusual voice, his fashion ofdreamily contributing to the conversation some viewpoint entirelyunexpected and fresh, his utter indifference to general opinion--these made him a distinct entity in any group, and would accountfor Nina's immediately renewed alliance, and for the generaldisposition on the part of the household to accept him on his ownterms. 

Harriet opened the conversation this morning with a frank yetreluctant confession. 

"I'm so sorry, Roy! But it is only fair to you to say that I'vechanged. You will have to do what you think fit about it, ofcourse. But I can't pretend that I'm--I'm playing your game anylonger. "

"What game?" Blondin, falling into graceful step beside her, askedpleasantly. 

"I mean any possible--idea you might have of Nina!" Harriet said, bravely. 

"Oh, Nina!" he shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Don't take me tooseriously, my dear Harriet, " he said. "Why, whenever we are alonetogether, should you promptly begin to cross-question me aboutthat little person? Look about you--isn't this a divine morning? Ialways rather fancy September, somehow. It's dry, panting, finished--and yet there's something about the mornings and theevenings--"

Harriet made a faint, impatient ejaculation. 

"Well, anyway, you know where I stand!" she said. 

"And you know where I do, " he answered, after a pause. "I can seeCarter has no particular enthusiasm for me--I suppose that's yourwork. "

"I've said nothing definite, " she answered, in a troubled voice. 

"Then I shall!" Royal said, with sudden feeling. "I'm sick of thisshilly-shallying, and weighing words! If he will accept me as Iam, well and good--if not, I'm done! But he has a high opinion ofyou, Harriet; what you say really counts!"

"You know where I stand, " she could only repeat. They had reachedthe garden now, and were at the foot of the steps. 

"I don't quite see how you can take that tone, " Blondin hinted. "Do you expect to marry the boy?"

Harriet did not answer, except by a faint shrug. Her heart wassick with fright, but there was no reason why he should beinformed that she had definitely broken with Ward. But he hadnever come so near a threat before. 

"Of course I am entirely at your mercy, " she said, simply. Blondinwatched her for a full moment of silence before he said suddenly:

"All I ask you to do is assume, for the time being, that you and Imet as strangers a few weeks ago!"

"Oh, Roy, " the girl exclaimed, "as if I were likely to do anythingelse!"

She despised herself for the sense of relief that flooded herheart. 

"Look here then, " he said, after a moment of thought. "I'll make abargain with you. If you will consent not to make any allusion to--well, to ten years ago, I'll do the same. I'll give you my solemnpromise on it. Say what you please about me now. You're under nobond to protect me. I can hold my own. But the past is dead. Neither you nor I will speak of it without agreeing to do so. Howabout it?"

She hesitated, the black lashes dropped, her restless handstwisting and torturing her handkerchief. It protected her, shethought, while leaving her free to oppose him. 

"I'll agree, " she said, finally. 

"Promise?"

"Oh, I promise!" She bit her lip, and frowned, as if she would addsomething more. But no words came, only her troubled eyes met hisfully and splendidly for a second. 

Then with the brief, familiar nod which Richard Carter saw fromhis upstairs window, she turned, and without another word wentinto the house. 

 The morning dragged. It was dry and hot, with promise of a stormlater. The men piled into the car, and went off for their golf. Itwas ten o'clock before Nina and Amy came chattering downstairs;Royal was in the music room then, evoking a tangle of dim chordsfrom the piano, smoking endless cigarettes. Presently Ward and hisfriend thundered down to join the girls at breakfast; a maidcircled the table with toast and covered dishes. 

Madame Carter's breakfast had been sent upstairs, and Mrs. Taborhad joined her, for when the old lady sent a message to Harriet, the two women were together, in elaborate negligee, and a litterof Sunday papers was scattered about the beautiful bedroom. UponHarriet's entrance Mrs. Tabor gracefully rose to go, but shepaused for a pleasant good-morning. 

Alone with her determined old enemy, Harriet assumed her usual airof respectful readiness. Madame Carter had sent for her?

"Yes, " said the old lady, looking aimlessly about her beforegathering her garments together, and sinking into a chair. "Iwanted you to know that the young people propose to drive toEasthampton, at about two o'clock--my granddaughter has been here, teasing Granny for the plan, and I have consented. They will dinethere and be back at about--well, after dinner. "

"But won't that tire you?" Harriet asked. 

"I? Oh, I shall not go. Ward will chaperon his sister, and Nina, Amy. Mr. Blondin will see that they get home in time. It's quiteall right, Miss Field; I am entirely satisfied. They--"

"But, Madame Carter!" Harriet interrupted her as she had expectedto be interrupted. "Surely it would be better--"

"We won't discuss it, please, Miss Field!"

Harriet's cheeks reddened; she was silent. 

"Your devotion to my son and his family is extremelypraiseworthy, " said Madame Carter, coldly. "But, as Mrs. Tabor, who is of course a woman of the world, and comes of a very finefamily--she was a Kingdon, the Charleston family--as Mrs. Taborwas saying, Richard is just the sort of chivalrous, splendid manwho is perfectly helpless in his own house!"

Harriet smiled, with a touch of scorn. 

"When Mr. Carter is dissatisfied with me, Madame Carter, I shallof course consider myself--dismissed. But until that time I amvery glad to make his own house comfortable for him. "

The hard, angry colour of old age had been rising in MadameCarter's face during this speech, and now she was quite obviouslyenraged. 

"You are hardly in a position to dictate to me in this matter!"she said, shaking. Harriet watched her gravely as she rose fromher chair, made a few restless turns about the room, opened andshut bureau drawers, dropped and plucked up handkerchiefs andnewspapers. In a dead silence the girl asked:

"Was that all?"

A sort of sniff was the answer, and, leaving the room, Harriet sawthe door of Mrs. Tabor's room, adjoining, open cautiously. Theally was creeping back for news of the fray, thought the girl, with a little grin at the thought of the two women's discomfiture. But she sighed again as she entered her own suite to find Nina andAmy complacently dressing themselves for the afternoon's run. 

"We're going to Easthampton, Miss Harriet; Granny said it was allright, " Nina said, in great spirits. "I know you won't feel hurt, because the car simply won't accommodate more than five, and it'stoo long a run to sit on laps--"

"But, dearie child, " Harriet said, in her friendliest manner, "Idon't believe you had better do that! You're all pretty young, incase anything occurred--"

A mutinous line marked Nina's babyish mouth. She would not yieldto any nursery control before Amy!

"Granny said it was all right, Miss Harriet, so just don't botheryour head about us!" she said, airily. 

"Yes, I know, dear. But Granny's ideas are old-fashioned--"

"Old-fashioned people are apt to be even more rigid than we are, aren't they?" Amy submitted lightly and sweetly. 

Harriet, a trifle nonplussed by this determined resistance, stoodlooking from one to the other, pondering. 

"Anyway, I'm going!" Nina muttered, lacing high white buckskinshoes, with some shortening of breath. "Granny says a girl'sbrother--"

Harriet paid no further attention to them, and the two developed asplendid case for themselves. But she went down to find Ward, andtook him partially into her confidence. Would he please be adarling, and see that there was no nonsense? She could not wellcross his grandmother and Nina without his father to back her. Shedisliked to call his father at the club and make too much of thewhole thing. Would he promise her that they would be home by teno'clock, at latest?

Somewhat comforted by Ward's affectionate loyalty, Harriet went upto dress for the one o'clock luncheon, and while she was dressinga new idea came to her. For a few minutes she shook her head, stood thinking, with a face of distaste. 

"I COULD do that!" she said, aloud. And she picked up the ginghamdress that she had laid on the bed. 

But there was a prettier dress in Harriet's wardrobe, a gift fromIsabelle, that she had never worn. It was a flowered silk mull, ofa soft deep blue that was exactly the colour of Harriet's eyes, and at the throat and wrists it had frills of transparent lace. The soft ruffles that made the skirt were cunningly edged withblack, and there was a great open pink rose at the belt. 

Harriet put on this enchanting garment, and as she did so she feltsome half-forgotten power rise strong within her. There was onetrump in her hand that she had never thought to play in a gamewith Nina Carter, but she was glad to find it now. 

She went downstairs, and found Royal Blondin lounging in thebilliard room, and idly knocking balls about. The second thing hesaid to her was of the gown, the third of her eyes. Harriet stoodbeside him, raising the eyes in question, and smiling. When sheturned and went slowly away, Blondin went after her. 

At half-past two o'clock the car was at the side door, and Ninaand Amy came downstairs with their wraps, and Saunders and Wardran about laughing and confusing things. Blondin watched theperformance lazily from a basket chair on the porch, but when Ninacalled him a half-laughing, half-daring, "We're ready, Mr. Blondin!" he sauntered down to the car with his pleasantestexpression, but with the regretful statement that he was notgoing: a vicious headache had developed since luncheon. 

Whatever the effect on Amy and the young men, to Nina this was astaggering blow. Harriet felt sorry for her as she saw the girltry to meet it gallantly; she knew that the heart died from Nina'sday there and then. Nina had triumphed all through luncheon, hadlaughed and chattered, had made Ward telephone a dinnerreservation for five, and had assumed a hundred coquettish airs. Now all this crumpled, faded away, and Harriet knew, as she stoodbeside the car looking down at the folded light rug on her arm, that she was ready to cry. 

"No, you'll have a far nicer time without me, " said Royal, throwing away his cigarette, and resting one arm on the car. "Iwouldn't interfere, because I knew you'd all give it up! You justall have a perfectly wonderful time, and I'll be down next week-end and hear about it!"

Nina stood irresolute; too choked with sudden disappointment torisk her voice. It was all hateful, maddening, horrible! Those twoboys and Amy--ah, there would be no "fun" now! She loathed Amy, getting in so briskly, and saying, "Come on, Nina!" She hatedWard, she wished that they were all dead, and herself, too. It wasimpossible that she should be carried farther and farther awayfrom him--after last night and to-day!

The storm came at Good Ground, and they all had to scramble withcurtains, "smelly" curtains, Nina called them. And the dinner waseaten in warm, sticky half-darkness on a hotel porch, withhorrible music making a horrible racket, according to the sameauthority. Saunders and Amy held hands all the way home, too, andNina thought it was disgusting; everyone was too tired to talk, they bounced along silently and crossly. 

And upon getting home, Miss Harriet came out of the shadows on theporch, looking perfectly exquisite in her new gown, sweetlyinterested and cheerful. She said that she was so sorry the dinnerwas poor, they had had such a nice dinner at home, and that shehad had a talk with their father, and they were to go back toCrownlands next week. Nina did not see Blondin; she heard hisvoice from the smoking room, but her arrival caused no cessationof the men's laughter and voices in there, and the only news shehad from him that night was from her grandmother, who was in a badtemper, and reported that he and Miss Field had been walking halfthe afternoon. Nina, for the first time in her life, cried herselfto sleep. 

"Never mind, my dear, " said the old lady with terrible insight, "if I ask my son to choose between me and any other woman, I haveno doubt of the outcome!"

Harriet had assuredly triumphed, but it was on terms that for morethan one reason did not entirely please her. To affect aconfidential intimacy with Royal Blondin was utterly distasteful, and to have poor little Nina sulky and silent far from pleasant. But most disquieting of all was the immediate result of old MadameCarter's meddling. 

For Richard, finding the pretty secretary prettier than ever inher blue gown, and warmed by a relaxed day at the club and a moodof friendliness, had specifically instructed her that she was todine with the family on all occasions, and to dress as the othersdid, and to regard herself as "a member of the family. " And this, Harriet was quick to realize, really did place her in a peculiarposition, made difficult by Richard's kindly championing no lessthan his mother's hostility, by the adoring sympathy of theservants, and the affectionate familiarities of the Carterchildren. Richard's friends took their cue from him, as wasnatural, and in the first early winter dinner parties atCrownlands Harriet could not but sparkle and lead; she had reachedher own level at last. 

Perhaps the master of the house but dimly saw the truth of this, but he did see a most charming and pretty woman at the head of hisestablishment, his daughter and son protected, his affairs capablymanaged, and such hospitality and entertainment as he feltsuitable well handled. She and Nina shared Isabelle's old rooms, and Harriet balanced Nina's first evening gowns with discreet butdignified black. 

A sense of well-being and happiness began to envelop RichardCarter for the first time in many years. He was conscious of adesire to express his appreciation to Miss Field. It was naturalthat this should take the form of money; a little present, in theform of a check. She had a sister who was not rich; she would liketo go home with laden hands. But the question was, how much?

He was musing over this very point and other matters of deepermoment one morning when Harriet herself came in. She returned hissmile with her usual bright nod, but he thought she looked paleand troubled. 

"Mr. Carter, " she said, bravely going to the point, "do you thinkNina is able, with your mother's help, to manage your house?"

Richard looked at her silently for perhaps two minutes. Then hesaid, quietly:

"Mr. Blondin, eh?"

The girl looked bewildered. 

"My mother has given me a hint, indeed I've seen, that he wouldwant to take you away from us!" Richard said. 

Harriet, without any show of emotion, looked down, and was silentin her turn. But it was not, he saw with surprise, the silence ofconfusion. On the contrary, she seemed simply a little thoughtfuland puzzled. 

"Mr. Carter, " she said, presently, "I have reason to believe thatMr. Blondin would be a very bad husband for Nina. I had no scruplein--in diverting his thoughts. But if he was the only man in theworld"--and to his surprise, she slowly got to her feet, and spokeas if to herself, her eyes fixed far away--"I would sooner killhim than marry him!" she said. 

Richard sat genuinely dumfounded. Her beauty, her assurance, andthe cleverness with which she had managed that Blondin'sallegiance should be temporarily shifted from his own daughter, held him mute. It was with the charm of watching perfect actingthat he followed this extremely amusing and unexpected woman. 

"I confess that I am glad to hear it!" he said, drily. 

"Nina is very angry at me, " Harriet said. "Well, I have to standthat!"

And she gave Nina's father a whimsical and friendly look. 

"But what then?" Richard asked. Harriet immediately became seriousagain. 

"But this, " she said, "you know your mother is right. You're alltoo kind to me; I am really a member of the family. I love it. Ilove to dress for dinner, and order the car, and charge things toyour accounts! But--it's not possible. You see that?"

Richard was quietly looking down. Now he made several parallellines with a pencil before he looked up. 

"No. I don't see that!"

"Mary--Mrs. Putnam, for instance, who is very fond of me, and Mrs. Jay. They want to ask me to dinner--to Christmas parties--andthey're not quite comfortable about it. I am not a member of yourfamily even though you are kind enough to treat me as one. I am apaid employee, and Madame Carter naturally resents their treatingme as anything else. But most of all, " said Harriet, seeing thatshe was not making headway, "it's myself. Nina, and your mother, and Mrs. Tabor--it's just a hint here and there--nothing at all!But it undermines my position--even with Bottomley. I dress, Ientertain your friends, I join you in town; it makes talk. And Ican't--I can't--"

She stood up, and turned her back on him proudly, and he knew thatshe was crying. 

"Just a minute, " Richard said, finding himself more shaken than hewould have believed. "It is--you're sure it isn't Blondin?"

"Royal Blondin!" There was in her tone a pleasant, childish scornand indignation that again he thought amusing. She sat down facinghim again, and quite openly dried her eyes, and smiled. "No, it'smore serious, " Harriet said. "It means constant irritation foryour mother. It means that she is always in a state ofexasperation. I think--I don't know, but I have reason to think--that she made it a choice, for Mary Putnam, between us!"

"She has no right to do that, " said Richard, soberly. 

"I'm not--you know that!--criticizing, " Harriet said. The mansighed, and tossed a few papers on his desk. 

"Sometimes I have hoped, " he began, on a fresh tack, "that you andthe boy might fancy each other. I'm not satisfied with Ward. Heneeds an anchor. That would be a solution for us all!" It was arandom shot, but to his surprise she flushed brightly. 

"Ward knows that there is no chance of that, " she said, quickly, "dearly as I love him!"

Richard's eyes widened with whimsical amusement again. 

"So you've refused Ward, have you?"

"Long ago, " she answered, simply. The man laughed; but a momentlater his face grew dark and troubled again as he said:

"I hardly know what to do! The girl is the first consideration, ofcourse, and she needs you. I feel that she is not only safe, buthappy, when you are here. My mother needs you, too; she would pay, like the rest of us, for worrying you out of the house. Shecouldn't manage it--bringing Nina into town, ordering her clothes, entertaining the boy's friends, answering letters--I know what itis! I've unfortunately reached a place where I've got to feelfree. You've heard us all talk of this new asbestos merger--mydear girl, that will keep me going like a slave for months, perhaps years! I won't know when I am to be home, or what I shallhave to cancel. I wish I could convince you that a woman ofseventy-five and a girl of seventeen are not exactly a jury--"

"This is the jury!" Harriet said, touching her own breast lightly. He looked at her sombrely. 

"I suppose so! I suppose I can't convince you how badly we needyou. My mother--well, she has always taken life that way; shecan't change now. I shall have Ida Tabor as a fixture here, Isuppose, Nina running wild, Ward never home! You--you give meexactly what I want here! Good dinners, fires, hospitality, a goodreport from Nina and Ward; I can bring men home, I can--" Hemused, with a smile touching his fine, tired face. "In short, Iwish there was some fortunate young man somewhere to make you Mrs. Smith or Jones, Miss Field, and let you come back to the Cartersimmediately again!"

Harriet laughed, sighed sharply immediately upon the laugh. 

"Unfortunately, there isn't such a man, " she said. And she added, "Even a widow, sometimes, is vulnerable!"

Richard smiled, but some sudden thought made the smile but anabsent one, and he sat quite obviously plunged in meditation for along minute. The clock and the fire ticked sleepily, and outsidethe high windows the first tentative flutter of snow was meltingon bare boughs and brick walls. 

"Here's another suggestion, Miss Field, " he said, suddenly, looking up, "I don't know how this will strike you; it hasoccurred to me before. Gardiner hinted it--or I thought he did, and the more I think of it, the more possible it seems. You are abusiness woman, and I am a business man. You know exactly what Iam, exactly what occurred in my married life, after twenty-twoyears. That--that sort of thing is over, of course. But there isthat way of settling it, if you care to consider it--"

He paused, with a questioning look of encouragement, embarrassment, and affectionate interest. Harriet had grown pale, and had fixed her eyes upon his as if under a spell. 

"You mean--" Her voice failed her. 

"I mean marriage. I mean that you and I shall quietly get marriedin a few weeks, when I am free, " he answered. "I have justindicated to you what it would mean to me. I hope, " he added, watching her closely, as she sat stunned and silent, "I hope thatit would also have its advantages to you. Your position then wouldbe unquestionable, my mother--Nina--the world, would have nothingto say. I think you know how thoroughly we all like you, and thatmy share of our--our business partnership would be to make you ashappy as was in my power. Your influence on Ward is the one thingthat may save the boy. Of Nina we've already spoken. My mother--Iknow her!--would immediately become the champion of her son'swife. There would be a three days' buzzing--that would end it!"

The swift uprushing of joy in Harriet's heart was accompanied withthe first agonies of renunciation, was perhaps all the morepoignantly sweet because of them. She had not come to this hourwithout knowing what he meant to her, this quiet man with thesplendid mouth and the keen gray eyes, and she trembled now withan exquisite emotion that seemed to drown out all the past and allthe future--everything except that she loved him, and he neededher! But when she spoke it was as coolly as he:

"Mr. Carter--what of your wife?"

His eyes met hers wearily. 

"Divorce proceedings were instituted immediately it was definitelyestablished she had gone with young Pope. The decree will beabsolute. "

"But that will not--cannot alter the situation--" Harrietfaltered. 

"You mean--" the man hesitated "--you mean you--that you regard meas married still?"

Harriet, mute with emotions absolutely overpowering, noddedwithout speaking. 

"Will you--will you let me think about it?" she faltered. A suddenbrightness came into his face. "You know how I was brought up tothink of divorce, " she went on, pleadingly. "I've made plenty ofmistakes in my life, but I've never deliberately done what I feltwas wrong. "

"And this would be?" Richard asked, slowly. 

"Well--I haven't thought about it!" she answered, slowly. "Mypeople--my sister and her husband--would say so! I--I would havesaid so of some other woman!"

"This would not be an ordinary marriage; you would be entirelyyour own mistress, " Richard said, with quiet significance. "Itwould be a marriage only in the eyes of the world. You--have ahigher tribunal!"

"My own, you mean?" she asked, thoughtfully. 

"Your own. You would know exactly why this marriage was not inviolation of any code of yours! The world might not acquit you, but you would know in your own heart. "

"I see, " she said. "I--I must have time to think about it!"

"As long as you like!" She had risen, and now he rose, too, andwent with her to the library door, and opened it for her. "Whenyou decide, come and tell me, " he said, bowing. 

She turned to give him a parting smile, with a desperate wish totell him half the honour and joy she would feel in taking hisname, in sharing his responsibilities, but the pleasantlyimpersonal nod he gave her chilled the words unspoken. Harrietfled to her room, and to the porch beyond it, and flinging herselfinto a basket chair, covered her face with her two hands, and forhalf an hour rocked to and fro audibly gasping, half-laughing, half-crying, almost beside herself with amazement and excitement. 

To be Mrs. Richard Carter--to be Mrs. Richard Carter--to bemistress of Crownlands, to command the cars and the maids, toenter the opera box and the big shops--recognized, envied, triumphant--ah, it was a prospect brilliant enough to dazzle a farmore fortunate woman than Harriet Field! To sign "Harriet Carter, "to enter his office with assurance, to say at the telephone, "Mrs. Carter, if you please--!"

"My chance, " whispered Harriet, pressing her cold finger tips toher hot cheeks again, "my chance at last--and I can't take it! No, I can't take it--I don't care what his world does or thinks--myworld doesn't permit it! My father would never have spoken to meagain--Linda wouldn't! No--I can't. Not a divorced man, not a manwith a living wife! I've been a fool--I've been wrong, plenty oftimes, but I've never committed myself to folly and wrong!"

She stared blindly ahead of her. After awhile she spoke again, half-aloud:

"Oh, but why does it have to be this way! If I could go to him, tell him what he means to me, if we were poor--if we could take alittle place next to Linda--never see Nina or his mother or Wardor Roy again--Oh, what Heaven! How I should love it, planning forthings together, as Linda and Fred did, having him come home to meevery night!

"But it isn't that way, " Harriet suddenly recalled herselfsensibly, "and it is folly even to think about it! He is a richman, and a married man, and that ends it. That ends it. "

A great desolation swept her spirit. She fell from bitter musingto weakening. The law permitted it, after all. Plenty of goodwomen had shown her the way. The family needed her; she might dogood here. And above all, she loved him. Again the dreamtriumphed, and she was Mrs. Carter, young, beautiful, and radiant, taking her place beside him. How she would watch him, how shewould guard him, what a life she would build for him!

"But no, I mustn't think of that, " Harriet said, sternly. "Itwould be even different if he loved me. But he made that veryclear! He made that extremely clear! And the fact is this: that Imarry a divorced man the week he is free, a man who does not loveme, but who can give me an establishment! No--no--no--everythingI've tried for all my life counts for very little if I can dothat!"

She heard a stirring in the bedroom. 

"What time is it, Rosa?" she called, suddenly aware of weaknessand fatigue. 

"My goodness, how you frightened me, Miss Field! It's just noon. "

"Do you happen to know if Mr. Carter is still downstairs?"

"Yes'm, he is; he's expecting Mr. Fox to come!"

Harriet smoothed her tumbled hair, and went slowly downstairs. 

"But I love him!" she said, suddenly standing still on thelanding, to look out at the softly falling snow with brimmingeyes. "I love him with all my soul!"

A moment later she knocked at the library door, opened it inanswer to his call, and went in, closing it behind her. 

CHAPTER XIV

There was trouble at Linda's house; trouble so terrible thatHarriet's unexpected arrival caused no comment, caused no morethan a weary flicker of Linda's heavy eyes. Pip, the adored first-born son, lay dangerously ill, and the whole household moved ontiptoe, heartsick with dread. Fred, a white and unshaven Fred, washome in the cold gray midday; the telephone was muted, the halldoor stood ajar, the maid was red-eyed. Harriet, entering with acheerful call hushed suddenly on her lips, kissed her brother-in-law while her eyes anxiously questioned him, and put a hearteningarm about Josephine, who came out in a kitchen apron, and weptpitifully on her aunt's shoulder. 

It was diphtheria, very bad, Fred stated lifelessly. Linda hardlyleft the room; they were afraid for her, too, "if anythinghappened. " "If anything happened!" Harriet thought she had heardthe phrase a hundred times before the dreadful night came. Thesympathetic neighbours whispered it, the doctor said it gravely, the nurse muttered it in the kitchen, and the little sisters, clinging together, faltered it with trembling lips. The invalidwas isolated on the upper floor; Harriet only waited to get into athin gown before noiselessly mounting to the sick room. Linda, sitting beside the haggard little feverish boy, looked at hersister apathetically, the nurse was glad to whisper directions andslip away, A bitter winter afternoon was waning, but the air in Pip's roomwas warm, and there was the order and silence of recognizedcrisis. The swollen little mouth moved, the heavy eyes; Linda bentabove the child. 

"What is it, my darling? Mother is right here--"

There was a new note in the passionate, tender voice. Linda wasall alive for the few seconds he needed her, then she sank intoher voiceless apathy again, and the short winter afternoon woreaway, and there was no change. The doctor came, the nursereturned, Fred appeared at the door. After awhile it was dark, anda shaded lamp was lighted, and Harriet went downstairs, to theworld of subdued voices, and smothered sobs, and fearful glances. And always horror brooded over the little house, and over thesimple, normal family living that had been so taken for granted afew days before. 

Harriet talked to the little girls, and while they were going tobed amused Nammy, whose lighter attack of the disease, a week ago, had begun the siege. Fred, tenderly attempting to reassure hisdaughters, buttoned his small son into woollen sleeping-wear, brought the inevitable drink, heard the garbled prayers, glancingnow and then toward the door, as if fearing a summons, andlooking, Harriet thought, stooped and gray and suddenly old. 

She took Linda's place for an hour, but before it was up themother came back, and they kept their vigil together. Fredanswered the strange, untimely ringing of the door-bell, broughtin packages, conferred in the halls with the doctors. Midnightcame, two o'clock, four o'clock. 

Suddenly there was panic. Harriet, by chance in the hall, sawLinda and Fred and the doctors together, heard Linda's quick, anguished "Yes!" and Fred's hoarse "Anything!" Her heart pounded;the nurse ran upstairs. Harriet fell upon her knees with a sobbingwhisper, "No--no--no!" and Linda clung to her husband with a crytorn, from the deeps of her heart, "Oh, Pip--my own boy!"

They were all needed; they were back in the sick room, there washurry, quick whispers, breathless replies. No time to think now, though Harriet cast more than one agonized glance at Linda's drawnface, and nodded more than once to Fred that she should not behere. The child protested with a choked cry; and Linda's voice, that new, deep, terrible voice, answered him, "Never mind, mydearest--just a minute, that's all! Mother is taking care of you!"And Harriet heard her sister say, in a breath almost inaudible:"Thy will be done--Thy will be done!"

 Dawn came slowly and reluctantly at seven; the village lay bleakand closed under a sky of unbroken gray. Here and there smokestreamed upward from a chimney, or a window-pane showed an oblongof pale light. The dirty snow, frozen in thick lumps about theyard, was trodden by a furtive black cat, that mounted a fence andmeowed desolately. 

Harriet saw this from Linda's kitchen, when she put out the lightthat was becoming unnecessary. But her heart was singing for joy, and the house was brimful of an inner light and cheer that nowinter bleakness could touch. The girl had been crying until shewas almost blind, but it was a crying mixed with laughter andprayers of utter thankfulness. She and Fred had built up a roaringfire, had given the nurse a royal breakfast, had had their owncoffee, and now Harriet was waiting for Linda, in that mood whenthe commonplaces of life take on an exquisite flavour, and just tobe free to eat and sleep and live is luxury. 

She met Linda at the door, a weary Linda, ghastly as to face, grayer as to straggling hair, but with such radiance in her eyesthat Harriet, clasped in her arms, began to cry again. 

"What YOU need is coffee!" she faltered, trying to laugh, as Lindasat down and rested her head in her hands. 

"Oh, Harriet--if I can ever thank God enough!" Pip's mother said, beginning on her breakfast with one long sigh. "Oh, my dear--!He's sleeping like a baby, God bless him, and dear old Fred issleeping, too. Oh, Harriet, to go about the house, as I just have, covering Nammy and the girls, and feeling that we're all going tobe together again, in a few days--my dear, I don't know what I'vedone to be so blessed! My boy, who has never given any one onemoment's care or trouble since he was born--my darling, who lookedup at me yesterday with his beautiful eyes--"

The floodgates were loosed, and Linda laughed and cried, while sheenjoyed her breakfast with the appetite of a normal woman releasedfrom cruel strain, whose whole brood lies safely sleeping underher roof. Nammy's light illness, Pip's wet feet, Linda'sunwillingness to believe that it was anything but a cold, everyhour of the four awful days of danger, she reviewed them all. Andoh, the goodness of people, the solicitude of nurse and doctor, the generosity of God!

"Fred has been a miracle, " said Linda, with her third cup ofcoffee, "this will cost him five hundred dollars, but Harriet, I'll never forget the way his voice rang out yesterday, 'I don'twant you to think of anything but giving me back my boy!' AndHarriet, only ten days ago--it seems ten years--I felt soterribly, I ACTED so terribly, about that old house that I've beenwanting so long! They sold it at auction, and the Paysons got itfor forty-three hundred, and I was perfectly sick that Fredwouldn't bid! But now, " said Linda, reverently, putting her armabout Josephine, who came yawning into the kitchen, in her bluewrapper, "now, if the Father spares me my girls and boys, andtheir daddy, I shall never ask anything happier than this! Pip'sbetter, Jo, " she said to the child, who was kissing her dreamily, over and over, "they put a tube in his throat last night, andsaved him for us! And now Mother must get a bath, and change, andperhaps some sleep, and then go back and stay with him when hewakes up!" It was the afternoon of the next day when Harriet couldfirst speak of her own affairs. Pip, recuperating with the amazingspeed of childhood, was asleep, the other children walking, thenurse gone. She could lay the whole matter before Linda, wholistened, over her mending, nodded, pursed her lips, or raised hereyebrows. 

If Linda might ever have been worldly minded, she had had herlesson now, and the viewpoint she gave Harriet was the lofty oneof a woman who has faced a supreme sacrifice without shrinking andwith unwavering faith. 

"You did right, dear, " she assured her sister. "You could not staythere, under the circumstances. Whatever their code is, yours isdifferent, yours has not been vitiated by luxury and idleness. Asfor Mr. Carter's talk of marriage, that, of course, is simply aninsult!"

"No, I don't think it was that, " Harriet said, feeling herselfrevolt inwardly at this plain speaking. She listened to Linda; sheknew Linda was right, but she fought an almost overwhelmingimpulse to say rudely, "Oh, shut up, you don't know what you'retalking about. "

"I don't see what else it could be, " Linda pursued, serenely. "Amarried man--you would be no better than his--well, it's not anice word--but his mistress!"

"Not at all, " Harriet said, trying hard to hide the irritationthat rose rebellious within her, "he is legally free, or will besoon, and so am I!"

"I am speaking of God's law, not man's, " Linda said, gently butawfully, and Harriet was silent. "Fred says that such men regardthese matters far too lightly, " Linda finished. Fred's name, thusintroduced, always had the effect of angering Harriet. She wassuffering cruelly, in these days, and moral reflections held smallconsolation for her. She was homesick with an aching, gnawinghomesickness that arose with her in the morning, and went to bedwith her at night; under everything she said and did was thelonging for Crownlands, for just one more word or look fromRichard Carter. 

She had shared the family exaltation over Pip's recovery, and hadthought more than once in that fearful night of his illness thateven poverty, gray hairs, and the agony of parenthood, shared withthe man she loved, would have been ecstasy to her. But in the slowdays and weeks that followed, her spirit became exhausted with thestruggle that never ended within her. Her bridges were burnedbehind her; it was all over. Whatever her emotions had been inleaving Crownlands, the Carters' feelings had been quite obviousand simple. Old Madame Carter had wished her well; Ward hadwritten from college that he thought it was "rotten, " and that shehad been a corker to get Dad to raise his allowance for him; Ninahad felt her own wings the stronger for the change; and Richardhad interrupted his little speech of regret twice to answer thetelephone, and had given her a check that placed, it seemed toHarriet, the obligation permanently with her. The utter desolationof spirit with which she had left them was evidently unshared; theonly word she had had from that old life had been from MaryPutnam, and even this cordial note jarred Harriet with its frankrevelation of the change in her position. Mary wrote:

I telephoned Mr. Carter for your address, and he reports them allwell. I wanted to tell you that I am giving you a tremendousreputation with Kane Bassett, who wants someone to be with hislittle girls. You know their mother died, and the grandmotherlives in England. It would be a beautiful thing for you if I couldmanage it. The Putnams are all full of happy plans for a month atNassau, as usual running away from January in New York. 

Harriet looked at the two words that stood for Richard Carter, andher heart beat thickly. 

"I can't keep this up!" she told herself, playing games withlittle convalescent Pip, walking over frozen roads with the girls, reading under the evening lamp. "I can't keep this up! Twenty-seven, and a governess, and in love with a married man who doesnot know I am alive!" summarized Harriet, bitterly. "I will simplyhave to forget it, and begin again, that's all. "

And she meditated upon David, the excellent, steady, devotedDavid, who was Fred's brother and a dentist in Brooklyn, and whogave the children wonderful holidays at Asbury Park. It would makeLinda and Fred very happy to have her change toward him: they werea little hurt and silent about David. He always went with them tothe crowded beach where they spent July and August, had had a carthis year, Linda told her sister, and had been "so popular. "

Harriet would look off from her book; David's nearness did nothold the thrill, the shaking, the happy suffusion of colour thatthe most casual remembered glance of Richard Carter stillpossessed. No, she was richer in her memory of Richard--

"I think you're a wonder! Don't you think Fred is a wonder!" Lindawould say. Fred's precious bank-account had been almost wiped outnow; he made evening calculations with a sharp pencil. But whatwas a bank-account to a Pip coming downstairs on Christmas Day, shaky but gay, in his wrapper, and glad to be with the familyagain?

David was there, Christmas Day, and there was a fire and a tree, happy children everywhere, rosy little neighbours coming in to seethe toys, snowy wet garments spread on the porch after church. David took Harriet walking in the fresh cold air, a Harriet sobeautiful in her furry hat and long coat, with her brilliantcheeks and her blue eyes shining under a blown film of goldenhair, that Linda, as she basted the turkey in the hot kitchen, couldn't help a little prayer that that would all come out"right. "

"But, Davy dear!" Harriet and David had stopped short in theexquisite, silent woods. "There is a feeling--a something thatmakes marriage RIGHT! And I haven't it, that's all!"

"How do you know you haven't?" he said, smiling. 

"Well---" She looked up bravely; David knew her whole story. "I'vehad it!"

"You don't mean that old feeling ten years ago? My dear girl, thatwasn't love! That was just a little girl's first feeling. But lookat Fred and Linda after seventeen years. Why, it's sacred--it'sholy. Harriet, if once you said you would, it would COME. Why, that's the very proof that you're as fine--as sensitive as youare--that you don't feel it now. But, Harriet, " his arm was abouther now, his voice close to her ear "don't let those years withrich people spoil you for the real thing, dear! Think of ourhunting for an apartment--Fred and I haven't Mother to care fornow; I've some of her good old mahogany, we could pick outcretonnes and things--think of next summer, all together, down atthe beach! Linda's children---"

She looked up at him, with something wistful in her blue eyes. 

"Sounds nice, Davy!" she said, childishly. Instantly she saw leapto his face the look he had hidden so many years; she heard a newring in his voice. 

"Ah--you darling! You will? You'll let me tell them---?"

"No, no, no!" Half-angry, half-sorry, she put away his embrace. "I'll--Davy, I hate to spoil your Christmas Day--I don't know whatto say! I'll think about it!"

"And tell me--it's noon now---" He took out his watch. 

"Oh, David, you make me feel as if I were catching a train!"

"And so you are, the Matrimonial Limited!" He would have his kiss, but only caught it where the bright hair mingled with the dark furof her cap. Then she turned to go home, forbidding the topicimperatively, meeting every buoyant hint with a suddenly seriouswarning. Her heart was lead within her. 

"I suppose there's no help for it, " she thought, in a panic. "Linda'll see--it'll all be out in five seconds!"

But Linda met them at the door, full of an announcement. 

"Harriet, Mr. Carter is here!"

"Mr. --WHO?"

Back came the tide with a great rush, nothing else mattered. For amoment Harriet was turned to stone. Then in a dream of radianceand delight she went into the little parlour, and Richard Carterstood up to greet her, and there was nobody else in the world. Linda had introduced herself; David was introduced. Harrietglanced about helplessly; he had not come here to say "MerryChristmas, " surely. 

"I suggested that Hansen take the little people for a five-minutes' drive, " he explained, "and then I shall have to hurryback. I wanted to speak to you on a matter of business, MissField. I wonder--since you're well wrapped--if we might walk tothe corner and meet them; I'll only steal you from your family forfive minutes. "

"Certainly!" Harriet's heart was singing. The voice, thepleasantly certain manner, the firm, kind mouth--she drank in afresh impression as if she had been starving! She was hardlyconscious of what he said; it was enough that he had sought herout, that she was to have one more word with him. 

"I came here to discuss my own plans, Miss Field, " he said at thegate, "but a hint from your sister has made me fear that perhaps Iam too late. She tells me that you may be making plans of yourown. "

"David?" Harriet said, resentfully. "I have no plans with David!"she said, simply. 

"I didn't know, " Richard answered. "I came to ask you to comeback. Things are in an absolute mess with us. We have not had aserene moment since you left us--three weeks ago. "

To go back--back to Crownlands! Harriet's spirit soared. She hadbeen strong enough to leave, to leave Nina's young impertinence, and Madame Carter's coldness, but she knew she must go back! Shehad only despaired of their ever needing her again. Every fibre ofher being strained toward the old life. 

"Linda, my sister, thinks it would be unwise, " she began. The maninterrupted her. 

"There has been a new turn of events, Miss Field. I had someinformation last night which may make a difference, " he said, gravely. "I received a wire from Pope, in France. My wife--Isabelle--died on an operating table yesterday afternoon, inParis. "

Harriet, stupefied, could only look at him fixedly for a longminute. Her lips parted, but she did not speak. 

"DIED?" she whispered, sharply. The man nodded without speaking. "But--but what was it?" Harriet said. 

For answer he gave her the crumpled cable, with the bare statementof fact. She read it dazedly, looked at his sombre face, and readit again. 

"I need not tell you that it is a shock, " Richard said, lookingoff toward the bare village in its mantle of trampled snow. "It--it is--a shock. " And he folded the cable and returned it to hispocket. "We were married twenty-three years, " he said, simply. "She was an extremely pretty girl, vivacious and happy--I imaginehers was a happy life!"

"I can't believe it!" Harriet said. 

"Well, now, " Richard began presently in a different tone, "we are, as I said, Miss Field, in a mess. I haven't told the childrenthis; they have a lot of young people there over Christmas. Bottomley tells me that he is leaving on the first. My mother andNina are planning some entertainment for New Year's night, and Isuppose this will end all that; I should suppose that Nina and herbrother must have a period of mourning. I am deeply involved in abig project in Brazil, committee meetings all through January--Ican't swing it, that's all. 

"Now, when we last talked of the subject together, " Richardpursued in a businesslike way, "you objected to the suggestion ofa marriage, because my wife was then still alive. Am I correct?"

"Yes, that's correct!" Harriet said, voicelessly. She felt herselfbeginning to tremble. 

"My purpose in coming to-day was to suggest that, if that was yoursole objection, " the man continued, painstakingly, "you might feelthe situation changed now. I need you. We all do. If it is mymother who makes it impossible, or some other thing that I cannotchange--why, I must get along as best I can. But my proposition isthat you and I are quietly married to-morrow; you come back to-morrow night, and announce it whenever you see fit. Of course, itmight be wiser not to have the two announcements come together;there will be the usual talk; Nina and my mother prostrated; andso on, and perhaps--but you must use your own judgment there. Imay seem a little matter-of-fact about this, Miss Field, but I amhoping you understand. You have impressed me as a woman of unusualintelligence and sagacity; I am making you an unsentimentalbusiness offer. I need you in my life and I offer you certainadvantages which it would be silly and school-boyish for me todeny I possess. I have a certain standing in the community whicheven Mrs. Carter's madness has not seemed to impair seriously. Theboy and the girl both love you, and you have my warmestfriendship. As for the financial end there will be the usualprovision made for you in case of my death and I will make thesame monthly arrangement with you that I had with Isabelle. Imention these matters so that you may understand that yourposition in my household will be as free and independent as wasIsabella's. I do not know whether you will consider this a fairreturn for what I ask, for after all you are giving your servicesfor life to the Carter household--

"Now, this is of course entirely subject to what pleases you inthe matter, " he broke off to say emphatically. "I merely throw itout as a suggestion. It would please me very much. I would draw along breath of relief to have it settled. Mrs. Tabor is there--stays there; takes the head of my table. I spent last night at theclub; I had cabled Pope--and expected an answer, but my mothertelephoned me at three o'clock this morning to say that Ward andsome of his friends had gone out ice-skating. Ward's been droppedfrom his university. I can't have that sort of thing, you know!"

"When--did you want me?" Harriet brought her beautiful eyes backfrom some far vista. 

"To-morrow?" he said, with sudden hope in his voice. 

"To-morrow!" the girl echoed, in a dream. 

"I thought that if you could meet me at my office to-morrow, Iwould have all the arrangements made. Nina is to be at theHawkes'; I send the car for her at three. I thought that you andshe could go home together to Crownlands. I'll have to be in townthat night. "

"Home--to Crownlands!" Suddenly Harriet's lip quivered, and hereyes brimmed with tears. "I'll be very glad to go back, " she said, in a low voice. 

"Good!" he said. "I needn't tell you how I feel about it, it helpsme out tremendously. Now, about to-morrow, how would you like thatto be?"

"Well, " she laughed desperately through her tears. "We're Churchof England!" She laughed again when he took out his notebook andwrote the words down. 

"Once it's done, " he said, reassuringly, "you'll see my mother andall the rest of them come into line! It puts you in a definiteposition, and although I may seem to be rushing and confusing younow, there is a more peaceful time to come--we'll HOPE!" he added, grimly. "Here's Hansen now. Lovely children, " he added, of theyoung Davenports and some intimates who were tumbling out of thecar, "lovely mother. "

"You'll not speak of this yet?" Harriet said, suddenly thinking ofDavid and Linda. "My sister might think it lacked deliberation--soclose upon Mrs. Carter's death. I'd rather have a little time, getthings straightened out---"

"Oh, certainly--certainly!" She could see he was relieved, wasindeed in cheerful spirits, as he gave his furred hand to thechildren's mittened ones. They thanked him shrilly and Hansensmiled warmly upon Harriet as he touched his cap. Then they weregone. Linda, watching from the window, thought that thechauffeur's obvious respect for Harriet was rather impressive. Shecame to the porch, and Richard waved his farewell to them enmasse. 

"He's very nice, " said Linda. "Poor fellow, he probably would havehad an entirely different moral code, if his life had beendifferent!" Harriet inwardly writhed, but she did not stir in thesisterly embrace of Linda's arm. "Now if he would marry this Mrs. Tabor, whoever she is, " Linda resumed, comfortably, "that would bequite suitable! Then you could go back with perfect propriety--"

"Oh, HUSH, for Heaven's sake!" Harriet said, in the deeps of herbeing. But she said nothing aloud as they turned back into thewarm house. 

Fred's face was radiant; for no apparent purpose he caught hissister-in-law in his arms as she passed him, and kissed the top ofher hair

"Here--here--here--what's all this!" Linda laughed. 

"Nothing at all!" Fred said, evidently in boisterous spirits. Harriet looked sharply at David, but he was innocently layingtrain tracks for little Nammy. But she suspected at once that theelder brother had had a hint that matters were at least underconsideration, and the rather aimless laugh with which Lindapresently embraced her, and the air of suppressed excitement thatmarked the Christmas dinner, all confirmed the suspicion. She felta prickling sensation of the skin; a flush of helpless annoyance. 

CHAPTER XV

At three o'clock the next afternoon, Nina Carter, leaving theHawkes' mansion in New York City, with a great many laughingfarewells, descended to her father's waiting car, and discovered, sitting therein, an extremely handsome young woman, furred andtrimly veiled, and deep in pleasant conversation with Hansen. 

"Miss Harriet!" Nina ejaculated, in a tone that betrayed a vagueresentment as well as a definite surprise. 

"Nina, dear!" Harriet accepted Nina's kiss warmly. "Are you gladto see me?" And as Nina stumbled in, and established herself, Harriet continued easily, "Your father and I had a talk, my dear, and he suggested that I come back for awhile. So Hansen picked meup at the office, and here I am! He tried to telephone you, Iknow, but you were out. And now, " said Harriet, glancing at herwrist watch, "I think we will go right home, please, Hansen!"

Nina had been her own mistress for several delicious weeks, and tohave any sort of restriction again was very unpalatable to her. Harriet could almost have laughed at her discomfiture, althoughshe was sorry for her, too. Nina smiled and listened with notableeffort; Harriet knew she was chagrined. 

She sulked all the way home, and Madame Carter, meeting them atCrownlands, gazed rather stonily at the newcomer, granting heronly the briefest greeting. But oh, how homelike and welcoming thebeautiful place, mantled in snow, looked to Harriet's eyes. Thesnapping fires, the warmth and fragrance of the big rooms, and thevery obvious welcome of the maids, all were enchanting to her. Herfirst duty was to make a brief tour below stairs, after which shewent up to her own room. 

When they returned from Huntington in the fall, she and Nina atRichard's suggestion had taken Isabelle's handsome rooms, turningboth into bedrooms, and sharing the dressing rooms and bath thatjoined them. It was here that Harriet found Nina awaiting her, still with her hat on, and loitering with obvious discomfiture. There had been no actual changes in her room except that thepersonal touch was gone. Bottomley had put her bags here, and Ninaspoke first of them. 

"You've got a new suitcase?"

"Yes, I got that this morning; isn't it stunning?" Harriet eyedits shiny blackness with satisfaction. "I had to get a gown ortwo, " she added, "and some little things! We've been so quiet atMrs. Davenport's that I hadn't any new clothes. Pip was ill, youknow. "

"Miss Harriet!" Nina said with a rush. "You're so sweet aboutthings like this, I wonder if you will mind taking the yellowguest room--it's really much larger--and leaving this room? Yousee when I have friends--"

Harriet, at the dressing table, had raised her hands to remove herhat. Like any general, she realized the crisis of the apparentlyunimportant moment, and met it by instinct. 

"But you have an extra bed, besides the couch, in your room, Nina!"

Nina cleared her throat, threw back her head, regarded Harrietbetween half-closed eyelids in a manner Harriet realized was new, and drawled:

"I know. But if you would be so very kind---?"

"Do you know, I'm afraid I shan't be so very kind!" Harriet said, briskly. "You're one of my duties here, you know, little girl, andI think Daddy would prefer to have me near you! Now, if you liketo ask him, perhaps he'll not agree with me; in which case I shallmove immediately! But meanwhile--" She picked up a thick book fromthe table, read the title idly: "'Secret Memoirs of the Favouritesof the French Courts!' Where on earth did you get this?" sheasked, surprised. '"Five Dollars Net, '" she mused, glancingthrough it. "How well I know this sort of rubbish! There arethousands of them on the market, exquisitely printed, beautifullybound, and just so much--rot! Secret memoirs of the favourites ofthe French Courts indeed! Most of them hadn't the brains to writea decent note!" scoffed Harriet, cheerfully. 

Nina's face was scarlet; she left the room abruptly. A moment ortwo later Harriet sauntered into the adjoining room, and found heragain. The younger girl was assuming a ruffled and beribbonednegligee, and tossing her wraps and street dress about carelessly. Harriet noted this with disapproving eyes, but said nothing. Therewas an immense picture of Mrs. Tabor on the dressing table, andshe found in that a sudden solution of the strange change in Nina. 

"'With Ladybird's unending devotion, to Ninette, '" read Harriet, from the inky scrawl across the picture. "Do you call herLadybird, Nina? You and she have formed a pretty strongfriendship, haven't you?"

"Oh, something more than that!" Nina drawled in her new manner. But, being Nina, she could not resist the desire to display thenew possession. She jerked open a desk drawer, and Harriet sawthick letters, still in their envelopes, and tied in bundles. "Wewrite each other almost every day!" said Nina, yawning, as sheflung herself down upon a couch, and reached for a book. 

"I should fancy she would make a loyal friend, " Harriet observed, generously. Nina softened a little, although her voice was stillcarefully bored and arrogant when she spoke:

"Oh, she's the best sort!"

It was one of Mrs. Tabor's phrases, Harriet recognized. She movedeasily about the room, picking up other handsome, superblyillustrated volumes: "An American Woman in the Sultan's Harem, " "AFavourite of Kings. "

"Does she have my room when she is here?" Harriet presentlysuggested, sympathetically. "Now, my dear, " she added, as Nina'squick self-conscious and hostile look gave consent, "Mrs. Tabor istoo thoroughly acquainted with convention to blame you if yourfather keeps you under a governess's eye for a little whilelonger. You're the most precious thing your father has, Nina, andas I used to remind you years ago, you don't begin to have therestrictions that the European princesses have to bear!"

This view of the case was always pleasing to Nina's vanity; shewas quite clever enough to see that a friend protected andconfined, watched and valued, would lose no prestige with thecharming "Ladybird. " She pouted; and Harriet saw that for themoment the battle was hers. 

"Darling gown!" said Harriet of the picture. 

"Oh, she has the most wonderful clothes!" It was the old Nina'svoice. "She doesn't spend much, but she goes to the BEST places, and they know her there, and the women at Hatson's will say, 'I'vegot a gown for you, Mrs. Tabor!' She picked out this negligee, andshe picked out another gown for me that you haven't seen. That wasone thing that made trouble between her and her husband, " Ninasaid, eagerly. "She can't help looking smart, and he used to getso jealous, and she told me that she told the judge exactly whatshe spent for clothes the last year, and he said that that wasless than his wife spent, mind you, and he said he didn't know howshe did it! And that was the judge, that had never laid eyes onher before! She used to cry and cry, after she got her divorce, because she said that she thought there was a sort of disgraceabout it. But this judge in Nevada said that a man like Jack Taborought to be horsewhipped!"

"Has she--been here very much?" Harriet said, after a moment. 

"Oh, lots! She loves to be here, and I can't think why, " Ninasaid, "because people are all crazy to get her, and she could goto the most wonderful dinners and things. But she really is justlike a girl, herself; sometimes we burst right out laughing, because we think exactly the same about things! And she just lovespicnics, and to let her hair down--and she's so funny! You'll justlove her when you know her--"

Nina, Harriet reflected, had had a thorough dose of poison. Itwould take, like many diseases, more poison to cure her, a counterdose. Going to her room to change to one of the new gowns, Harriethad a moment of contempt for the new-found intimate, who could sounscrupulously play upon the girl's hungry soul. But with thissituation it was possible to cope; there was definite comfort inthe fact that Nina had not mentioned Royal Blondin. 

Brave in the new gown, whose lustreless black velvet made evenmore brilliant her matchless skin, Harriet went to find Ward. Shemet instead one of his house-guests, Corey Eaton, a man some yearsolder than Ward, a big, rawboned, unscrupulous youth, with a wildand indiscriminate laugh. Mr. Eaton, greeting herenthusiastically, admitted frankly that he was just up from bed, and that he had been "lit up like a battleship" last night, andthat he still felt the effects of it. 

"Mr. Eaton, " Harriet said, in an undertone, making anotherstrategic decision, "come in here to the library, will you? I wantto speak to you. "

"When you speak to me thus, " said Corey Eaton, passionately, "Ican refuse you naught!"

But he sobered instantly into tremendous gravity at Harriet'sfirst confidence. She told him simply of Isabelle's death. 

"Well, that surely is rotten--the poor old boy!" said Corey, affectionately. "Ward's mad about his mother, too! Well, say, whatdo you know about that? We'll beat it, Miss Field, Nixon and I. Wecame in my car and we'll go to the Jays' for dinner. Say, that istough, though, isn't it?"

It was not eloquent, but it was sincere, and Harriet made herthanks so personal and so flattering that the young man could onlyfervently push his plans for departure, swearing secrecy, andevidently touched by being taken into her confidence. Thefastnesses were yielding one after another; Harriet could havelaughed as she left him at the foot of the stairs. Bottomleyrespectfully addressed her as she turned back into the hall:

"Miss Field, I wonder if you'd be so good--?"

She nodded, and accompanied him instantly into the pantry wherethey could be alone. 

"It's Madame, " said Bottomley, bitterly, "she's just 'ad me upthere agine, it's really tryin'--that's what it is. It's tryin'!Now she'ad to'ave her say about you bein' at table, Miss Field. Isays that you 'ad stipulited that you WAS to be there. Now, Isays, and I says it arbitrarily like, and yet I says itrespectful, too---"

"Now, just wait one moment, Bottomley, " Harriet said, soothingly. "I want to talk to you and Pilgrim. Is she in her room? Suppose wego there?"

Pleased with the consideration in her manner, the outragedBottomley led the way. Mrs. Bottomley was enjoying a solitary cupof tea; she bustled hospitably for more cups. 

"I want to tell you that your comin' has taken a load off mysoul, " said Pilgrim, a gray, round-visaged woman who had asentimental heart, " and so I said to Mr. Carter not three dayssince! I know that Bottomley, " said Pilgrim with an Englishwoman'sadmiring look for her lord, "would never have spoke so harsh if hehad but known you might come back. It's been very bad, indeed, Miss, since you went, as we was tellin' you a bit back. Impudence, orders this way and that, confusion and what not, and Mr. Wardvery wild, really very wild, and so at last Bottomley said hecouldn't stand it. "

"I'm hoping he will reconsider that, " Harriet said, pleasantly, with a glance at the face Bottomley tried to make inflexible. "ForI'm going to tell you two old friends some news. We have alwaysbeen friends, haven't we?" said Harriet. 

"It would be 'ard to be anything else, and I've said it beforethis! It's a different 'ouse with you in it!" Bottomley said. Pilgrim, rocking to and fro, clasped Harriet's hand to her breast, and beamed. With no further preamble Harriet announced Isabelle'sdeath. 

The servants were naturally shocked. There were a few moments ofejaculatory and sorrowful surprise. Her that was so young and so'andsome, and went off so bold and high! It didn't seem possible, so far away from 'ome and all. 

When this had died away, Harriet had more news. 

"I'm going to tell you two something, " she began. "You are thevery first to know, and I know you'll be glad. Before I left thehouse last October, Mr. Carter did me the--the great honour to askme to--to marry him. "

It gave her inward delight even to voice it; it made the miracleseem more real. Bottomley and Pilgrim exchanged stupefied glancesin a dead silence. 

"I met him at eleven o'clock to-day, " Harriet finished. Simply, "and we drove to Greenwich in Connecticut, and we were married atone o'clock. "

Bottomley and Pilgrim glanced again at each other, glanced atHarriet, opened their mouths slowly. 

Then Pilgrim dropped the hand she was familiarly caressing, andBottomley rose slowly to his feet. 

"Oh, no!" Harriet said, flushing in utter confusion and with anervous laugh. "Oh, please! Please sit down, Bottomley, and pleasedon't either of you think that it has made any difference. Although I am Mrs. Carter now, I'm still Miss Nina's companion!"

"To think of you bein' Mrs. Carter!" Pilgrim marvelled in awhisper. 

"Oh, sh--sh--sh! You mustn't say it even!" Harriet caught boththeir hands. "No one must know. I only told you so that you wouldhelp me, so that you would understand! There will be no change, anywhere--"

Bottomley shook a dazed head; but Pilgrim looked at the otherwoman with kindly eyes, and presently said:

"Well, now, it's hard on you, so young and pretty and all, andgoin' right on as if you wasn't married a bit!"

Harriet only smiled, but she blinked black lashes that the littletouch of sympathy had suddenly made wet. And presently whenBottomley was gone, and she about to follow him, she laid one handon Pilgrim's broad black alpaca shoulder, and said:

"I had my own reasons, Pilgrim, you know. Reasons that make it allseem--right, to me!"

"Well, why wouldn't you?" Pilgrim said, approvingly. "You'd havebeen a very silly girl not to take him, and--as I always tell thegirls--love'll come fast enough afterwards!"

The words came back to Harriet, hours later, when the house wasquiet, and when, comfortably wrapped in a loose silk robe, she wasmusing beside her fire. Nina was asleep; to Ward, who was headachyand feverish, she had paid a late visit. He had been sick enough, after the revel of Christmas Eve, to summon a doctor to-day; andwas dozing restlessly now, under the effect of a sedative. MadameCarter had not come down to dinner, and when Harriet had sent in amessage, had asked to be excused from any calls, even from Ninaand Miss Field, this evening. 

Nina had chattered constantly during the meal. Granny had had aterrible time with them all. And Ward and Nina and "Royal"--thename suddenly leaped between them again--had been arrested forspeeding. And Daddy had threatened Nina with a boarding-school, and Granny had cried. 

"Where is Mr. Blondin now, Nina?" Harriet had asked. 

"Oh, he's round!" Nina had said, airily. "I suppose you put Daddyup to saying that I wasn't to see so much of him!" she had added, with her worldly wise drawl. 

"Not at all, " Harriet had said. 

"Ladybird and I are planning a trip, " Nina had further confided. "I shall be eighteen in February, you know, and we want to goround the world. Would'nt it be wonderful to go with her, forshe's been about fifty times!"

"Wonderful!" Harriet had been obliged to concede. 

"You know"-and Nina, in good spirits, had put her arm aboutHarriet as they left the table--"you know, some day I'd love to doit with you!" she had said, soothingly. "And some day we will, forI mean to travel a great deal. But just now--she spoke of it, youknow. And it would be such an unusual opportunity. We're going toAlgiers--and Athens--Mr. Blondin is making out the list for us, and wouldn't it be fun if he could go, too? He's afraid he can't, but if he could--!"

"But, dearest child, what does your father think?"

"Father--" Nina had shrugged regretfully. "But I shall be of age!"she had reminded her companion. 

"Yes, I know, dear, but Father's ward for another three years, youknow!"

"Why, Ladybird says"--the girl had been ready, and had spoken withflushed cheeks--"Ladybird says that in that case we'll go anyway, and she'll pay all expenses! That's the kind of friend SHE is!"

And Nina had flounced to a telephone, and had telephoned herfriend in New York, laughing, coquetting, and murmuring for ablissful half hour. 

"Love'll come fast enough afterward!" Pilgrim had said, andHarriet thought Pilgrim was rather a wise woman, in her homelyway. The girl stirred the fire and settled herself to watch itagain. 

After what? Well, certainly not after anything so short, simple, and unconvincing as that three minutes with the clergyman to-day. The utter unreality of that had seemed to blend with the silent, snowy day, and with the dulled and dreamy condition of her ownbrain. Snow was falling softly when she had met Richard Carter atthe office, at half-past ten, and snow lisped against the windowsof the limousine as they two, with Irving Fox, Richard's kindly, middle-aged, confidential clerk, were whirled out of the city, andon and on through the bare little wintry towns. They had alltalked together, sometimes of herself and her sister, sometimes ofNina and Ward, of Fox's amazing grandchildren, and of business. Fox had had some papers to which they occasionally referred; theold clerk was the only person to congratulate Harriet warmly whenthe brief and bewildering business was over and she had herwedding ring. It was alone with Fox that she made the return trip. Richard came back by train, saving an hour, and was at the officewhen they got there. Harriet did not see him again; he was inconference; and presently she quietly got back into the motor-car, and on her way to meet Nina she slipped the plain circle of goldinto her hand bag. 

She had it out to-night, and put it on her bare, pretty hand, andheld it to the fire, and slowly the events of the bewildering andtiring day wheeled before her, and only the reality of the ringassured her that it was not all a confused dream. Married! And allalone before the glowing coals, weary from hostile encounters, onher marriage night! Ward, to be sure, was always her champion, butWard was drinking heavily just now, and her influence was none thestronger because he admired her while she held him at arm's-length. Nina was all ready to flame into defiance, and the oldlady's message had not been reassuring. 

"But Bottomley and Pilgrim will stand by me!" Harriet said, with ashaky laugh. She looked about the beautiful familiar room, theroom that had been Isabelle's for so many years, and wondered tothink of Isabelle, lying dead so far away, and a usurper alreadyholding her name and place. 

She had intended to write to Linda to-night; Linda was vexed withher, and small wonder! For Harriet had left the little New Jerseyhouse almost without farewells, had come down to an earlierbreakfast even than Fred's, and had said briefly that she wasreturning to the Carters, and would see them all soon. 

Why hadn't she told Linda? Well, for one reason, she had hardlybelieved her own memory of the talk on Christmas Day with Richard. Then she had feared opposition, feared Linda's shocked referencesto decent intervals of mourning; Linda's frank unbelief that therewas no strong personal feeling involved on Richard's part; Linda'sadvice to a bride. 

Harriet's face burned at the mere thought of it. No, she couldn'ttell Linda yet; she was too tired to write to-night, anyway. Lindaand Fred had not been at all approving, Christmas night. David hadreproached her, had disappeared earlier than was expected ornecessary; they had not failed of their suspicions. 

"Well! I must go to bed, " she said aloud, suddenly. She stood, oneelbow on the mantel, her beautiful eyes fixed on the dying fire. It was midnight, the room and the house very still. Outside thesnow was still falling--falling. Her loose gown slipped back fromthe round young arm, fell in folds about the slender figure; herrich hair was braided, and hung in a rope of gold over oneshoulder. Her smoke-blue eyes, heavy-lidded in a rather whiteface, met their own gaze in the mirror. "It isn't exactly what Iexpected marriage to be, " mused Harriet, smiling at the exquisitevision upon which no other eyes would fall. "But after all, " shesaid to herself, beginning to move about with last preparationsfor bed, "I'm married to the man I love--nothing can change that. And if he doesn't love me, he likes me. I've done nothing wrong, and if my life is just a little different from most women's, why, I shall have to make the best of it! And I did tell him--I didtell him--"

And her thoughts went back to the first few minutes she had spentin Richard's office that day. They had been alone, discussing thelast details of their astonishing plan, when she had suddenlytaken the plunge. 

"Mr. Carter, there is just one thing! Of course, " Harriet's cheekshad flamed, "of course, this marriage of ours is not the usualmarriage, and yet, there is just one thing of which I would liketo speak to you before we--we go up to Greenwich. " And finding hisgray eyes pleasantly fixed upon her she had gone on, confused butdetermined: "I'm twenty-seven now-and perhaps I might have marriedsome other man before this--except that-when I was seventeen-I didfall in love with a man! And we were to be married--!" She hadstopped short; it was incredibly hard. "He had--or I thought hehad, brought something tremendously big and wonderful into mylife, " Harriet had continued, "and I was a stupid little girl, just taking care of my sister's babies and reading my father'sbooks--"

"You are under no obligation to tell me anything of this, " Richardhad said, kindly, far more concerned for her distress thaninterested in what she was saying. "I must have known that therewere admirers! I assure you that--"

"No, but just a moment!" Harriet had interrupted him. "I wasinfatuated--I knew that at once, God knows I've known it eversince! I went away with him, little fool that I was!"

A gleam of genuine surprise had come into Richard Carter's eyes, and he looked at her without speaking. 

"I was taken ill the day I left with him. While I was getting wellI had time to think it over. I knew then I was too young and tooignorant to be any man's wife. I was frightened and I--well, I ranaway; I went back to my sister. Both she and her husband regardedme after that as in some way marked, unprincipled, unworthy--"

"Poor child!" Richard had said. "They naturally would. You were nomore than Nina's age!"

"So that's my history, " Harriet had finished, simply. "I thought Ihad done with men. And there have been men, men like Ward, forinstance, to whom I could have been married without feeling that Ineed make any mention of that old time. But I wanted to tell you. "

"Thank you very much, " Richard had said, gravely. "If theprotection of my name and my house seems welcome to you, aftersome battling with the world, it will be an additionalsatisfaction to me. "

And then before another word was spoken Fox had come in, announcing the car, and they had begun the long, strange drive. And now, deep in the quiet winter night, she was back atCrownlands, alone beside her fire, able at last to rest, and toremember. It seemed to her that ever since Richard's call onLinda's Christmas household yesterday she had walked strangelydetached and isolated, with odd booming noises in her ears, and apanicky thumping at her heart. Now she felt suddenly safe andsecure again; none of the oppositions she had vaguely feared, fromDavid, from Linda, from the family at Crownlands, had interruptedthe mad plan; she was in a stronger position now than ever, and ifthe path before her was dangerous and difficult, she was not tooweary to-night to feel confident of following it to the end. 

She got into the luxurious bed, put out the bedside light, and laywith her hands clasped behind her head, thinking. The clock struckone; snow was still falling steadily outside, but in here the lastpink glow of firelight flickered and sank--flickered and sanklazily. It touched the flowered basket chairs, the roses thatfilled a bowl on the bookshelf, the table with its shaded lamp andits magazines. 

Some sudden thought made Harriet smile ruefully. She indicatedthat it was unwelcome by turning over to bury her bright head inthe pillow, and resolutely composing herself for sleep. 

CHAPTER XVI

Morning found them half-buried in a bright dazzle of snow, themidwinter miracle that sets the most jaded heart singing and theweariest blood to moving more quickly. The bare trees glittered ina glassy casing, and every twig carried its burden of soft fur. Half-a-dozen shovels were scraping and clinking about Crownlandswhen Nina and Harriet came downstairs, and Harriet saw the menlaughing and talking as they worked. The telephone announcedFrancesca Jay, with an eager luncheon invitation for Nina andWard; they were bob-sledding, and it was perfectly glorious!

"I wish I liked people as much as they like me, " Nina remarkedover her breakfast. "Now I like the Jays--but this being invitedeverywhere--all the time!" Harriet, who suspected that Miss Jay'shospitality was really directed at the engaging Ward, good-naturedly persuaded him to go with his sister, thus assuring areal welcome from Francesca. He looked pale, complained of aheadache, and breakfasted on black coffee, but agreed with herthat fresh air and exercise would be the one sure cure for him, and tramped off beside Nina at eleven o'clock willingly enough. 

Harriet was through with her housekeeping and her luncheon, andmeditating a letter to Linda, when Ida Tabor fluttered in. Harrietheard the gay voice at the foot of the stairs: "Oh, sweetheart!Where's my little girl?"

Mrs. Tabor looked a trifle dashed when only Harriet responded, although she immediately assured Miss Field cordially with brightinsincerity that she had known of her return, and was "so glad!"

"I've been a sort of big sister here, " she said, laughingly, "and, my Lord, these kids have managed things wonderfully! But I supposesooner or later the machinery would have stalled without your fineItalian hand!"

"Mr. Carter asked me to come back, " Harriet stated, simply. Shethought the truth her best weapon, but Mrs. Tabor was ready forher. 

"Mary Putnam told us that you were just resting and lookingabout, " she said, innocently, "and Dick--generous that he is!--couldn't feel comfortably about it, I suppose! Well, I wanted tosee Nina--?"

Harriet explained Nina's absence, and Mrs. Tabor pouted. 

"I'd have stopped there, " she said. "I'm on my way to theFordyces'; they have a regular New Year's party, you know--"

This was deliberate, Harriet knew. Ida Tabor had not always beenadmitted to the Fordyces' sacred portals. 

"Blondin and I are getting it up, " she further elucidated, "I wantNina in it, and Ward, too. Blondin is lending us the most gorgeoustapestries and things you ever saw!"

Harriet was not concerned for Nina's plans after today; forRichard had telephoned her at three o'clock that the morningpapers would have "the news, " and that he was coming home to tellhis children of their mother's death, to-night. But she must getrid of this woman now, somehow. It would be fatal to have IdaTabor here when Richard Carter returned. Her time was short, Harriet thought anxiously, for at any minute now the young peoplemight stream back for tea. 

"I might run up now and see the old lady!" said Mrs. Tabor who hadflung off her furs, and beautified herself at her hand-bag mirror. "I don't really have to get to the Fordyces' until just beforedinner--really not then, if Nina wanted me!" She pressed her lipstogether for the red colouring. "Mr. Carter be here to-night?" sheasked, casually. 

Bottomley caused an interruption. Harriet turned to him withrelief. But unfortunately he answered the very question she wastrying to evade. 

"Mr. Carter had just telephoned, 'm, and says that he'll be 'ereat about six, 'm!"

"Oh, thank you, Bottomley!" Harriet turned back to Ida, to see hercomplacently loosening outer wraps. 

"I came in the Warrens' car, " said she, "they were to run over andsay Merry Christmas to the Bellamys, and then pick me up. But--ifI won't be in the way!--perhaps I might stay and see Nina; we'vebecome great chums. I suppose I'd better go to the room I alwayshave? Then I'll run up and get the latest news of the Battle ofShiloh from Madame Carter!"

It was now or never; Harriet's heart began to beat. 

"Madame Carter has gone driving, " she said. "She may be in at anymoment, but before she comes, I want to speak to you. We've hadterrible news here, Mrs. Tabor. Mr. Carter is coming home to tellthe children and his mother to-night. Mr. Pope cabled from Parison Christmas Eve that Mrs. Carter suddenly died that day!"

Ida Tabor never felt anything very deeply, but her emotions wereaccessible enough, and violent while they lasted. She grew white, gasped, somehow reached a chair, and burst into honest tears. Isabelle--! Why, they had been friends for years! Why, she hadbeen so wonderfully well and strong!

"My God, isn't that the limit!" said Mrs. Tabor, drying her eyes. "I don't know why I'm such a fool, " she added, with perhaps afaint resentment of Harriet's calm, "but I declare it's just abouttaken my breath away! And they don't know it! Isn't that simplyterrible!"

"Nobody knows it, " Harriet said. And not quite innocently sheadded: "The Fordyces, the Bellamys--everyone who knew her--are intotal ignorance of it! If you do tell them, Mrs. Tabor--and thereis no reason why you shouldn't--"

"Oh, I shall stay here with Nina to-night, anyway!" the visitorsaid, decidedly. "She'll need me, of course! Poor little thing!"

"It seems too bad to spoil your New Year's plans, " Harriet said, smiling, "but you know Nina! She will put those long arms of hersabout you--and she won't hear of your leaving her for days! WithNina, " Harriet pursued, thoughtfully, "it isn't so much that onecan't find a good excuse, as that she won't hear of excuses atall! I remember when Mrs. Carter first went away, there were daysof it--weeks of it!--just talk, tears, tears, and talk--my armused to ache from the weight of Nina's arm! Mr. Carter intends toleave for Chicago to-morrow, Ward will probably go up to theEatons'---" Harriet rambled on, not unconscious that she wasmaking an impression. "Anyway, " she finished, "we shall befearfully quiet and alone here, and your being here would simplysave the day for Nina!"

"Oh, I really couldn't stay over New Year's, " Mrs. Tabor, lookingslightly discomfited, said slowly. "You see, the Fordyces--"

"Nina may keep you, " Harriet said, lightly. Perhaps the otherwoman had a sudden vision of the overwhelming Nina, a Nina soconvinced of her friend's real desire to stay that with a certainsportive heaviness she would do the necessary telephoning andexplaining herself, to keep her. Perhaps she saw the alternatevision of herself at the Fordyces' inaccessible, and it must beconfessed dull, dinner table, electrifying them all with the newsof Isabelle Carter, coming as one admitted to the familyconfidence and councils. She looked undecided, and bit her under-lip. 

"One wonders--?" she said, musingly. "Of course, I shouldn't wantto intrude to-night--it would be merely to have them feel that Iwas HERE--"

"Mr. Carter has asked me to see that the family is alone to-night, " Harriet said, courageously, "but of course he may feelthat you are an exception, " she added, with the impersonal air ofa mere employee. "I only want to be able to tell him that Irepeated his request, and told you the reason for it. That's"--andshe smiled pleasantly--"that is as far as my authority goes, ofcourse. I shall say simply that you know of his wishes, and if youremain, I know I can say that it was to please Nina!"

And now the two women exchanged an open glance that needed nopretence and no concealment, and it was a glance of enmity. 

"When I visit this house it is not at your invitation, MissField!" said Mrs. Tabor, frankly. "I am aware of that, " Harrietsaid, simply. 

"Will you be so kind as to tell Nina and Madame Carter, " thevisitor was resuming her wraps, and arranging her handsome hat andveil, "that I will be here to-morrow, and that anything I can do Iwill be so glad to do!--Is that Mrs. Warren's car, Bottomley?Thank you. Good afternoon, Miss Field!"

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Tabor!" Harriet followed her to the halldoor, and heard a Parthian shot, ad-dressed in a cheerfully highvoice to kindly old Mrs. Warren, Mrs. Fordyce's mother, who was inthe limousine. 

"Nobody home! All my trouble for nothing!"

Old Mrs. Warren leaned against the frosted glass; waved from theholly-dressed interior at Harriet, and the girl saw her lips frame"Merry Christmas!" The door slammed; Bottomley came with statelyfootsteps up to the hall again. Harriet gave a little laugh oftriumph. Now the coast was clear!

Thus it was that Richard Carter found only his mother and hischildren at the dinner table that night, and no guests under hisroof. Miss Field, to be sure, was at the head of the table, butthen Miss Field was a member of the family. He interrogated herbriefly as they went in. 

"Ward's gang? That Eaton ass?"

"Oh, they went yesterday!"

"Speak to Bottomley?"

"Yes. He and Pilgrim are quite reconciled to remaining. " Harrietbuttoned a cuff, to hide a dimple that would come to the corner ofher mouth. "And Mrs. Tabor came, and would have stayed, " she couldnot resist the temptation to add, "but I persuaded her that someother time would be better!"

"Scene with Nina about it?" Richard had asked, curiously. 

"Nina was not here, " Harriet answered. And there was a faint smilein the deep blue eyes that she raised suddenly to his. 

"Ah, well, I knew of course that you would manage it!" he said, contentedly. "It seems black art to me. I had enough of it!"

She smiled again, and went quietly to her place. But when hesummoned Ward and Nina to his mother's room, after dinner, she haddisappeared, and the family was quite alone when he broke the newsto them. 

Harriet, presently needed again, was astonished at the emotion ofthe old lady, who had been genuinely fond of her daughter-in-law, and had always been loyal to Isabelle, as one of the Carters. Madame Carter was greatly shaken, Nina hysterical, Ward aggrieved, irritated at his own feeling. He had not seen his mother for sevenmonths, she had brought nothing but a certain unpleasant notorietyto her children, yet her death struck both the young creaturesforcibly, and they felt shocked and shaken. 

"We can't be in the Fordyce tableaux, " said Nina in an intervalbetween floods of sobs. "Not that I would want to, now! But Idon't know; it seems to me that I am the most unfortunate girl inthe world!"

"I think both you and Ward should wear black for a certainperiod, " Richard said to her. He had been walking the floornervously, stopping now and then beside the great chair where hismother sat silent and stricken, to put his arm about hershoulders, and murmur to her consolingly. 

"When my mother died, " Madame Carter quavered, with herhandkerchief pressed to the tip of her nose, "my sisters and Iwore black, and refused all social engagements for one year. Wethen, I remember distinctly, began to wear white and lavender--"

Harriet smiled inwardly at the picture of Victorian mourning andcompared it to the mourning of to-day, as different indeed as wasthe conception of motherhood to-day. 

"I remember that a cousin of my mother, Cousin Mallie we used tocall her, got in a sewing woman, and all our black things weremade right there in the house--" the old lady was pursuing, mournfully, when Nina broke in pettishly:

"I don't see why I have to wear black!"

"Why should you?" Ward said with bitter scorn. "It's only yourmother!" Nina began to cry. 

"You and I will go down to Landmann's early to-morrow, Nina, "Harriet suggested, "and we'll have someone show us what is simpleand nice--not crape, you know, " Harriet said with a glance atRichard Carter, "but black, for a few months anyway. "

"I think that would be the least, Richard, " his mother approved. "I believe I will go with you, " she condescended to Harriet, "after all, Isabelle was my daughter-in-law, and the mother of mygrandchildren!"

"And I won't go to California or Bermuda or any-where else unlessLadybird comes!" Nina burst out, with a broken sob. 

"Nonsense!" her father began harshly. Harriet said:

"Bermuda? Is there a plan for Bermuda?"

"I suggested it for a few weeks, " Richard said, frowning, "but Idon't propose to have Nina invite a group of friends. That isn'texactly the idea. "

"We could ask Mrs. Tabor, " Harriet said, soothingly; "it is rightin the middle of the season, and perhaps she will feel she canhardly spare the time. But I'm sure that if she can--"

"If I ask her, she'll go, " Nina said, in a sulky, confidentundertone. 

Harriet had her doubts, but she did not express them. A month atNassau, in the undiluted company of Nina and her grandmother, wasenough to appall even Harriet's stout heart. 

The event proved her right, for while Ida Tabor flew at once toher disconsolate little friend, and assured Richard with tears inher eyes that she would do anything in the world to help him, sheweakened when the actual test arrived. 

"If just you and I and your dear grandmother were going, dearestgirl, " she said to Nina, "then it would be perfect. But as long asMiss Field, who is perfectly charming and conscientious and allthat, feels that she must accompany us, why--you and I would neverbe a moment alone, sweetheart, you know that! I DON'T like tothink that it's jealousy--"

"Of course it's jealousy, " Nina was pleased to decide, gloomily. "Granny says that we don't need her, but Father just sticks to itthat she must manage everything!"

"I am going to run in every few days and amuse your father, andget the news of you, " said Ida Tabor. "You don't think that yourfather perhaps trusts Miss Field too far, do you?" she added, carelessly. She was standing behind Nina at the dressing table, experimenting with the girl's thick, straight hair. "You look likeone of the little Russian princesses with it that way!" said she. 

Nina was instantly diverted. 

"I had to laugh at Christine yesterday, " she said. "She said, 'Oh, Ma'm'selle, you've got enough for two people here!' 'Oh, ' I said, 'then I ought to pay you double'!" Nina laughed. "And I did, too!"she finished. For Nina, without ever being unselfish, was oftenextremely generous. Ida Tabor smiled automatically. 

"I don't suppose your father sees anything in Miss Field, " shesubmitted again, lightly. 

"Oh, Heavens, no!" Nina said, studying herself in a handglass. "Christine says that I ought to have my eyebrows pulled, " sheadded, thoughtfully. There was a rather steely look in the eyes ofher friend Ladybird, but she did not see it. Her smile of pleasuregradually gave place to a pout. "I'm going to ask Father if weneed Miss Harriet!" she said. 

And that evening she did indeed attack Richard on the subject, although not as decidedly as she had planned. He listened to herinterestedly enough, with his evening paper held ready for hisnext glance. 

"Let you roam about the country with Mrs. Tabor, " he said, as thegirl's faltering accents stopped. "No, my dear, it's out of thequestion! In the first place, she is not the sort of companion Iwould choose for any girl, and in the second place I would neverknow where you and your grandmother were, or what was happening toyou! While Miss Field is in charge I shall feel entirely safe. Ofcourse, if Mrs. Tabor chooses to invite herself, that's heraffair!"

"Then I don't want to go!" Nina stormed. But in the end she didgo. The alternative of moping about Crownlands, and seeing heridol only at intervals, was not alluring, and Mrs. Tabor herselfurged her to go. Madame Carter, Nina, and Harriet duly sailed, inthe second week of January, and Ward joined them almost a monthlater, in Nassau. And here Harriet had the brother and sister attheir best, free to show the genuine childishness that was inthem, to swim and picnic and tramp, and here she indulged Nina inlong talks, and encouraged her to associate with the young peopleshe met. Madame Carter found the island air a help to herrheumatic knee, and consequently made no protest against alengthened stay. She slept, ate, and felt better than in the coldnorthern winter, and at seventy-five these considerations wereimportant. 

Harriet wrote once a week to Richard, making a general report, andenclosing receipted hotel and miscellaneous bills. Hiscommunications usually took the form of cables, although once ortwice she received typewritten letters. 

In mid-April they all came home again, and Crownlands, in theyear's first shy filming of green, looked wonderful to Harriet'shomesick eyes. With joyous noises and confusion Ward and Ninascattered their possessions about, and the old lady bustled, chattered, and commented. Bottomley and Pilgrim were apparentlyenchanted to welcome home their one-time tormentors, and in thefresh, orderly rooms, and the scent of early flowers, and theburgeoning winds that shook the blossoms, there was a wholesomeorder and familiarity delicious to the wanderers. 

Richard was to join them at dinner; it had been impossible for himto meet them when the boat arrived, but Fox had been there andattended to the formalities. It had pleased them all to make theoccasion formal and to dress accordingly. Nina looked herprettiest in a white silk, and the old lady was magnificent indiamonds and brocade. Harriet deliberately selected her handsomestgown, a severe black satin that wrapped her slender body with onesuperb and shining sweep, and left her white arms and firm, flawless shoulders bare. The weeks of sunshine and fresh air hadbeen good for her, as for the others, and when she was dressed, and stood in the full blaze of the lights, looking at herself, shewould not have been human not to be pleased. Her bright hair wasdressed high, and shone in rich waves and curves against the soft, dusky forehead, and above the black-fringed, smoke-blue eyes. Thefirm young lines of chin and throat, the swelling white breastthat met the encasing satin, the slippers with their twinklingbuckles--she could not but find every detail pleasing, and herscarlet mouth, firmly shut, was twitched by a sudden dimple. 

She glanced at the clock, went slowly to the door, and slowly downthe big square stairway. Richard and his children were in thelower hall, and they all glanced up. 

Down in the soft glow of light came Harriet, smiling as sheslipped her left arm about Nina, and gave the free hand to Nina'sfather. She was apparently cool and unself-conscious; inwardly shefelt feverish, frightened and excited and happy, all at once. Richard was in evening dress, too; he looked his best; his darkhair brushed to a shining crest, and his gray eyes full ofpleasure. 

"Well, Miss Field--!" he said, a little breathlessly. "Well! Yourvacation hasn't done you any harm!"

"We had to make an occasion of our coming home!" Harriet said, with a nervous laugh, trying not to see the admiration in hiseyes. 

"I must say I like the gown, " Richard said, simply. It wasimpossible not to speak of it, and of her; they were all staringat her. 

"You look wonderful!" Nina said. 

"Why, you saw this gown at Nassau, " Harriet protested. 

"Louise--or whoever she was of Prussia, or whatever you call it, turned in the family vault when you walked down those stairs!"Ward said. "Oo-oo--caught you under the mistletoe--oo-oo, youwould!" he added, with an effort to envelop her in his embrace. 

"Ward, behave yourself!" Harriet said, evading him, and walkingtoward the dining room with his grandmother, who came downstairsin her turn, and joined them. "No pain in the knee?" Richard heardher say, solicitously. 

"Not a bit!" the old lady said, eagerly. "Why, my dear, " sheadded, grandly, "there's no rheumatism in our family! Not a bit!It was just that fall I had, ten years ago, that settled there, that was all! Immediately after that fall---"

Harriet had heard of the fall before. She had heard of it onehundred times. But she listened attentively. She had an aside forBottomley, she drew Nina into the conversation, she was most atease with Ward, teasing him, drawing him out. 

Richard Carter watched her, the incarnation of young and beautifulwomanhood. Clever he knew her to be, capable and conscientious, but to-night she was in a new role. He liked to see her there atthe other end of the table; he realized that she was the centre ofthings, here in his house, and that he had missed her. 

After dinner it chanced that Bottomley called her to thetelephone, and that a moment later she passed the call on toRichard. 

"It's Mr. Gardiner, Mr. Carter. He didn't know that you were here, but he would rather speak to you, " Harriet said. Richard went tothe telephone, and as she moved to make room for him, and gave himthe receiver, he had a sudden breath of the sweetness andfreshness of her, of hair and young firm skin, of the rustlingsatin gown, and the little handkerchief that she dropped, and thathe picked up for her. He smiled as he gave it, and flushedinexplicably, and his first few words to the bewildered Gardinerwere a little shaken and breathless. But Richard was quite himselfagain an hour or two later, when he sent for Miss Field, and shecame into the library. 

"I needn't say that I'm entirely pleased with the way matters havegone, Harriet, " said Richard, when she had seated herself on theopposite side of his big, flat desk, and locking her white handson the shining surface, had fixed her magnificent eyes on him. "Nina seems in fine shape, and I have never seen my mother better. You seem to have a genius for managing the Carters. Ward, ofcourse, is the real problem now--I wish the boy might have madehis degree; but it wasn't to be expected perhaps. He's clever, buthis heart wasn't in it; he never made the slightest effort to getthrough. I'm seriously considering this offer from Gardiner; he'sgot to take his boy out to Nevada for his health. Ward wants togo, and would very probably like it when he got there. Gardiner'sbrother is a magnificent fellow, 'P. J. , ' they call him; he andhis cattle are known all over that part of the country. He's gottwo or three pretty girls--I hope Ward will try it, anyhow! Sothat leaves Nina, who is safe enough with you, and my mother, whoseems perfectly well and happy. Meanwhile, while you've been gone, we've gotten the Brazilian company well started, so that I shallhave a little more freedom than I've had for years. "

"You look as if you needed it, " Harriet observed. 

"YOU look wonderful, " Richard returned, simply. "Wonderful! Isthat a new gown?"

"Well, I had it made last November just before I went away. Mrs. Carter gave me the material a year ago. " Harriet glanced down atherself and smiled. 

"You might wear pearls--or something--with it, " Richard said. "Doyou like pearls?"

It was astonishing to see the colour come up in her dusky skin;her eyes met his almost pleadingly. 

"Why--I never thought!" she said, in some confusion. 

"I suppose a man may ask his wife if she likes pearls?" Richardsaid, impelled by some feeling he did not define. He had leanedback in his chair, and half-closed his eyes, as he studied her. 

"Oh--please!" Harriet said in an agony. She gave a horrifiedglance about, but the library was closed and silent. "Someonemight hear you!" she whispered. And a moment later she rose to herfeet, and eyed him quietly. "Was that all, Mr. Carter?" she asked. It was Richard's turn to look a trifle confused. 

"That's all--my dear!" he said, obediently. The term made herflush again. He was still smiling when she closed the door. 

CHAPTER XVII

It was the gayest spring that Harriet had ever known atCrownlands, for even at her best, Isabelle had been socially anindividualist, devoting herself to one man at a time, and tonobody else, and the whole family had necessarily acceptedIsabelle's attitude. Richard had been too busy to notice orprotest, the old lady helpless, and Nina a child. 

But now there was a beautiful and gracious woman in Isabelle'splace, and long before the world knew that Harriet Field wasreally Harriet Carter, there was a very decided change in thesocial atmosphere. Nina would be eighteen in June, and affairs forNina and her friends began to assume a more formal air. Ward, whoseemed anxious to placate his father, and convince him of hisgenuine reform, was almost always at home, and Madame Carter waswilling to accept the comfort and amusement that Harriet's returnbrought to the house, and rarely raised an issue with thetriumphant secretary. And, more strange than all, Richard began tobring his friends to the house; he was proud of his smoothlyrunning establishment, and proud of the charming woman who neitherflirted with nor ignored the men he brought home. They were plainmen sometimes, business associates who might have been ill at easeat Crownlands, and voiceless at the dinner table. But Harriet drewthem out, and seemed to have some conversational divining rod bywhich she touched with unfailing instinct upon the topic of eachin turn. 

Always beautiful and always busy, constantly in demand on allsides, she went about his house like a smiling worker of miracles, and Richard watched her. When she went home to her sister for aday or two he missed her strangely, and wandered about the emptyrooms with a desolate sense of loss. 

She was presently back, and amused the young people at the dinnertable with a spirited account of her sister's move into a newhouse--"really an old house, " that she and her family had beenwatching for years. It had been auctioned, forfeited by thepurchaser, it had figured in a lawsuit, and now at last it was inthe possession of the delighted Davenports. And the move--with thebaby carrying his puppy, and Pip the goldfish, and the girlswheeling the old baby-carriage full of their treasures, and Lindawhitening her hands with a cut lemon, as she walked the sevenshort blocks--! Harriet made them see it all, and Richard laughedwith the children. His mother, always reminiscent, recalled a movein his own third year, when he had tasted furniture polish, andmade himself ill. 

Nina and Amy and Ward had rushed from the dinner table to an earlydance at the club, and Richard, after a talk with his mother onthe terrace, had wandered about with a vague hope of findingHarriet somewhere with her book. But she was not downstairs. 

He went back, and presently accompanied his mother to her door. The old lady stopped outside of Nina's open door, from which asubdued light streamed. 

"Oh, Miss Field--" said Madame Carter. 

"Yes, Madame Carter!" The rich, ready voice responded instantly. Richard hoped she would come to the door, but his mother's messagewas delivered too quickly to make it necessary. 

"You're waiting up for Nina?"

"Oh, yes, Madame Carter!" Harriet answered. The two exchangedgood-nights; Richard loitered into his mother's room, left her inher maid's hands, and went back into the dimly lighted, spaciousupper hall. He felt oddly stirred; there were letters downstairs, his usual books and amusements, but he felt curiously impelled totry for one more word with Miss Field. 

He opened the door of Nina's room, and went in, and knocked on thehalf-open door within that connected it with Harriet's room. 

"Come in. Is it you, Pilgrim?" the pleasant, quiet voice said. Richard stepped to the doorway. 

Harriet, seated in a square basket chair, under the soft flood oflight from a basket-shaded lamp, rose precipitately, and stoodlooking at him with widened eyes and parted lips, withoutspeaking. She was plainly frightened, though she made herselfsmile. She wore a scant, long-sleeved garment of a deep, orientalblue, that covered her from her white throat to her feet, and yetthat was obviously only for bedroom wear, and to which she gave aquick, apologetic glance, as the man came in. He noticed that inthis mellow light her blue eyes seemed to communicate a blueshadow to their neighbourhood, brows and lids, and the clean archin which they were set, all wore the same shadowy blueness. Thebeautiful room was full of shadows; at the wide-open windows thincurtains stirred in the cool night air. 

"Frighten you?" Richard said. 

"Is there something--?" Her eyes were those of a deer that isafraid to turn. 

"Why, I wanted to suggest that we tell our little piece of news tothe family, " Richard suggested, after a momentary search for asuitable subject. "I came very close to telling my mother, justnow. Is there any good reason for further delay?"

"Why, no, I don't--I don't suppose there is!" Harriet stammered. 

"You see, my mother had left me in no doubt of her intentions withMrs. Tabor, " Richard said, smiling. "I'll give Mrs. Tabor creditfor being as innocent as I am in the matter, " he added, simply. "But there's a plan for a Montreal trip--I believe Ida arrives fora week to-morrow, and so on. I should be very glad to let theworld know that--my arrangements--in the line, are already made. It will be fairer to you, too, I think. Gardiner asked me lastnight if the coast was clear--Ward asked me if I thought there wasany use in his trying again--"

"There will be talk, " said Harriet with distaste, as he paused. 

"I suppose so, " he answered, simply. "But what we do is our ownaffair, after all. I shall explain to my mother that for us bothit seemed a practical and a--well, not unpleasant solution. Thereneed be no change here, but you will simply have a more assuredposition--"

She had been watching him, with all June in her face. But as hewent on the colour slowly drained away, and about her beautifuleyes a look of strain and even of something like shame graduallydeepened. When she spoke, it was as if the muscles of her throatwere constricted. 

"Yes, I see. Certainly, I see. We will have to let them talk. Thisis--simply the best arrangement possible under the circumstances!"

"It is an arrangement that a man perhaps has no right to ask of awoman, " Richard said. "Love means a great deal in a girl's life, and I suppose there is nothing else that makes up for the lack ofit. But you are not an ordinary woman, and I assure you that inevery way that I can I mean to prove to you how deeply Iappreciate what you are doing for us all. "

"Thank you!" Harriet said, almost inaudibly. 

"Simply change your name on your checks, " Richard said, thoughtfully. "I shall have Fox step into the bank with theauthenticated signature. And if there is anything else, use yourown judgment. Perhaps, if I tell my mother, you would like towrite to certain friends--? You can continue to draw on the CornExchange, that's simplest, and I hope you'll remember that youhave a large personal credit there, " he added, with a smile. "Itoccurred to me to-night that you--you mustn't let your sisterworry about that new house. If you want your own car--"

"Oh, good heavens, Mr. Carter!" Harriet said, suffocating. 

"Ask me anything that puzzles you, " the man said. And with a briefgood-night he was gone. Harriet, who had dropped back into herchair, sat absolutely motionless for a long, long time. Her eyeswere fixed on space; she hardly breathed; it almost seemed as ifher heart was stopped. 

Richard went downstairs, surprised to feel still vaguelyunsatisfied. He had had his word with Harriet, had said indeedmuch that he had not expected to say. However, it was much betterto let the world know their relationship; he was perfectlysatisfied to have it so. But still, as he settled himself to anhour's reading, the plaguing little impulse persisted. He wouldlike to go upstairs again; he missed her companionship. 

There was something very appealing about this woman, thoughtRichard, suddenly closing his book. Her beauty, her silences, hercomplete subjugation of her own interests to his, he foundstrangely fascinating. She had looked extremely beautiful in thatlong, dark blue bedroom gown, reading Shakespeare. He wondered whyshe read Shakespeare. 

"By George, she has made a most interesting woman of herself!"Richard decided, opening his book again. "She ought to be right inthe middle of things, that girl!"

He was still reading when Nina and Amy came in, and yawned himgood-nights from the library doorway. He heard them go upstairs, heard a burst of laughter and nonsense, and then Harriet's richvoice, and then the closing door. Then there was silence. Richarddiscovered that he was sleepy, and went upstairs, too. 

A day or two later Madame Carter came out to the terrace at eleveno'clock, beautifully groomed and gowned, and with an imperativehand arrested Harriet, who was tumbled and sunburned from thetennis court and was going toward the house. 

"Just a moment, Miss Field, " said she, magnificently. Harrietobediently stood still, and watched Madame Carter's magnificencesettle itself slowly in a basket chair. The old lady freed aneyeglass ribbon deliberately, straightened a ruffle, laid hermagazine beside her on a table. "There was a little matter ofwhich I wished to speak to you, " she said, suavely, bringing herdistant glance to rest dispassionately for a moment upon Harriet'sface. 

Harriet waited, amused, annoyed, impatient. 

"I understand, " Madame Carter said, "that you and my son--for somereason best known to yourselves--have entered into a secretmarriage?"

"Your first object, my dear, is not to antagonize his mother!"Harriet reminded herself. Aloud she said mildly: "You have noreason to disbelieve it, have you?"

"No reason to disbelieve my son!" his mother echoed, scandalized. "Why should I have! Mr. Carter is the soul of honour--absolutelythe soul. Upon my word, I don't understand you!"

"I said you have no reason to disbelieve him, " Harriet repeated. "You said that you UNDERSTOOD that we had been married. It istrue!"

And she looked off toward the river with an expression as composedas that of Madame Carter herself. 

"I suppose you know that old saying: 'A secret bride has a secretto hide!'" the older woman pursued, pleasantly. 

"I never heard it. I did not play much with the children of theneighbourhood when I was a child, " Harriet answered. "My fatherwas very anxious to protect us from picking up expressions of thatsort!"

There was a silence. Harriet, beginning to be ashamed of herself, did not look at her companion. 

"A girl of your age has a great deal of confidence when shemarries into a family like mine, " the old lady said, presently, ina tone that trembled a little. "My son is a rich man--he is aprominent man. He has used his own judgment, of course. But Iconfess that in your place I should not carry myself with quite somuch an air of--triumph! It seems to me--"

Harriet had had time to reflect that such an opening wouldcertainly lead to tears and hysteria now, and might easily beginan estrangement that would sadden and disappoint Richard. A fewmore such exchanges, and his mother would retire worsted to herroom, might possibly leave his house, and punish Harriet cruellythrough him. She determinedly regained her calm, and taking thechair next to the enraged old lady, quietly interrupted the flowof her angry words. 

"I hope I have shown no air of triumph, Madame Carter, " Harrietsaid. "You yourself--and most wisely!--pointed out to us a fewmonths ago that the arrangement here was unconventional--"

"Everyone was talking, if you mind that!" the old lady snapped. But she was slightly mollified, none-the-less. "But upon my word, you'd think marrying into the family was something to be doneevery day--!" she was beginning again, when Harriet interruptedagain. 

"No--no, " she said, soothingly, conceding the last words an amusedsmile that itself rather helped to placate her companion. "It is, of course, the most serious step of my life! But the secrecy--asof course you will appreciate--was because there has been so muchterrible notoriety this year! Why, Mr. Carter tells me that neverin the history of all the Carters--"

This fortunate lead was enough. Madame Carter launched forthsuperbly upon a description of the usual Carter weddings, theceremony, the state. In perhaps twenty minutes she was blandlypatronizing Harriet, giving her encouraging little taps with hereyeglasses, warning her of mistakes that Isabelle had made withRichard. Harriet knew that before three days were over herterrible mother-in-law would be telling the world just how wise, under the trying circumstances, the whole thing was, and just howclearly she had foreseen it. She was still listening respectfully, if a trifle confusedly, when Ward bounded from the house, and gaveher an effusive embrace. 

"Hello, Mamma!" Ward said. Harriet laughed, as she pushed away thefilial arm. Hardly knowing what she said or did she made her wayto the house, and up to her own room. 

But here, in Nina's room, were Nina and Mrs. Tabor, and from theireyes, as she came in, she knew that they knew. Nina got up, andcame forward with a sort of sulky graciousness. 

"I hope you'll be very happy, Miss Harriet--I suppose I oughtn'tto call you Miss Harriet any more, " Nina said, with an effort tosmile that Harriet thought quite ghastly. She gave Harriet one ofher big hands, and hesitated over a kiss. But they did not kisseach other. Ida Tabor watched them with the half-closed eyes of acat. 

"Confess you took my breath away, " she said, frankly, "because itdoesn't seem the sort of thing that Dick Carter does! Always knewhe idolized Isabelle, poor girl, and never dreamed he'd put anyone in her place! Of course, Dick's a rich man, and he's thedearest fellow in the world, at that, but knowing, as I do know--for I've known him since we were kiddies--exactly what a firebrandDick always has been-mad as a hatter when he was in love, andconsequently this talk of a sensible arrangement--"

She had a quick, vivacious way of speaking, this pretty littleangry and disappointed woman, that often carried an offensive verysuccessfully. As she spoke, in an innocent voice, she glanced inand out of the magazine she had caught up, and was apparentlyunconscious of Harriet's blazing cheeks and darkening eyes. Butnow Harriet interrupted her. 

"I don't quite see the point, Mrs. Tabor, " Harriet said, bravelyand deliberately, "you speak of Mr. Carter's being a rich man, andof his love for his wife, and his having been a fiery young man. What has that to do with me? I was here in his house as hisdaughter's companion--

"As far as being a companion to ME was concerned, " Ninainterpolated, rapidly, in an airy undertone, and with a toss ofher head. But Harriet suppressed her with a glance. 

"--that position I could not keep, " she pursued, "but for Ward'ssake and Nina's there had to be some social life. My birth, " saidHarriet, steadily, "is quite the equal of theirs; I was well ableto fill that place. Mr. Carter took the step that made itpossible. That's all!"

There was a silence when she finished speaking. Ida Tabor wasoutfaced, and she knew it. Her cheeks burned scarlet, and she wasable to gasp only the feeblest response. 

"Thank you for your kind explanation!" she said, somewhatbreathless, and with a bow. Nina, giving Harriet a resentfulglance, went over to put her arm about her friend, who had risen, and was facing Harriet. 

"It need make no difference with us, Ladybird!" Nina said inpassionate loyalty. 

"Why, of course not, " Harriet hastened to assure them. "Why shouldit? It has been just as true since December, only you didn't knowit!"

"THANK you!" Mrs. Tabor said again, with another twitch ofcountenance intended for a smile. 

"Will you want both these rooms now?" Nina said, insolently. "Idon't want to be in your way!"

"Be careful, Nina!" Harriet said with ominous calmness. And goinginto her own room she added, in her usual quiet manner, "Therewill be no changes, dear!" She realized that her heart was beatingfast with anger, but it died down rapidly, and she consoledherself with some prophecies that the next few days were tojustify to the fullest extent. Nina's inseparable Ladybird wouldfind little to interest her in Crownlands now, Harriet suspected, and they would not long be troubled by her company. She smiled asshe heard Nina and Ida in the next room. 

"Put on your yellow gown, sweetheart, " Ida said. "We're going tothe Bellamys' after lunch. "

"Oh, I don't feel like going anywhere!" Nina said, pathetically. "Would you just as soon stay here--and just read and talk, andfool around as we did yester-day?"

"Just as soon do anything!" But there was a tiny edge toLadybird's tone that had not been there yesterday. "Only, dearestgirl, " she added, lightly, "we're expected!"

For answer Nina only gave her rich, mischievous laugh, and Harrietknew that she was embracing her friend. 

"But a lot you and I care for that, don't we? We'll get intowrappers and be comfortable. I'll have Bottomley simply telephoneafter lunch, and say that we are unexpectedly detained. I can'tget over it, " Nina said, luxuriating in surprise. Her voice sankto speculation, and the two murmured awhile. Then Harriet heardIda return the attack. "But about the Bellamys, dear, " and smileda little sadly, to think of the swiftness with which, tocalculating Mrs. Tabor, the Carter stock was declining, and theBellamy market looking up. 

"That crazy man who--you said--admired me last night, " Nina waspresently saying, "tell me again what he said. I don't see how hecould have said I was picturesque, for there's nothing picturesqueabout that old blue rag. I don't know, though, it's always beenawfully smart. But I'll tell you honestly, Ladybird, I'd rather bepicturesque than almost anything else. "

"You're certainly that!" said Ida's bored voice. 

"Well, if you say so, I'll believe you!" Nina said. Harriet knewthat they had been aware of her nearness, but now she verydeliberately closed the door. 

At luncheon everything was exactly as usual; Richard had gone tothe city, not to return for a night or two, and several socialengagements distracted the young people from the contemplation oftheir father's affairs. 

Harriet had not dared to hope that they would accept the situationso quietly, or that the world would. There were callers on theterrace every afternoon, there were pleasant congratulations andgood wishes, there were a few paragraphs in the social weeklies. Richard had for years been too busy for mere entertaining, and thedinner parties and luncheons to the new Mrs. Carter, it wasgenerally felt, must wait until next season. 

Meanwhile, the speculating world saw her going quietly about thehouse, advising Nina, conferring with the domestic staff, laughingwith Ward. She immediately formed a habit of going into the oldlady's room every morning: Madame Carter had quite accepted her asa member of the great house of Carter now, and came to depend uponthe half-hour of morning gossip. The world saw her in a box at thetheatre, with the young Carters, saw that Richard presently joinedthem, and laughed, in the shadowy back of the box, at somethinghis beautiful new wife said to him over her shoulder. The worldwas obliged to decide that the little secretary took her promotionvery coolly, that there was something queer about it. 

But inwardly the little secretary was thrilled to her heart'score. Even to glance at the gold ring on her finger made Harrietfeel as if a happiness almost shameful was bared to view. Her newposition, modestly as she filled it, was yet a high position. Shesaw Richard's growing affection and trust, if he did not. Shecould afford to wait. 

She visited Linda, almost afraid to show new gowns and newgenerosity, almost afraid of the constant "Mrs. Carter. "

"They'll be ruined!" Linda laughed, of the children's summer gownsand the camera and wrist watch that transported Julia andJosephine to Paradise. This rustling and perfumed Harriet, withthe flowered little French hat, and the filmy little odd gowns, was almost bewildering. 

Decorously having tea on the terrace in the June afternoons, knowing herself the centre of interest, Harriet's heart sang witha wild inward delight. She smiled; she could afford thefriendliest interest for everyone's affairs. When her own weretouched, there was a youthful flushing, a deprecatory smile. Butshe took no one into her confidence. 

"But when are you and Dick Carter going to dine with us?" MaryPutnam said, one afternoon, at tea. Madame Carter, whose Victorianideal of romance was not at all dissatisfied with the idea of theemployer marrying his daughter's beautiful governess, smiledsignificantly. 

"They're very odd lovers, my dear, " she said to Mary with aneloquent glance. Mary laughed, and looked at Harriet, whose facewas suddenly crimson, though she tried to laugh, too. The visitor, with instant kindness, covered the little break. 

"Whenever they're ready, they're going to dine with me!" she said, patting Harriet's hand with real affection and understanding. Thearrival of a group from the tennis court, Nina, Ida, Ward, Francesca Jay, and their friends, changed the subject immediately, the old lady was distracted, and Harriet busy. But Mary was freeto reflect. She had the eyes of a contented woman, freed from herown problem for those of others. "And Harriet is certainly madabout Richard, " Mary mused. 

But with the rest of the world she had to decide that there wassomething in the affair that she did not understand. 

When everyone else had gone from the terrace, and the lateafternoon light was throwing clear shadows across the warm redbricks, Nina and Ida Tabor remained, talking. Nina had seatedherself on the arm of her friend's chair, and was chattering awayin happy ignorance of the fact that the older woman was seethingwithin. Nina saw no reason for jealousy because Harriet had justhad an hour's petting from everyone, had dominated the scene inher striped blue muslin, had finally sauntered to the housebetween no more important persons than Granny and Ward. 

But to Ida it was insufferable, and she could only revenge herselfupon her innocent admirer. 

"And now we positively must go in, Nina!" she said. "We've wastedthis whole afternoon!" And she added, of the embracing arm:"Don't! It's too hot. "

"Is playing tennis and talking with me WASTING an afternoon, Ladybird?" Nina asked, archly. 

"You know I don't mean that!" Mrs. Tabor said, impatiently, iffondly, freeing herself. "But I have to get packed if I'm going tothe Jays'!"

"But you're not going to the Jays'!" Nina said in soft, sweet, confident reminder. 

"But I must, darling!"

"Not if I ask you not to!" Nina persisted. 

"Truly I must, " Mrs. Tabor said, wearily. 

"No, you mustn't!"

"But, dearest, I truly have to---"

"But, Ladybird, " Nina laughed, happily, "I sent them a messagethis afternoon that you were staying with me! So now, " shefinished, triumphantly, "that's settled! And we'll go to bedearly, with books, and talk, and maybe creep down for something toeat about eleven, as we did that other night--"

"Nina, " Mrs. Tabor said, in a new voice, interrupting her, "youdidn't telephone Mrs. Jay, did you?"

"Indeed I did!" Nina was still smiling over the thought of hermidnight raid on the pantry with a flattering and laughing andgirlish Ladybird, a Ladybird who had simply "never gotten over"that chance encounter with Father in the upper hall, and who hadtalked of it, and of their slippered feet and kimonos, throughhours of delicious giggling and embarrassment. 

"Well, then, you were extremely impertinent and officious, " said anew voice, that Nina hardly recognized. 

Poor Nina! Harriet found her sobbing on her bed, half an hourlater, and took it for a sign that the wound would cure, that Ninadid not resent her sympathy and comfort. Nina was still heavingwith deep sobs, albeit taking steps toward a hot bath and abecoming gown, when Ida went away. Her farewells were made only tothe composed interloper, who went with her pleasantly to the halldoor, and turned back with some remark for Bottomley that was inthe perfect tone of the mistress. Ida's heart was hot within heras she looked her last at Crownlands, in the mellow light of thesummer twilight. 

CHAPTER XVIII

Royal Blondin presently came to pay his respects to Harriet in herchanged position. Nina had told her that he had been forbidden thehouse, in December; they had seen him only two or three timessince their return from Bermuda, and then accidentally. Harrietwas thankful to believe the affair between him and Nina well over. The girl was growing up now, there were other men in her world, and for the list for her eighteenth birthday party she had merelymentioned his name among others. 

"You'll see that Royal gets a card, Harriet?" she had said. 

"Well--yes, if you want him, but somehow one doesn't see themysterious and artistic Royal in so juvenile a party, " Harriet hadanswered. Nina might have disquieted her with her serene: "Oh, he'll come!" But Harriet knew Nina was often over-sure of her ownpowers. 

Three days before the garden party that was to mark the girl'sanniversary Royal drifted in with the assurance that was quitecharacteristic of him. He rarely accepted an invitation, or waitedfor one. Perhaps he was clever enough to know that half hisacquaintances detested him theoretically, but were glad to havehim about. Nina and Harriet came in from an afternoon at the clubto find him playing with languid hands at the piano, and he lazilyrose to greet them. While Nina was there, his attitude toward bothwas pleasantly impersonal, but his suggestion, which was more likea command, that she run upstairs and dress early, so that theymight have a talk before dinner, sent the girl flying, and he andHarriet could speak more freely. 

"Well, Harriet, I congratulate you! How does it feel to be amarried woman? I was with Lenox, in his camp--we went up there tolook it over, " Royal went on, in his musical voice. "It's abeautiful place, in the Adirondacks. I saw your name in an eveningpaper; of course I was delighted for you. "

"Money and position don't really mean much to me, " Harriet said, unencouragingly. 

"They don't?" he asked, with an upward glance. 

"Not lately. Not as much as they always seemed to!" the girladded, uncertainly. 

"Perhaps because your dream is captured, " Blondin suggested. "It'sno longer a myth! I wonder if it isn't always so?"

"I remember his taking that dreamy, silly tone years ago, " Harrietthought. 

"My first sensation, " Blondin said, "was one of satisfaction. Ithought to myself that my own cause, with Nina, was safe now. Thatyou trusted me, and I had every reason to trust you. "

Harriet looked away for a brief silence, brought her eyes to hisface. She felt suddenly sick. 

"Roy, you're not still serious about Nina?"

"I have never been anything else, " he said, delicately. 

"But--but why?" Harriet asked. 

"I like the girl, " he reminded her pleasantly. "I hope she is notentirely indifferent to me--"

"Indifferent! She's at the age that marries anybody!" Harrietsaid, indignantly. 

"You give me hope, " Royal said with a bow. 

"Her father very violently opposes it, " Harriet said, after atroubled silence. 

"I am well aware of that, my dear. Her father forbade me the houselast December. I submitted; the girl submitted. But we made ourplans. I fancy we will not have any difficulty now. "

"You mean that you are engaged?"

"An understanding. We have corresponded, seen each other now andthen through Ida Tabor. It's, " he smiled, dreamily, "extremelyromantic, of course, " he said. 

Harriet felt that she could have killed him. 

"You understand that she won't have one penny, Roy. I know herfather. He won't yield. He'll forbid it; he'll not hesitate. Ifshe does it against his will, she will have to wait three yearsfor her money. Three years--! Roy, she wouldn't be happy threeweeks! Mr. Carter spoke to me about it the only time we've spokenof you. He said that he was glad the affair had ended naturally;that you were not the man to make Nina happy, and that he wouldrather have her suffer anything, and find out her mistake at once, than have her heart broken, and her money wasted, through severalwretched years!"

Blondin had listened to this quietly, his eyes moving from herlips to her own earnest eyes, and wandering over her animatedface. 

"I count on you to be my advocate, my dear Harriet, " he said, after a moment's silence. "Richard Carter believes in you; he hasgreat faith in your judgment. If you represent to him that youbelieve this to be a wise step all round, we shall have no furthertrouble--'

"I can't honestly tell him so, Roy!" the girl interrupted. 

"Can't you?" Blondin said. He looked across the open hallway toNina, descending in fresh ruffles and ribbons, and raised hisvoice. "Here she is--looking like the very rose of girls! Come onnow, Nina, you aren't going to belong to anybody else but me for awhile!" he said. But as he turned to leave Harriet, he addedagain: "Can't you? Think it over. "

The girl thought it over with a maddening and feverish persistencethat presently caused her a sensation of actual sickness. Howserious her countenancing of Nina's love-affair might prove to be--how unimportant it might prove to be--what Nina might do or mightnot do, these vague speculations churned and seethed in the wearybrain that could find no beginning and no end to them. To havemade a clean breast of the whole matter months ago would havemeant a delicious sense of freedom from responsibility now, butthen under those circumstances would she, Harriet, have been herenow? Certainly, even in the present purely technical sense, shewould not have been the second Mrs. Richard Carter, nor would shehave held her present position of trust and responsibility. 

While Nina and her lover murmured on the terrace Harriet broodedon these things, and after dinner that evening she gave Richard sosharp a warning that he sent at once for Nina, and with a cloudedbrow and angry eyes briefly requested Harriet to be present whilehe spoke to her. 

Nina came at once, with an innocent expression on her rather heavyyoung face. She seated herself near Harriet, and her father wentto the point at once. 

"Nina, " he said, seriously, "you saw Royal Blondin this afternoon, didn't you?" And as Nina answered only with an ugly glance atHarriet, the betrayer, he added, "Didn't I ask you not to see himany more, several months ago?"

"Yes, you did, " Nina said, in a low tone, and with a heavingbreast. She was sure of herself, but she felt a little frightened. 

"I hope, and we all hope, that you will marry some day, " Richardsaid. "But you are too young now to make a wise choice. And untilyou are a little older, you will have to take my word for it thatsuch an affair would only lead you to misery and regret. "

Nina mumbled something bravely. 

"I didn't hear you, " her father said. 

"I said, I didn't see what you could do about it!" the girlrepeated, desperately. 

For a few moments of silence Richard merely looked gravely at hisdaughter. Then he clasped his fine hands on the desk before him, and cleared his throat. 

"I cannot do as much as I should like, Nina, " he conceded, "but Ishall do what I can. But first let me ask you: have you promisedto marry Mr. Blondin?"

Silence. Nina looked at the floor. Richard repeated his question. 

"Yes, I have-and you can't kill me for it!" Nina said, and burstinto tears. 

"Well, " the father resumed, when Harriet had supplied aconsolatory murmur and a handkerchief, "I'm sorry, of course. Mrs. Tabor carried letters between you, did she? You met himoccasionally?"

"Two or three times, " Nina said, sniffing and drying her eyesbusily. 

"You know my reasons for disliking him, Nina, " her father said. "He is a man more than twice your age; he has a certain sort ofunsavory reputation in his affairs with women. He has no income, no profession, no home; all those things tell against him. But themost serious of all, to me, is his mental attitude. The man has nowholesome, decent code. He dabbles in the occult, in Orientalmorality--or immorality. With an older woman, that mightn'tmatter. She could guide him, perhaps influence him. But you'reonly a child--"

"I shall be of age Tuesday!" Nina burst forth, resentfully. 

"You will be of age Tuesday. True. But you will be my ward, as faras your Uncle Edward's legacy is concerned, for another threeyears. Now, Nina, if you persist in this folly, against my mostearnest advice, I can only forbid the man the house, and lock youin your room in the good old-fashioned way. That I shall do. Ishall then give out to the world--that has already had a raretreat at the expense of the Carter family!--the news of my utterdisapproval of the match. If you manage the marriage in spite ofme, I shall forbid you and Blondin my house, and as a matter ofcourse use my right to withhold the payment of your legacy forthree years, and stop your present allowance, and your credit withthe shops. That's all I can do! And I do it, Nina, " said Richardin a softer tone, "I do it to hasten the inevitable, my dear! I doit to bring you back to your father sooner instead of later; togive you only one year of disillusionment and suffering, insteadof seven or eight!"

It must be a brave girl, thought Harriet, who could persist in anycourse, after that. But Nina had the impregnable armour ofignorance and pride, and she only sniffed pathetically again, andshrugged her shoulders. 

"You do everything in the world to MAKE my marriage a failure!"she said with the irrepressible tears. "And I suppose you'll bedelighted if it is! Uncle Edward's money belongs to me; Ward hasgot his; and I don't see why you just want to shame me before theworld for your own satisfaction! Royal is a perfect child aboutmoney; he says that I will have to manage our business affairs, anyway. And I don't see--if a woman can marry a rich man, why aman shouldn't sometimes be glad if a girl has money! I'm PROUD tohelp him out, if he'll let me. He says he won't--why, we hadplanned going--well, just everywhere, Honolulu and southernCalifornia and just everywhere, only now he won't go! He says heis going to stay right here, and take a position with an artmagazine that he just hates, and work it all off--before we go, ifit takes years--"

"Work what all off?" Harriet asked, simply and quietly. 

"This money that a friend of his really lost, but he has taken itupon himself, " Nina answered, a little mollified. "It was eleventhousand dollars, and he has PAID OFF about four, and anyway, Ihate so much talk about money!" she finished, angrily. 

"My dear, " Harriet said, as Richard, with a troubled face, remained silent. "It isn't the money that we are worrying about. Why, ask your father, Nina! Ask him if he wouldn't write RoyalBlondin a check for any sum to-day, ANY sum, if you and he wouldpromise solemnly to wait three years more. You will only betwenty-one then, Nina, still such a child!"

Harriet paused, glancing at Richard for encouragement; he noddedeagerly, and she went on:

"Marriage is a tremendous thing, Nina, and the only thing thatmakes it right---"

"If you're going to say love, " Nina broke in, scornfully, "youdidn't marry Father for love!"

"I was going to say mutual understanding and respect, " Harrietsaid, quietly, but the splendid colour flooded her face as shespoke, "and you do not understand life, Nina, or men, or marriage. Royal Blondin is a charming man, and a gifted man, but he is anadventurer, dear; he is a man who has lived in all sorts ofplaces, known all sorts of persons, accepted all sorts of queercodes. There are coarse elements in him, Nina, things that wouldutterly sicken and frighten you! Your father is right; you wouldbe back with us in a few months or years, perhaps with a child, perhaps shattered in body as well as soul--not free to take upyour life again with Ward and Amy, but scarred and embittered andchanged--!"

"My God, how that woman loves the child!" Richard said to himself, watching her. To him she seemed inspired. Her eyes were blurredwith tears, her voice shaking, and she had leaned over to claspNina's hands, and so hold the girl's unwilling attention. 

"Nina, can't you trust your father that far?" Harriet finished. "Can't you realize that a man like Royal, embarrassed for money--no matter if he truly admires you, and truly means to make youhappy--can't think of you without thinking also of what yourgenerous checks are going to mean to him? Write him a check foreleven thousand, Nina, as a consolation for delaying the marriagea year. Try it!"

Nina rose to her feet. Her trembling mouth was desperatelyscornful, and her eyes brimming, although she fought tears. 

"I don't know why my own family is the first to think that nobodycould possibly love me for myself!" she said, in a breaking voice. "First Harriet ruins my friendship with Ladybird--and then--then--!"

"Listen, Nina, " her father said. He and Harriet had come around tostand beside her, and he had encircled the shaking and protestingshoulders with his arm. "I have just telephoned Fox to makereservations for me on the next Brazilian steamer. I shall have tobe a month or six weeks in Rio de Janeiro every year now. Now I'vejust been wondering why you and Harriet don't come with me thisfirst trip? We stop at the Barbadoes and Bahia; it's a magnificentsteamer--swimming tanks and gymnasium; you'll love it, and you'lllove a touch of the South American countries, too, a chance to tryyour Spanish. Why not put off this marriage idea for a year, comealong with me, you'll make steamer acquaintances, you'll broadenout a little bit--"

"I won't go anywhere!" sobbed Nina, wildly, turning for flight, "because I'm going to kill myself!"

Harriet only waited long enough after her dramatic exit to giveRichard a reassuring nod. Then she hurried after Nina. 

The girl was sobbing on her bed, and for awhile she answeredHarriet's soothing touch of voice and hand only with angry jerks. Then they fell to talking, and Nina confided for the first timefully in the older woman. Royal's letters, his exquisite cards, sent with flowers, the poems he had written her; here they allwere. Harriet sympathized, sighed, and consoled heraffectionately. Presently she was able to suggest a new thought toNina, one that could not but be palatable to the girl's hurtspirit. 

"You see, you're only seventeen, Nina, " Harriet said. "The agewhen most girls are still in the schoolroom, long before they haveaffairs! Well, you're not interested in college, so that ought togive you three or four clear years of girlhood. You're bound tohave other affairs, you've proved that! You go to South America--perhaps there is some interesting man on the steamer; you go toCanada--to California, the world is yours. Now, Royal isdifferent. He is an experienced man of affairs; he will alwayshave an attraction for women, and they for him. You aren't hismatch, now, Nina. In a few years you may be--"

"I'm not jealous!" Nina said, proudly. But Harriet smiled. 

"Yes, you are jealous. You wouldn't be a real true woman if youweren't!" she accused. A reluctant dimple tugged at Nina's poutingmouth. She did not dislike the idea of potential despotism, of thetravelled, experienced woman of the world, confident of her charm. 

"If I offered a check to Royal, do you suppose he'd accept it!"she remarked, after dark musing. She was sitting on the edge ofher bed now, and Harriet was brushing her hair. 

"If you really are worried about his business affairs, Nina, whynot try it?" Harriet suggested, sensibly. To this Nina returned apouting:

"I'm perfectly willing to try it!" And as a great concession sheadded with a sigh, "And I'll tell him what Father thinks!"

"Now you're talking like a woman who has herself well in hand!"Harriet said, approvingly. "When are you to see him?"

"He's coming over especially to see Father to-morrow, " Nina said. "I suppose I might as well go down, " she added, eyeing herselfgloomily in her mirror, "for Ward and that boy seem absolutely ata loss for amusement!"

"And I'll be down presently, " Harriet said. But when Nina was goneshe walked slowly to her own dressing table, and sat down, andregarded herself steadily, and with heavy eyes. Unexpectedly, herebetween the family dinner and the early going to bed, on a Juneevening, a crisis in her life was confronting her, and she knewthat she must meet it. 

Ward's guest was only the young Saunders boy, who had been withthem constantly last summer, and who was of absolutely nosignificance in their lives. And yet Harriet had been introducedto him all over again as "Mrs. Carter"--there was no halfway, inthe eyes of the world at least, in this relationship of hers withRichard, and she must begin to take her place in the family. 

"Mrs. Carter!" Bottomley and Pilgrim were beginning to call herso; she must sign checks as "Harriet Carter" now, she must say "byMrs. Carter" in the shops, in a thousand little ways she mustclaim the dignity of being his wife. 

And Harriet loved that distinction as if the title, the signature, and the dignity had never been vouchsafed to womankind before. Shehad marvelled at her old self, that had taken "Miss" and "Mrs. "with cheerful indifference--why, there was a worldwide chasmbetween the two! Just to have this silly Saunders boy call herMrs. Carter, as a matter of course, was to receive the accoladethat gave her all her longed-for dreams in one. It was the name ofthe man she loved, and, even though in a shadowy and unloved way, she liked the title that made her his. 

But this dignity had its sting, too, and its responsibility. Harriet's soul had been growing during this past year. She hadthrown off the old shell of bitterness and discouragement, she hadbecome ambitious again, even if only in the shallow, mercenary waythat the life about her encouraged. And then that had changed, too, and it had seemed to Harriet only good to serve and to bebusy, to work out the difficult problem that was presented herwith all the accumulated years of study and dreams, philosophy andcourage, to help her. Then love had come, sweeping all her oldlife away before it--the flotsam and jetsam of discouraged years;what was ignoble and sordid and outgrown had still lined the riverbanks, it was true, but that was carried away now, the man sheloved needed her, and by some instinct deeper than any dull malereasoning of his, had drawn her to him. 

And now she owed him the truth, the whole, painful, humiliatingstory. If she had told him months ago, so much the better andbraver woman she! She had not done so; she had been fighting Ninaand his mother then; she had been afraid. But she was not afraidnow; he could forgive that long-ago girl of seventeen because heradvocate was the woman of twenty-eight, the finished, cultivated, capable woman who had served him and his house, who must win hisrespect back because she loved him with every fibre of her being. 

The words in which she would tell him came to her in a rush. Why--it was nothing! It was less than nothing. In half an hour shewould be back here in her room again, with all the past clean andstraight at last, with the cloud gone, and with her whole soulsinging with hope of the glorious future. For a moment she kneltby her bed, her face in her hands. 

She rose to her feet. There was a tap at the door. 

It was Bottomley. "If you please, 'm--Mr. Carter would be so muchobliged if she would step down to the library, 'm. " Harriet gaveherself a parting glance, and followed the man downstairs. 

"Courage!" she said to herself, with her hand on the library door. "I've exaggerated and enlarged upon this thing too long! I'veimagined it into an importance that it really hasn't at all!"

Richard was back at his desk; he smiled and rose as she came in. There was another man in the library, who rose and faced her, too. 

And when Harriet saw him she knew that she was too late. It wasRoyal Blondin. 

A dizziness and sickness came over her as she went slowly to thechair opposite Richard. She touched the desk for support as shesat down, and felt that her fingers were cold and wet. 

"Mr. Blondin has come to talk to me about Nina, " Richard said. Harriet somehow moved her dizzy eyes toward Blondin, and shesmiled mechanically. But she had to moisten her lips before shecould speak. 

"I see!" Her voice sounded horribly choked to her; she could findnothing to add to the meaningless words. 

"Mr. Blondin asks my consent to an immediate marriage, " Richardsaid. "You know my objections to that, Harriet, of course! We havejust been discussing them, as I explained to him. This is apainful matter to me, and I regret it. But Mr. Blondin has givenme no choice but to tell him frankly why I think him an unsuitablehusband for my daughter. I have told him exactly what my procedurewill be in such a case, and I think we understand each other!"

Royal was smiling the serene, dreamy smile that was characteristicof him. 

"Nina, " he said, tenderly, "is warm hearted. And a chance allusionto my financial position, which I thought I owed her, hasdistressed her unnecessarily. It will, truly, be out of thequestion for me to travel, as we had planned. The unfortunatespeculations of my friend--"

"Whose name you withhold, " Richard interrupted the musical voiceto say, drily. 

"Because of a promise!" Royal flashed promptly. "But, " he resumed, turning to Harriet, "I shall be able to negotiate this business, as I assure Mr. Carter, without any assistance from him or hisdaughter, " his lip curled scornfully, "and I do not propose togive her up for any three years--or three weeks!"

Harriet could only look at him fixedly, with an ashen face. 

"God help me, " she breathed in her soul. "God help me!"

"Well, " said Richard, with weary impatience, "we did not call youdown to bore you with this! I asked to see you, Harriet, becauseMr. Blondin has made the statement to me, just now, that you wereheartily in accord with his plans for Nina, and that you approvedof the affair!"

The prayer in Harriet's heart did not stop as she moved herwretched eyes to Blondin. 

"I believed that you and she had not seen each other sinceDecember, " she reminded him. "I lost no chance to advise heragainst the engagement! I thought it was all over!"

"Well!" Richard said, with a breath of relief. He had beenwatching her closely, now he settled back in his chair, and movedhis contemptuous scrutiny to Blondin. 

"One moment!" Royal Blondin said, gently. But he was also pale. "You believe that I would make Nina a good husband, don't you?" heasked Harriet directly and quietly. 

She was not looking at him. Her eyes were on Richard Carter. 

"I believe you would ruin her life!" she said, deliberately. 

"Thank you, " Richard said. "I think that is all, Mr. Blondin. Iwas aware that you had--misunderstood Mrs. Carter when you madethat statement!"

"Not quite all, " Blondin persisted. "You believe that Nina wouldbe wiser not to marry me?" he asked Harriet. 

"You--" She cleared her throat. "You know that I think so!" shesaid. 

Blondin laughed. 

"And now, Mr. Blondin, you will kindly leave my house!" saidRichard. 

The other man was watching Harriet, with a menace in his narrowedeyes. White lines had drawn themselves about his tightly closedlips, yet he was smiling. He had lost the game, truly, but sheknew he would play his last card, just the same. The suavity, thecalm of years fell from him, and his voice deepened into a sort ofcold and quiet fury as he said:

"One moment, Mr. Carter. Why don't you ask your wife what makesher think I won't make Nina a good husband? Why don't you ask herif she has been hiding something from you all this time? Why don'tyou ask her if she herself wasn't madly in love--and with me!--when she was Nina's age, and whether she was married in my studio, to me, ten years ago--!"

He had shot the phrases at her with a distinctness almost violent. Now his dry voice stopped, but his swift, venomous look went fromthe silent man at the desk to the silent woman who stood beforehim. Before either moved or spoke he spoke again. 

"Ask her--she'll tell you! Ask her!'

"Be quiet!" Richard said. "I don't believe one word of it!" Andthen as the girl neither raised her eyes nor attempted to speak, he asked her, encouragingly and quickly: "Harriet, will you tellhim that not one word of that is true?"

Harriet had risen, and was standing at the back of the carvedblack chair with both her hands resting upon it. She had lookedquietly at Blondin, when he began to speak, and the beautifulwhite breast that her black evening gown left bare had risen onceor twice on a swift impulse to interrupt him. But now she waslooking down at her laced fingers, with something despairing andhelpless in the droop of her bright head and lowered lashes. 

It had had its times of seeming frightful to her, this secret, inthe troubled musings of the past year. But it had never loomed sohorrible and so momentous as now, in the silent library, with theeyes of the man she loved fixed anxiously upon her. He hadtrusted, he was beginning to admire her, and like his wife and hisdaughter and his mother, she had failed him. 

"Harriet?" he said in quick uneasiness. She raised her head now, and looked at him with weary eyes devoid of any expression exceptbewilderment and pain. 

"Yes, " she said, simply. "That is all--quite true. It sounds--"she hesitated, and groped for words--"it sounds--as if--" shebegan, and stopped again. "But it is all quite true!" shefinished, in the troubled tone of a child who is misunderstood. 

Then for a long time there was silence in the library. 

CHAPTER XIX

The curtains at the French windows in the library at Crownlandsstirred in the breeze of the warm summer night, the pendulum ofthe big clock behind Richard Carter moved to and fro, but for along time there was no other sound in the library. Richard haddropped his eyes, was idly staring at the blank sheet of paperbefore him. Royal Blondin, who had folded his arms, for a momentstudied Harriet between half-closed lids, but presently his eyesfell, too, and with a rather troubled expression he studied thepattern of the great Oriental rug. 

Harriet stood motionless, turned to stone. If there was anythingto be said in her behalf, she could not say it now. For the firsttime the full measure of her responsibility and the full measureof her deceit smote her, and in utter sickness of spirit she couldadvance no excuse. It was not that she had failed Blondin, or thatshe had failed Richard, but the extent of her failure towardherself appalled her. She was not the good, brave, cultivatedwoman she had liked to think herself; she was one more egotist, with Nina, and Isabelle, and Ida, unscrupulously playing her owngame for her own ends. 

"I'm extremely sorry, " Richard said, presently, in a somewhatlifeless tone. "I imagine that if my daughter had known this, shemight have been spared some suffering and some humiliation. But weneedn't consider that now. " He was silent, frowning faintly. Heput up a fine hand and adjusted his eyeglasses with a littleimpatient muscular twitching of his whole face that Harriet knewto be characteristic of his worried moods. "Mr. Blondin, " he said, wearily and politely, "I have had a great deal on my mind, lately, and have perhaps been hasty in my condemnation of you. However, this does not particularly help your cause with my daughter. Thereare a great many aspects to the matter, and I--I must take time toconsider them. Nina must be my first consideration, poor child!Her mother failed her--we have all failed her! She has a right toknow of this conversation--"

Harriet stirred, and his eyes moved to her. Without a word, andwith a stricken look in her beautiful, ashen face, she turned, andwent slowly toward the door. When she reached it, she steadiedherself a second by pressing one fine hand against the dark wood, then she opened it and was gone. 

"I'm very sorry--" Blondin said, hesitatingly, when the men werealone. 

"Mrs. Carter, " Richard said, getting to his feet, and verydefinitely indicating an end to the conversation, "before sheconsented to the--arrangement into which we entered, of coursetook me into her confidence in this matter!"

"She--she did?" Royal stammered. 

"Certainly she did, " Richard said, harshly. And looking at him theother man saw that his face looked haggard and colourless. "Shedid not mention your name, I presume out of a sense of generosityto you. I could have wished, " he added, "that you had beensimilarly generous, and had seen fit to leave her, and leave mydaughter alone. I think I must ask you to excuse me, " said Richardat the door. His tone was one of absolute suffocation. "I can seeno object in your frankness to-night, unless to distress andhumiliate Mrs. Carter. My daughter, and not myself, is the oneentitled to your confidence, and you are well aware of my feelingwhere she is concerned! I would to God, " said Richard, withbitterness, "that I had never seen your face! Mrs. Carter has beena useful--and indispensable!--member of this family for manyyears; if there was in her past some unpleasant and painful event, that is her own affair--!"

"Not when she marries a man who is unaware of it, " Blondinsuggested, in his pleasant, soft tones. 

"That is mine!" Richard said, sternly. And he opened the librarydoor. "Good evening!" he said. 

"Good evening!" Blondin, with his light, loitering step, crossedthe threshold, and Richard closed the door. He took his chairagain, and reached toward the bell that would have broughtBottomley to summon Nina in turn. But halfway to the bell hisresolution wavered, disappeared. Instead, he rested his elbows onthe table, and his head in his hands, and there sounded from hischest a great sigh that was almost a groan. 

Oh, he was tired--he was tired--he was tired! It was all a mess--the boy, the girl, their mother, his own arrangements for theirprotection and safety. All a mess. 

She had been beautiful, that girl, with her golden hair in thelamplight, and her white arms a little raised to rest her lockedhands on the chair. Like some superb actress of tragedy, somesplendid and sullen prisoner at the bar. The slender figure in thedull wrapping of satin, and the white bosom, had looked so young, so virginal, the blue eyes were so honestly frightened andashamed. And she had been that bounder's wife--in his arms!Divorced! Harriet Field? Poor girl, cornered by this unscrupulousscoundrel, this bully, with all the ugly past dragged up like themuddy bottom of a river, staining and clouding the clear waters. And what a look she had given him, there under the lamp!

"It's a funny code, " he mused. "Barbarians, that's what we are, when it comes to women. Nina, Ida, Isabelle, Harriet--all of thempay for the man-made rule! I shouldn't have forced her hand inthis business marriage; it was taking an advantage of her. Nowoman wants to marry for anything but love, and if she had marriedfor love, she would have made a clean breast of this old affair, of course. I didn't exact that. We've made a nice mess of it, allaround!

"I mustn't let her work herself into a fever over all this!" hefound himself thinking. 

But Nina must be the first consideration. He must plan for Nina. He brought his thoughts back resolutely--his daughter must breakher engagement now, there was that much gained. And for thejourney to Rio--

"But why didn't she tell me!" he interrupted himself, suddenly. The reference was not to Nina. Again he saw the superb whiteshoulders in the soft flood of lamp-light, and the flash of theblue eyes that turned toward Blondin. 

"She could have killed him!" Richard said. "My God! how she willlove when she does love!"

 Meanwhile, to Harriet had come the bitterest hour of her life. She had reached a crossroads, and with steady fingers and ananguished heart she prepared for the only step that to herwhirling brain and shamed soul seemed possible. She mustdisappear. There was no alternative. 

She had harmed them all, they could only think of her now as anunscrupulous and mischievous woman who had by chance entered theirlives when they were all in desperate need of wisdom and guidance, who had played her own contemptible game, and added one more hurtto the hurt reputation of the house of Carter. 

Harriet got out of her evening gown and into a loose wrapper. Shewent about somewhat aimlessly, yet the suitcases, spread open onthe bed, were gradually filled, and her personal possessionsgradually disappeared from tables and walls. Now and then shestopped short, heartsick and trembling; once her lips quivered andher eyes filled, but for the most part she did not pause. 

Nina, at about eleven, had come to the door between their rooms, and opened it. The girl was undressed, and for a few moments shewatched Harriet scowlingly, with narrowed eyes. 

"Are you going away?" she said, presently. Harriet brought heavyeyes to meet hers, and stood considering a minute, as if bringingher thoughts back a long distance. 

"I--going away? Yes, " she said, slowly. "Yes, I may. "

Nina still stood watching, which seemed vaguely to troubleHarriet, who gave her a restless glance now and then as she wentto and fro. Presently she spoke to Nina again. 

"Good-night, Nina!"

"Good-night!" snapped Nina, and the door slammed. 

Harriet continued to move about for perhaps half an hour beforeNina's odd manner recurred to her, on a wave of memory, and sheseemed to hear again Nina's ungracious tone. 

"He told her!" she said, suddenly. "She saw Royal, and he toldher! Poor child--"

And she went to Nina's room, with a vague idea that she would sitbeside the weeping girl for awhile, one heavy heart close to theother, even if no words could pass between them. 

But Nina lay sleeping peacefully, and Harriet, after watching herfor a few minutes, went back to her own room. She went to the openwindow, and stood staring absently out at the dark summer night, the great branches of the trees moving in the restless wind, andthe oblong of dull light that still fell from the library window. 

She could not see the horror as Richard saw it: she could not seeherself as only a mistaken woman, a woman with youth, beauty, andintelligence pleading for her, one problem more in his life it istrue, but only one among many, and not the greatest. She did notsee him as he saw himself, his family as the somewhat troublesome, and yet quite understandable, group of selfish human beings inwhose perplexities he had always played the part of arbiter. 

To Harriet the thing loomed momentous, unforgivable, incalculable. It assumed to her the proportions of a murder. Bigamy, perjury, deceit--what hadn't she done! Richard, in her estimation, was notwhat he thought himself, a somewhat ordinary man in the fortieswhose life had already held poverty and disillusionment andwholesome disappointment, whose nature had been tempered to humourand generosity and philosophy; to Harriet, he was the richest, thefinest, the most deserving of men, and she the adventuress who hadbrought his name down to shame and dishonour. 

Until two o'clock she was wretchedly busy in soul and body. Whenthe last of her personal possessions was packed, and when she wasaching from head to foot, she took a hot bath, and crept into bed. 

But not to sleep. The feverish agonies of shame and reproach heldher. She was pleading with Richard, she was talking to Nina--shewas making little of it--making much of it--she was saying areluctant "yes--yes--yes!" to their questioning. 

At four o'clock she dressed herself again, half-mad with headacheand fatigue, and went out into a world that was just beginning tobrighten into faint shapes and colours. The fresh cold air ofmorning struck her jaded senses with a delicious chill; she wentnoiselessly across the terrace and down toward the water, her bigsoft coat brushing spider-webs from the dim rosebushes as shewent. The world lay silent, fragrant, saturated with dew. Yetunder its chill Harriet felt the pervading warmth of the day thathad gone, and the day that was to come. 

She drew in great breaths of it; it was her world for anotherthree hours. Then men would begin to stir themselves, down at theriver docks, and at the stables and garages, and smoke would go upfrom the chimneys of Crownlands, and rakes clink on the gravelwalks. She went down to the little pier, and sat on a weather-wornbench, and watched the day breaking softly over the river. 

Little wrinkles crossed the satiny surface of the Hudson, whichlooked dark and metallic in the twilight. But presently there wasa general glimmering and widening, and across the river trees andhouses were touched with light, and window-panes flashed. Harriet, huddled into her coat, did not stir; she might have been, for anhour, a part of the motionless scene. 

A steamer moved majestically up the river, the smoothly wideningwake spread from shore to shore; pink light showed at one cabinwindow; and into Harriet's sombre thoughts came unbidden thepicture of a yawning cook, stumbling about amid his soot-blackenedpots and pans. 

With the morning, the peace of a conquered spirit fell upon her. She had thought it all to an ending at last. It seemed to Harrietthat never in her life had she thought so clearly, so truly, sobravely. Her duty to Richard, to his children, to Linda; she hadfaced them without fear and without deception, tasting thehumiliating truth to its bitter dregs, planning the few shortinterviews that must precede her leaving them all forever. 

For Harriet emerged from the furnace the mistress of her own soul. She had been wrong; she had been weak; she had been contemptible;but not so wrong or weak or contemptible as they would think her. She would go on her way now, the braver for the lesson and theshame. And what they thought of her must never shake again her ownknowledge of her own innocence. 

Go on her way to what? She did not know. But she neither fearedwhat the future might hold nor doubted, it. She could make her ownway from a new beginning. 

"But before I go, " said Harriet, resolutely, "I must tell him thatI'm sorry. And I must ask Nina to forgive me. "

She turned, and buried her face in the thick, soft sleeve of hercoat. But she did not cry long, and when Jensen, the boatman, cameout on the dock at seven, the lady he knew to be his new mistresswas sitting composedly enough on her bench, studying the nowglittering and sparkling river with quiet eyes. 

Harriet nodded to him, and rose somewhat stiffly, to go up to thehouse. She mounted the brick steps with a thoughtfully droppedhead--the straight shafts of the sunlight were making itimpossible to face the house, in any case--and so was within threefeet of Richard Carter before she saw him. 

He looked fresh, hard, even young, in his white flannels. Theystood looking at each other for a moment without speaking. 

"Where have you been?" said Richard, sharply, then. "You lookill!"

Tears, despite her desperate resolution, suddenly stung Harriet'seyes. And yet her heart leaped with hope. 

"I wanted to see you, Mr. Carter, " she faltered. "I couldn't sleepvery well. I've been down at the shore. But later--any time willdo!"

"You couldn't sleep!" he exclaimed with quick sympathy. He lookedfrom her about him, as if for a shelter for her emotion. "Here, "he said, "come down the steps a bit. I was just going down to thecourt for a little tennis; Ward may follow me, but he won't bedressed for half an hour yet. Sit down here; we can talk. "

They had come to the marble bench on the terrace, where Isabelleand Anthony Pope, sheltered by these same towering trees and lowbrick walls, had had their talk a year ago. Harriet, to her ownconsternation, felt that she was in danger of tears. 

"I--I hardly know how to say it, " she began. "But--but you knowhow ashamed I am!"

"I know--I know how you feel!" Richard said with a sort of briefsympathy. "I'm sorry! But you know you mustn't take this all toohard. I didn't--I was thinking of this last night; I didn't askyou for--well, any more than you gave me, in this marriage ofours. Your divorce was your own affair--"

The girl's tired eyes flashed. 

"There was no divorce!" she said, quickly. 

"No divorce?" he echoed with a puzzled frown. 

"I want to tell you about it!" she said. But the tears would comeagain. "I'm tired!" Harriet said, childishly, trying to smile. "I've been up--walking. I couldn't sleep!"

The consciousness that he had been able to forget the wholetangle, and sleep soundly, gave Richard's voice a littlecompunction as he said:

"You don't have to tell me now. We'll find a way out of it that iseasy for everyone--"

"No, but let me talk!" Harriet, in her eagerness, laid her fingerson his wrist, and he was shocked to feel that they were icy cold. "I want to tell you the whole thing--I want you to understand!"she said, eagerly. Richard looked at her in some anxiety; therewas no acting here. The rich hair was pushed carelessly from thetroubled forehead. She was huddled in the enveloping coat, adifferent figure indeed from his memory of the superb and angrygirl of last night in the library lamplight. 

"Mr. Carter, I never knew my mother--" she began. But heinterrupted her. 

"My dear, " he said, in a tone he might have used to Nina. He laidhis warm, fine hand on hers, and patted it soothingly. "My deargirl, if you feel that you would like to go to that motherlysister of yours--if you feel that it would be wiser--"

"Oh, I am going to Linda at once!" Harriet said, feverishly, hurtto the soul. "I had planned that! But--but won't you let me tellyou?" she pleaded. She had framed the sentences a hundred times inthe long night; they failed her utterly now, and she groped forwords. "I was only three years old when my mother died, " she said. "Of course I don't remember her--I only remember Linda. I was shy, my father was a professor, we were too poor to have very muchsocial life. I lived in books, lived in my father's shabby littlestudy really; I never had an intimate girl friend! Linda wasalways good--angelically good--talking of the Armenian sufferers, and of the outrages in the Congo, and of the poor in New York'slower east side--she never cared that we were poor, and that wehadn't clothes!"

"I know--I know!" Richard's eyes were smiling, as if he knew thepicture, and liked it. 

"Well, Linda married when I was ten, and Josephine came, and thenJulia came. I still lived for books and babies. But, unlike Linda, I cared. " Harriet's whole face glowed; she looked off into space, and her voice had a longing note. "I cared for clothes and goodtimes!" she said. "I adored the children, but I dreamed ofcarriages--maids--glory--achievements! I knew that other women didit--"

"I remember feeling that way!" Richard commented, mildly, as shepaused. 

"Well, " Harriet said, "I met Royal Blondin one night. He lived inour town--Watertown. He had a dreadful, artificial sort of mother. My sister didn't approve of her at all. A friend of his namedStreet was an artist, and he had a nice little wife, and a baby, and they lived in a big, barnlike sort of studio. It seemedwonderful to me. They loved each other, and their baby, but theywere so free! They would have the whole crowd to dinner, twenty ofus, bread and red wine and macaroni and music and talk, it waswonderful--or I thought so! It was so different from Linda'sideas, of frosted layer-cake, and chopped nuts, and Five Hundred. I loved the studio, and they--they all loved me, and he--Royal--loved me especially. He used to talk about Yogi philosophy andOriental religions and poetry, and after awhile it was understoodamong them all that he loved me, and I him. And we were engaged. Of course Linda suspected, and there was opposition at home, butin the studio, helping the Streets get their suppers, it seemed soright--so simple! Royal said he did not believe in the orthodoxceremony of marriage. He argued that no one could live up to itspromises, and I believed him. Miriam Street, the artist's wife, was a poet, and she wrote the ceremony by which we were married. We had a big supper, and they were all there, and this poem--thismarriage poem--was beautiful. It was published in a magazine, afterward, and called 'A Marriage for True Lovers'. It had a partfor the woman to say, and a part for the man, and Royal and I saidthose, and then it had a part for the woman's friend, and theman's friend, and for all their friends. And then there was apromise that when love failed on either side, the two were free, to keep the memory of the perfect love unstained by the uglyyears. "

She paused; Richard did not speak. She had told him this much in asimple, childish voice, a voice that was an echo of that old time, he knew. Presently she went on:

"There was music, and then they all kissed me, and we had supper, and they drank our health. I went back that night to my sister's;Royal stayed with his mother. We planned to go away on ourhoneymoon the next day. I did not tell Linda and Fred that Iconsidered myself married. I knew they would not understand andwould try to interfere. 

"The next morning I slipped away from the house, with my suitcase, and I met Royal Blondin downtown. We motored to Syracuse, and tooka train there for New York. I had felt sick when I awakened--itwas partly excitement, and partly the supper the night before, when we had all eaten and drunk too much. But I was very sick inthe train, I thought I was going to die. Royal persuaded me to eatmy lunch in the dining car, and that only made me worse. There wasa nice woman in the train, with two little girls, and she tookcare of me. And when she got to New York--I had told her that Iwas on my wedding journey, and perhaps that made her kind--shetook us to her boarding-house, in West Forty-sixth Street. Thelandlady was a dear, good woman, a Mrs. Harrington, and--I wasvery sick by this time!--she put me into her own room, because thehouse was full, and sent for her own doctor. 

"It was a time of horror, " Harriet said, smiling a little, after amoment of thought. "The strange women and the strange room, andRoyal coming in with flowers, and sitting beside me. The doctorsaid it was a touch of poisoning, and I was ill only a few days. But the home-sickness, and the strangeness! Somehow, I didn't feelmarried, I felt like a lost little girl. I wanted to be back inLinda's kitchen again, safe, and scolding because nothinginteresting ever happened. 

"Well, I was sick for three or four days. It was the fourth daywhen I was well enough to go out. Royal thanked them, and paidMrs. Harrington and the doctor and we went to lunch downtown--itwas at Martin's, I remember, and Royal was so excited andinterested in everything. But I still felt limp and dull. Weshopped and went about seeing things after lunch, and then we wentto the hotel where he was staying. We were registered there as Mr. And Mrs. Blondin; it was all quite taken for granted. "

Harriet stopped; her face was drawn and white, her words comingwith difficulty, the phrases brief and dry. Richard was paying herabsolute attention, his eyes fixed upon her face. 

"We had dinner upstairs, " she said. She paused, her lips tightpressed. 

"I can't tell you, " she began again, suddenly, "I can't tell youhow it was that I came suddenly to know that I was too young formarriage! In Miriam Street's little studio, where they werelaughing about the baby and the supper, it had seemed different. But here, in a hotel, I suddenly wanted my sister, I wanted to behome again. 

"We were talking and planning naturally enough. Royal was comingand going in the two rooms; I had plenty of chance to--to escape. Every time I let one go by my heart beat harder. "

He could tell from her voice that her heart was beating hard nowwith the memory of that old time. 

"If I had let them all go by, " she recommenced, "my life wouldhave been different. In a few weeks we would have come back toWatertown, as man and wife, and perhaps had a studio near theStreets', and perhaps found a solution. But I couldn't!

"I caught up my coat; left my hat and bag. I went down the stairs, not daring to wait for the elevator. And I went to Mrs. Harrington's. She was very kind and took me in; she said thatperhaps it would be better to wait--until I was older. I cried allnight, and the next day Mrs. Harrington lent me the money and Iwent back to Linda. 

"Of course, it was terrible, at first. But they were kind to me, in their way. And I was--cured. I went into hysterics at the firstmention of the whole hideous thing. They saw Roy, and they told methat I need never see him again. The papers--for it got to thepapers!--said that a divorce had been arranged, but there was noneed for a divorce. It was all hushed up--Linda and Fred neverspoke of it. I--ah, well, I couldn't!

"But when Fred's brother, David, who was in dental college then, began to like me, then they began to make light of it, " Harrietremembered. "There had been no marriage, of course, either in lawor in fact. They all knew that. And I suppose if I had marriedDavid it might have been happier for me. But as it was, I angeredthem. I didn't want to marry David. And so it was what folly girlsgot themselves into--what the world thought of a girl who had been'talked about'--what the least breath of scandal meant!"

"And you went back to Blondin?" Richard suggested. 

"I? No, I never saw him again until a year ago in this garden!"Harriet said. 

"You never saw him again!" the man ejaculated. 

"Not for nine years!"

"But--my God, my dear girl, he spoke of you as his wife!" Richardsaid. 

"He said I had been. Not that I was now!"

The man looked at her, looked away at the river, and shrugged hisshoulders as if he were mystified by the ways of women. 

"But--you were never his wife?" he said, flatly. 

"Oh, no! You didn't think, " Harriet said, hurt, "that I would havemarried you, or any one else, if I had been!"

"You let him blackmail you for that, " Richard further marvelled. 

"I knew--in my own mind, of course, that I was not to blame, " thegirl said, anxiously. "But it sounded--horrible. "

Richard bit his lower lip, looked critically at his racket, slowlyshook his head. 

"I didn't mind what any one thought, " Harriet said, reading histhought. "But they did!"

"They?" Richard repeated, patiently. 

"Everyone, " she supplied, promptly. "Your wife, your mother, MaryPutnam! Even Mrs. Tabor. "

"I suppose so!" he conceded, after a pause. And beneath his breathhe added, "Isabelle--Ida Tabor!"

His tone was all she asked of exquisite reassurance. 

"I hoped you wouldn't!" she said, standing up with clasped handsand a sudden brightening of her tired and colourless face. "That'swhat I tried to make myself believe you would feel! I wanted so toleave it all behind. I thought he had gone, that it was all over, that what it was mattered more than what it sounded like! Ithought I could save Nina better, with what I knew, than any oneelse! But last night, " Harriet added, "proved to me that I hadbeen all wrong. I've been so worried, " she added, with utter faithin his decision. "I don't know what you think we had better do. "

For a full minute Richard watched her in silence. Then he said, mildly:

"About Nina, you mean?"

"About everything!" Harriet suddenly laughed gaily, like a child. Life seemed once more straight and pleasant in this exquisite Junemorning; she felt puzzled, but somehow no longer afraid. Themenacing horrors of all the years, the vague uneasiness that shehad never quite dared to face, were fluttering about her awakeningspirit like Alice's pack of cards. 

"Nina will come into line, " her father said, thoughtfully, "shedoesn't know what she wants. I wish--I wish he loved her!" headded, with a faint frown. "I'll see him about it again. We'lltake her to Rio. She'll get over it. "

"And--" Harriet stopped, and began again: "And do you want thingsto go on just as they are?" she asked. 

For answer Richard smiled at her in silence. 

"No, " he said, finally. "I can't say that I do. I want you toworry less, and to buy yourself some new gowns, and to begin toenjoy life! Shakespeare had you down fine when he talked aboutconscience making cowards of us all. What did you do it for? Ayoung, capable, good-looking girl scared by a lot of old women!Now, we'll take up this Nina question, later on. You'd better goup and get yourself some coffee, and go to bed for awhile. Betterplan to be in town for a day or two, for you'll both need clothesfor the steamer--"

"You're very kind, " the girl said, eyes averted, voice almostinaudible. They were both standing now, Harriet's head turnedaside, so that he could not see her face, but her soft fingersresting in his. 

"I'm not kind at all!" Richard said, with a rather confused laugh. He patted her hand encouragingly. "The sea trip will shake bothyou and Nina up, and do you a world of good!" he said. 

"You think--" Harriet raised the soft, dark lashes, and hersplendid, weary eyes met his, "You really aren't worried aboutNina?"

And she tried by a very faint stirring of her fingers to freethem, and finding them held, dropped her eyes again. 

"I think I have Blondin's number, " Richard said, with more forcethan eloquence. Then with a little laugh that was partly amusedand partly embarrassed, he let her go. 

He watched the young, slender figure and the shining, bare headuntil they disappeared among the great trees about the house. 

CHAPTER XX

The summer Sunday ran its usual course. Ward and his sister wentto luncheon at the club; Madame Carter drove majestically to alate service in the pretty, vine-covered village church. Harriet, at last able to relax in soul and body, slept hour after glorioushour. Richard, returning from golf for a late luncheon, asked forher. Mrs. Carter was still asleep, Bottomley assured him, andreceived orders not to disturb her. But when Mr. Blondin called, Richard told the butler he was to be shown to the terrace at once. 

At three o'clock, therefore, Royal Blondin followed his guide outto the basket chairs that were set under the trees, and here hefound Richard, comfortably smoking, and alone. The host rose togreet him, but they did not shake hands, and measured each otherlike wrestlers as they sat down. 

"I had your message, " Royal said, as an opening. 

"You've not seen Nina to-day?" Nina's father asked. 

"I broke an engagement with her at the club, " the other manassured him. "We will probably meet at the Bellamys', at dinnerthis evening. "

"Ah, it was about that I wished to speak. " Richard paused, andBlondin watched him with polite interest. "You have held yourknowledge of Mrs. Carter as a sort of weapon for some months, "Richard said. Presently, "to use it when you saw fit. I havealways been in my wife's confidence--"

He paused, but for no reason that Blondin could divine. As amatter of fact, it gave Richard a sudden and unexpected pleasureto speak of her so, to realize that he really might give the mostwonderful title in the world to this beautiful and spirited woman. 

"And I have also talked with Nina this morning, " he went on. "Iregret to say that her intentions have not altered. "

"A loyal little heart!" Blondin said, gravely and contentedly. "Iknew I could depend upon her!"

Richard looked at him steadily for a moment, and felt carefullyfor his next words. 

"You know how I feel about her marrying you--" he began. 

Royal nodded, regretfully, broke the ash from his cigarette with adelicately poised little finger, and regarded Richardquestioningly. "That is my misfortune, " he said, resignedly;pleasantly aware that Nina's father would never be his match inphrases and self-control. 

"I needn't go over all that, " Richard said. "I love my daughter; Ibelieve she will make a fine woman. But she isn't anything but achild now!"

"Perhaps you fail to do her justice in that respect, " RoyalBlondin said. Richard flushed with anger, but felt helpless underthe other man's quiet insolence. 

"I said I wanted to see you on business, Mr. Blondin, " Richardcontinued, trying to keep impatience and contempt out of hisvoice, "and we'll keep to business. I don't know what yourcircumstances are, of course--"

He hesitated, and Blondin looked at him with a faint interest. 

"I live simply, " he said. "Nina's money will be all her own. "

"Nina will have no money, not one five-cent piece, for exactlythree years!" Richard said. 

Blondin shrugged. 

"She is quite willing to try it!" he reminded her father. 

"I know she is! But how about you?" Richard asked. "You are not aboy, you have some idea of what marriage means. For three yearsyou must take care of her, dress her, amuse her, satisfy her thatshe has not made a mistake. Then she does come into her money--yes. But three years is a long time in which to keep her certainthat the wisest thing she can do is turn it over to you. "

He paused; Blondin smoked imperturbably. 

"The marriage must be a notorious one, in any case, " Richardpursued. "For I intend to make my stand too clear ever to permitof a retraction. I shall forbid it--let the world know that Iforbid it. I shall forbid my daughter the house, and her weddinggift will be simply the clothes she happens to have. From Tuesday--her eighteenth birthday--she will turn to you for her actualpocket money, for her theatre tickets and cab fares. "

"I understand that perfectly!" Royal said, serenely. Butunderneath, while not moved from his intention, he felt hiscustomary assurance shaken. 

"She is extravagant, naturally, " her father said. "She will wantnew gowns, want to display her new importance a little. Thosebills will come to you, Mr. Blondin. All the world will know aswell as you do that I have washed my hands of the whole affair. "

Royal nodded again. He began to be conscious of a growingdisquietude. He had naturally given much thought to this exactquestion during the past few weeks, and had solved it only bydismissing it. He had assured himself that with his only daughterno man as generous as Carter could be really harsh, and had alwaysheld his knowledge of Harriet comfortably in the back of his mind, as an irresistible lever. Now both these considerations werelosing their force, and the empty satisfaction of defying Richardseemed to be losing its flavour, too. 

Blondin had no money, and lived with an extravagance that kept himperpetually worried for money. The rent of his studio had beenraised; he was conscious of the necessity of returninghospitalities, of buying clothes. His credit would receive animmediate assistance from a marriage with Richard Carter'sdaughter, to be sure, but to sustain a credit for three years uponthat shadowy footing would be extremely trying. 

He liked Nina; despite his contempt for the girl, there was acertain pitying affection for her stubborn loyalty and simplicity. But he knew exactly what hideous scenes must follow upon hismarriage with her. What could he do with her, even suppose him tohave borrowed money enough to make their honeymoon a success? Heimagined her dawdling about his studio, imagined his socialstanding as necessarily affected, imagined Mr. And Mrs. RoyalBlondin attempting to reach an agreement as to which invitationswould be accepted and which rejected. Railway fares, luncheonsdowntown, all these cost money--lots of money. Nina would want toentertain "the girls. " And Royal had at present several seriousdebts. He had lost money on three morning lectures, delightfullectures and well-attended, but still a financial loss. He hadbeen foolish enough to lose money at bridge, at the Bellamys' aweek ago, and young Bellamy was carrying his check for threehundred and twelve dollars, drawn upon a bank where Royal wasalready overdrawn. Then there was an unpleasantness about threerugs, rugs he had taken four years ago, in a moment ofunbelievable prosperity, but for which seven hundred and twentydollars had been promised, and never paid. Royal had indeedoffered Hagopian the rugs and a bonus, back again; he was sick ofthe studio, and the endless reminders from his landlord's agentthat the monthly one hundred and seventy-five dollars was overdue;he was sick of the whole business. 

But Hagopian had refused to take back the rugs, and the rent hadreached the four-figure mark, and until he had settled for thelast lectures, he did not feel encouraged to begin more. 

This was not a cheerful outlook with which to begin three years ofpenniless matrimony. Royal, suavely smiling, and smoking on theterrace, wondered suddenly if old Madame Carter, who had alwaysbeen his champion, would help out. 

But Richard seemed to read his thought. 

"Nina has appealed to her grandmother, " he said, "and I know mymother sympathizes, and would be glad to help you. But her affairsare in my hands. She preferred it so, when I offered her somesecurities years ago, and it has always been so. Her bank accountreceives a monthly check; she sends all her household bills to mysecretary, Fox. He O. K's and pays them. Consequently, she is notable to act in this matter, and I think she is glad of it! Ibelieve she would regret the--the inevitable estrangement as muchas I. "

Blondin elevated his eyebrows politely, as one interested but notconcerned. But he knew, with a sort of rage, that he was beaten. His only recourse now would be to plead to Nina an all-importantwire from the Pacific coast, a dying friend, a temporary absence. He could sub-let his studio for twice the rent, and live on themargin until kindly Fate, as always, turned up a new card. Ninawould protest, would weep that her beloved studio, where her firstexciting housekeeping was to begin, was occupied by strangers, butthat was unavoidable. However, he would annoy this gray-eyed, firm-lipped business man first. 

But Richard had taken a small slip of tan paper from his pocket, and was studying it thoughtfully. Royal saw it, and his eyesnarrowed. 

"Now, Mr. Blondin, " Nina's father said, simply, "I'm a businessman. I can't beat about the bush, and call things by pretty names. I want a favour of you, and I'm willing to pay for it. Itelephoned you this morning that I wanted to see you on a matterof business. This is my proposition. "

He leaned forward, and Royal saw the paper. He boasted to women ofhis indifference to money, it was true, but as with alladventurers, it held first place in his thoughts. No man who wasin debt could look upon that check unmoved. Royal might win atcards to-night, to be sure; Carter might weaken to-morrow, it wastrue. But this check bore his name, and it was sure. 

To enter the bank, with Richard Carter's check for so substantialan amount, to deposit it, exchange a careless word with thecashier, to write his check for the overdue rent, with a casualapology; to play bridge again, this evening, with young Bellamy, and this time win back that accursed check of his own, as he knewhe would win it. . .. 

It all fluttered before his eyes, despite his attempt to lookindifferent. It weighed down the little tarnished thing he calledhis pride, already half-forfeited in this group. His last attemptat bravado was obviously that, and he knew it. 

"Just one moment, Mr. Carter. You say that you and I know whatmarriage is. How do you reconcile it with your knowledge of Nina, your knowledge of her upbringing, to plan deliberately what wouldmake our marriage--or any marriage--foredoomed to failure from thestart? I didn't spoil Nina, I didn't form her tastes. She hasthought of herself as an heiress, she has spent money, livedluxuriously. I only ask a fair chance. Make it an allowance, ifyou like. Keep the matter in the family; don't blaze to the worldthat you disapprove! Many a less-promising marriage has turned outa brilliant success. She loves me. I--I am devoted to her. I seetremendous possibilities in her!"

"She loves you as a child does, and because she doesn't know you, "Richard said, inflexibly. "But you haven't heard what I propose, Blondin. Hear me out. I give you this now, to-day, on conditionthat before to-night you talk to Nina. Represent anything you wishto her. Tell her what you please. But convince her that she mustwait for two years--with no letters, no meetings, no engagement--that's all. 

"On my part, I promise that nobody in the world, not Mrs. Carter, not anybody, will hear of this for two years from to-day, atleast. Meanwhile, we'll amuse Nina. Her grandmother wants to takeher to Santa Barbara next fall--Gardiner wants both the youngsterson his ranch this summer, or she may go with me to Brazil. She'llhave enough to think about. We'll not hurt you with her, you maytake my word for it. And I tell you frankly that I shall be deeplygrateful. I'm not paying you for giving her up. I'm paying you fortwo years' delay. Young Hopper will be at the Gardiners' thissummer--she likes him, and he likes her! Well, that'sspeculation. " Richard dismissed it with a movement of his finehands. "But we'll distract her!" he promised. "Hopper may buy aranch out there--that sort of thing might suit Nina down to theground!"

"Buy it with Nina's money, " Royal could not help sneering. 

Richard eyed him in surprise. 

"When Joe Hopper died he left that boy's mother something in themillions, " he said. "There's an immense estate. " And then, with areversion to business: "Come, now, Mr. Blondin. We understand eachother. Nina's dining at the Bellamys' to-night; you're stayingthere. Will you see her?"

The check fluttered to the table between them. There was a longsilence. Then Blondin ground out his cigarette in a stone saucer, rose, in all the easy beauty of his white summer clothes, hisflowing scarf, his dark, romantic locks. He lifted his straw hat, put it on, picked up his stick, and laid it on the table. Then hetook the check and read it thoughtfully. 

"Thank you!" he said. Yet the shameful thing struck him, an adeptnow in evading and lying, as surprisingly easy, and as hesauntered away in the June warmth and silence, it was not of Nina, or her father, or even of himself that he was thinking. 

He had met the widow of Joe Hopper a few nights ago: a fadedlittle pleasant woman of fifty, pathetically grateful for hiscasual politeness in her strangeness and shyness. He had chanced, quite idly and accidentally, to make an impression on her. She hadpromised to come to the studio and look at his rugs. 

Royal wondered why she dressed so badly; she needed simplematerials and flowing lines. He heard himself telling her so. 

Richard sat on, on the terrace, thinking, and presently his mothercame out and joined him. Wasn't he, the old lady askedelaborately, going to the club? It was almost five o'clock, herson reminded her. Two or three of his business associates werecoming to dinner; Hansen was to drive them all into the citylater. Now, he just felt lazy. 

"No tea to-day?" he asked, presently. People usually went to theclub on Sunday, said his mother. She added, irrelevantly, thatHarriet was asleep. Richard said that she had looked tired thismorning; sleep was the best thing for her. 

But suddenly life became significant and thrilling again; he heardher voice, her laugh. She came swiftly and quietly out to them, smiling at him, settling herself in the chair beside his mother. She wore white, transparent, simple; there were coral beads abouther firm young throat. The dew of her deep sleep made her blueeyes wonderful; her cheeks were as pink as a baby's. 

"Aren't the June days delicious?" she said. Richard studied her, smilingly, without answering. What would she say next, where wouldshe move her eyes, or lay her white hand, he wondered. When shemurmured to his mother in an undertone, he tried to catch thewords. 

"We're to have tea, " Harriet announced. When it came, she pouredit; for awhile the three were alone. Richard found himself talkingto make her talk, but she was apparently interested only to drawout his mother and himself. "I'm starving, " she presently said, apologetically, "this is luncheon and breakfast, too, for me!"

"Did you have a good sleep?" Richard asked. She flashed him aneloquent look. 

"Oh--the most delightful of my whole life! Eight hours withoutstirring!"

The Hoyts arrived: a handsome mother and two equally handsomedaughters. Harriet went to them gracefully; Richard saw that shewas accepting good wishes. She took the callers to his mother, andfilled their cups herself. 

"She certainly is wonderful!" Richard said. He perfectly realizedhis own suddenly deepening feeling for her, but he dared notanalyze it yet. When Mrs. Hoyt hinted at a dinner, he took part inthe conversation. "Thursday? Why not, Harriet? We have noengagement for Thursday?"

She flushed brightly, signalling to him that she had alreadyindicated an excuse. They had never dined together away from home. He need not think, said Harriet's anxious manner, that he needcarry the appearance of marriage so far. 

"But--but aren't Nina and I to be in town Thursday?" she ventured, "Shopping. You can make that next week!" Richard said. He lovedher confusion. 

"Then we surely will! Thank you, " she said to Mrs. Hoyt. 

"Thursday, then, at eight!" the caller said, departing. Richardsauntered with them to their car, and returned to find Harriethalf-scandalized, half-laughing. 

"But do you want to dine with them?" she asked. 

"Why not?" His smile challenged her, and she laughed hardily. 

"I suppose there is no reason why not, Mr. Carter!"

"You can wear"--he gestured--"the black and goldy thing. They'llall be watching you!"

"Oh, " she said, considering earnestly, "I have a much handsomerone than that. Blue and silver. You've not seen it. "

"Blue and silver, then. " Richard felt a distinct regret when themen he expected appeared. There was but one figure of any interestto him on the shady, flower-scented terrace, and that was awoman's figure in a white gown. 

For two or three days he was conscious of a constant interest inher appearances and disappearances, a constant desire to pleaseher. He found himself liking a certain young man, in his cityclub, for no other reason than that he had asked admiringly forMrs. Carter. He found Harriet deeply interested in a book, andtook the time to go into a bookstore and ask the clerk forsomething "on the same line as the Poulteney Letters. " In Nina'sold Kodak album, idly opened, he was suddenly held by pictures ofNina's governess, beautiful even in a bathing-suit, with drippinghair; lovely in the gipsy hats and short skirts of camp life. 

Richard Carter was conscious of one mastering curiosity: he wantedto know just how Harriet regarded him. It seemed suddenly ofsupreme importance. He thought of it in his office, and smiled tohimself during important business conferences, wondering about it. It seemed incredible to him, now, that his experiences of the pastyear had been so largely concerned with Harriet. His wife'scompanion, his daughter's governess, his own capable and dignifiedhousekeeper, the woman he had so hastily married, all seemed adifferent person, a quite visionary person, with whom just suchbusinesslike arrangements had been possible. 

But Harriet was beginning to seem to him a stranger who possessedat once the most mysterious and childlike, the most beautiful andthe most baffling personality that he had ever known. He madeexcuses to go home early, just to catch glimpses of this wife whowas not his wife. That he had ever taken a fatherly, advisory tonewith this woman was unbelievable; her mere approach made him catchhis breath and lose his coherency. He had walked into her room--hehad patronized her--he had asked her as casually to marry him asif she had been fifty, and as plain as she was lovely!

Richard shuddered as he thought of it. He made constant efforts toengage her in personalities, but she evaded him. There was a realthrill for him in the quiet dinner at the Hoyts'. Mrs. Carter, said slow old bewhiskered John Hoyt, was an extremely prettywoman. My wife--Richard in answering called her that--looksparticularly well in an evening gown. Indeed she looked exquisitein the blue and silver dress, laughing--still with that adorablemist of strangeness and shyness about her--with her neighbours atthe table, and afterward in the drawing room, waving her silverfan slowly while Freda Hoyt, who quite obviously adored her, whispered her long confidences. 

Coming home in the limousine they had neighbours with them, oldDoctor and Mrs. Carmichael, so he might not have the word alonewith her for which he had been longing all evening. But he stoppedher in the wide, dim hallway when they reached Crownlands. 

"Tired?" he said, at the foot of the stairs. 

"Not a bit!" There was an enchanting vitality about her. She hadslipped the thin wrap from her shoulders, and she turned to himher lovely, happy face. "Did you want me?"

"I wanted to say something to you, " Richard said, feeling awkwardas a boy. 

"In there?" She nodded, suddenly alert, toward the library. 

"Why in there?" he asked, with a little husky laugh. His oneimpulse was to put his arms about her. 

"I thought--bills, perhaps?" Harriet said, innocently. It was thethird day of the month; he had often consulted her as to expensesbefore this. 

"No, " Richard said, with another unsteady little laugh. "It wasn'tbills. I was just wondering--if I had been very stupid, " he said, taking one of her hands, and looking up from the fingers that layin his to the face that now wore an expression a little frighteneddespite the smile. 

"Never with me!" Harriet said, in a low tone. 

"Never so blind, " Richard said, "never so matter-of-fact that Ihurt your feelings? Nothing of--that sort?"

"Always the kindest friend I ever had!" the girl answered, unsteadily, and with suddenly wet eyes. "The--the most generous!"

He looked at her hand again, looked up at her as if he wouldspeak. But instead she felt her fingers pressed, and felt herheart thump with a delicious terror. 

"Do--do you like the blue and silver dress?" she asked with anexcited laugh. 

"I like it better than any dress I have ever seen!" Richardanswered, seriously. Her hand free now, Harriet, standing on thelowest step, made him a little bow that displayed the frail silverfan, the silver slippers, the stockings with their silver lace. 

"And wait until you see our frocks for the boat!" she warned him. "Nina has a yellow coat--and I have a black lace and a whiteembroidery! Really--REALLY I have never seen anything like thewhite one. SHEER, you know--"

Bottomley came noiselessly, discreetly, across the hall. Instantlythe woman in blue and silver was all the mistress. 

"Is Mr. Ward in, Bottomley?"

"He dined at 'ome, Mrs. Carter. "

"Oh, thank you! You may lock up, then. Good-night, Mr. Carter!Good-night, Bottomley!"

She was gone. The blue and silver gown and the bunched folds ofthe furred coat vanished on the stairway landing. The tall clockthat she passed struck eleven. And Richard, going into hislibrary, realized that he was deeply and passionately in love. Hecould think of nothing else--he did not wish to think of anythingelse. Her face came between him and his book, her voice loiteredin his ears, her precise, pretty phrasing, the laughter thatsometimes lurked beneath her tones. 

He went upstairs, and to his own suite. There was a door betweenhis own sitting room and the room that had been Isabelle's. Fromthe other side of his door, to-night, came the murmur of voices:Harriet and Nina were talking. Their conversation seemed full offascination to Richard, although he could not hear a word, andwould not have made an effort to do so. But he liked the thoughtof this lovely woman near his little girl, of their conferencesand confidences. 

 Next day Harriet told him that Nina had been talking of youngHopper. 

"It seems that this awkward, tongue-tied youth is desperatelyenamoured of Rosa Artures, of the Metropolitan Opera Company, "Harriet said in rich amusement. "Of course the Artures is forty-five, and has a domestic life that is the delight of the women'smagazines. But poor little Hopper haunts her performances, andsends her orchids, just the same. He had never met her until aweek or two ago, then some friends had her and her husband ontheir yacht, and he was there. And she ate, it seems, and laughed, and even drank a little too much--he's entirely disillusioned!Isn't it too bad? And somebody told me about it, so I encouragedNina to get him to talk last night. They talked only too well!They exchanged tragedies. "

"Well, that won't hurt her!" Richard said, thoughtfully. 

"Hurt her!" Harriet answered, eagerly. "It will be the best thingin the world for her!"

They were at the country club; Harriet chaperoning Nina, who wasdown at the tennis court with a group of young persons; Richardbreathless and happy from a hard game of eighteen holes. He hadencountered her on the porch, on his way to the showers, experiencing, as he did so, the thrill that belongs only to theunexpected encounter. Now they loitered at the railing, in theshade of the green awnings, as entirely oblivious of watching eyesas if the clubhouse were the library at home. 

"Nina is charming as a confidante, " Harriet said, "and she wouldmake a boy of that type a delightful wife. She is the sort thatmarries early, or not at all. And I'm going deliberately toencourage this affair in a quiet way. He's a dear fellow, domesticand shy; they'd love their home and their children and Nina woulddevelop into the ideal wife and mother. She's discriminating, shemakes nice friends, she has splendid French and Spanish. She lookslovely to-day; I persuaded her to leave her glasses at home, evenif she did miss them a little, and she has on one of the gowns webought for the Brazilian trip. "

"I made the reservations to-day. We sail the third of August, "Richard said. "We've got to have your pictures taken for thepassports. "

"South America!" Harriet gave a great sigh of joy. "You don't knowhow excited I am!" she said. "Three weeks on a big liner--and wehave to have bathing-suits, somebody said for the canvas tank, andthey have all sorts of things on board. I've always wanted to goto Rio!"

"There are eight big staterooms with baths on this liner, " Richardsaid. "I've taken two adjoining ones, so we ought to be verycomfortable. Yes, " he conceded, enjoying her enthusiasm, "it oughtto be a great trip! Will you and Nina want a maid?"

"A maid?" She widened her blue eyes. "Oh, no! Why should we?"

Richard laughed at her surprise. 

"You might take Pilgrim, " he suggested. And with an amused glancehe added: "You forget that you are a rich man's wife. "

"Indeed I don't!" Harriet said, quickly. "I spend simplyscandalous sums! When I saw my sister last week, " she confided, gaily, "she explained that the payment on the new house wouldprevent the usual six weeks at the beach this year, and I simplymade them go! I paid the rent on their cottage and bought thetickets, and--oh, all sorts of things, little dresses and sandalsand shade hats, and off they went! You never saw such joy!"

Richard blinked his eyes, and managed a smile. 

"What did you pay it out of?" he wondered, "My bank account! Linda and I shopped a whole morning, and hadlunch downtown--it was more fun!" Harriet said, youthfully. "Therent, " she explained, "was eighty dollars--"

"What? For six weeks!" Richard interrupted. 

"Do you think that's a lot?" she asked, anxiously. 

"Go on!" he said. "They all went off, did they? Eighty dollarsgives them a cottage until the middle of August, does it?"

"Until school opens, " she nodded. "All the other things--well, itcame to about two hundred. "

"That's happiness, isn't it?" Richard said. "A cottage on aswarming beach. Sons and daughters in bathing-suits, no realhousekeeping for the mother, nothing but sleep and swimming andplain meals!"

"They love it!" But Harriet's eyes drank in the awninged shade ofthe country club porches, the flowered cretonne on the wickerchairs, the women in their exquisite gowns, the smooth curves ofthe green links, where brightly clad figures went to and fro. Riders were disappearing into the green shade of the bridle paths;girls in white, demanding tea, came up the shallow steps. A groupof four women, at a card table, broke up with laughter. "Yes, it'shonester than this, " she said, bringing her eyes back to his. "I'll have Linda and the girls here some day, " she added, "andthey'll think it is wonderful. But after all, they get more tasteout of life!"

"You know they do!" Richard said. 

"Mrs. Carter, " said a woman in bright yellow, coming up to themsuddenly, "will you be a darling and come and talk to my Frenchofficer? The girls have all been practising their Berlitz on him, and he's almost losing his mind! Dick, " added this matron, who hadlinked her arm about Harriet's waist, "for heaven's sake go cleanup! Can't you find time to talk to your wife at home? I've beenwatching you for five minutes, getting my arms burned simplyblack--will you come, Mrs. Carter? That's the poor soul, overthere with Sarah. I don't know why I've had a French governess forthat girl for seven years!"

"To save the life of a fellow creature--" Harriet said in herliquid French. She went off, laughingly, in the other woman'scustody; Richard looked after them a moment. 

He saw them join the group of smiling girls and the harassedFrenchman; saw the alien's face brighten as Harriet wasintroduced. A moment later a boy with a tennis racket dashed up tothem, and there was a scattering in the direction of the courts. The girls surrounded the boy, and streamed away chattering. Thematron in yellow came back to her card table. And Harriet, unfurling her parasol, deep in conversation with the capturedsoldier, sauntered slowly after the tennis players. The afternoonsunshine sent clean shadows across the clipped grass; thestretched blue silk of Harriet's parasol threw a mellow orangelight upon her tawny hair and saffron-coloured gown. 

Richard had a child's desperate wish that he was dressed, andmight run after them. 

"They are playing the semi-finals, " he said to himself, hurryingthrough his change of garments. "I wish to the Lord I had gottenthrough in time to get down there!"

 But it was not at the tennis that he looked, twenty minuteslater, when he reached the courts; although a brilliant play wasbeing made, and there was a spattering of applause. His eyesinstantly found Harriet's figure; she was still talking to theFrenchman, whose olive face was glowing with interest andadmiration, and not more than eight inches, Richard thought, fromher own. Harriet's own face wore the shadow of a smile, her lasheswere dropped, and she was gently pushing the point of her closedparasol into the green turf. The chairs in which they sat had beenslightly turned from the court. 

Richard engaged himself in conversation with two or three men andwomen who were watching the youngsters' game, and presently foundhimself applauding his son for a brilliant ace. But after perhapsfive minutes he walked quite without volition, straight toHarriet's neighbourhood, and she rose at once, introduced her newfriend, and with a glance at her wrist, announced that she mustgo. 

"Ward said he would drive me home the instant it was over, " saidHarriet, clapping heartily for the triumphant finish of the set. 

"I'll drive you home!" Richard said, instantly. "I've the smallcar. "

"Friday night!" Harriet smiled. For Friday night was the night fora men's dinner and poker game at the country club, and Richardusually liked to be there. 

"I can come back!" he persisted, suddenly caring more for thisconcession than anything else in the world. Without another wordshe agreed, bade her Frenchman what seemed to Richard a volublegood-bye, and when the bowing officer disappeared turned with areminiscent smile. 

"And now what?"

"Where did you learn to chatter French that way?" Richard said, leading the way to the line of parked motors. 

"Oh, we lived in Paris--old Mrs. Rogers and I, " Harriet remindedhim carelessly. And reaching the little rise of ground that laybetween the clubhouse and the parking field, she stood still, looking off across the exquisite spread of fields and valleys, banded by great strips of woods, and flooded now by the streamingshadows and golden lights of the late afternoon. "What a day!" shesaid, filling her lungs with great breaths of the sweet air. "Whatan hour!"

"What I meant to say to you up there on the porch, " Richard said, "when that--that woman interrupted--"

Harriet herself interrupted with a laugh. 

"You say 'that woman' as if it was a bitter, deadly curse!" shesaid. 

"Well--" They had reached the car now, and Richard wasinvestigating the oil gauge and spark plugs under the hood. "Well, a woman like that breaks in--nothing to her!" he said with scorn, straightening up. 

"Yes, but at a country club?" Harriet offered, placatingly, as shegot into the front seat, and tucked the pongee robe snugly aboutthe saffron-coloured gown. 

"I suppose so!" He got in beside her; there was a moment ofbacking and wrenching before they glided out smoothly on the whitedriveway. "What I meant to say was this, " he added, suddenly, witha sidewise glance from his wheel. "I--I want you to realize that Iappreciate the injustice--the crudeness of my rushing to you inNew Jersey that Christmas Day. I realize that we all have imposedon you--we've taken you too much for granted! I was in trouble, and I couldn't think of any other way out of it. But for any manto put a proposition like that to any woman--"

They were driving very slowly. He looked at her again, and met awondering look in her beautiful eyes that still further confusedhim. He had been uncomfortably conscious of an odd confusion intouching upon this subject at all. Yet his mind had been full ofit all day. 

"I never felt it so, I assure you!" Harriet said with her lucid, friendly look. Richard felt that there was more to say, butrealized that he had selected an unfortunate time for theseconfidences. 

"I'm afraid I've been extremely stupid in the matter, " he said, feeling for his words. "I've gone about it clumsily. To tell youthe truth--What does that boy want?"

It was Ward who was coming toward them across the green, withgreat springs and leaps, like some mountain animal. 

"Give us a lift!" shrieked Ward, flinging himself upon the car asits speed decreased. "Something is the matter with my engine--engina pectoris is what I call it! Father, Mr. Tom Grant expectsyou to dine at his table to-night, he said to remind you. And, Harriet, angel of angels, we will be about six or seven about thegroaning board; is that all right?"

"I told Bottomley six or seven, " Harriet said, serenely. "Ward, get in or get out, " she added, maternally, "don't hang over thedoor in that blood-curdling way!"

She had put her arm about the boy to steady him; they began todiscuss tennis scores with enthusiasm. Richard drove the rest ofthe way home almost without speaking. 

He planned to see Harriet again that evening, and left the club ateleven o'clock, after an incredibly dull game, with the definitehope that the youngsters would dance, or in some other way prolongthe summer evening at least until midnight. His heart sank when hereached Crownlands; the lower floor showed only the temperedlights that burned until the latest member of the family came in, and Bottomley reported that the young persons had gone upstairs atabout half-past ten, sir. It was now half-past eleven. 

Richard debated sending Harriet a message to the effect that hewould like to see her for a moment. The flaw in this plan was thathe could think of nothing about which there was the slightestnecessity of seeing her. He felt restless and anything but sleepy, and glanced irresolutely at the library door, and at the stairway. 

Suddenly uproar broke out upstairs: there were thumping feet, shrieks, wild laughter, and slamming doors. With a suddenlylightened heart Richard ran up the wide, square flight to thelanding. His son, in pajamas that were more or less visiblebeneath his streaming robe of Oriental silk, was pirouetting aboutthe upper hall with a siphon of soda water. Subdued giggles andsmothered gasps indicated that the young ladies were somewherenear, in hiding. Young Hopper, under Ward's direction, wasinvestigating doors and alcoves. 

"Amy Hawkes--Amy Hawkes--Amy Hawkes--come into court!" Wardintoned. "Drunk and disorderly!"

"Here, here, here!" Richard said. "What's all this?" Amy and Nina, with hysteric shrieks, immediately forsook cover, and dashed downto him, clinging to him wildly. 

"Oh, Father! Make them stop! Oh, Mr. Carter, save us!" screamedthe girls in delicious terror. "Oh, they got poor Francesca--she'slocked up in your room! They climbed up our porch, after theyswore to Harriet that they wouldn't make another SOUND--"

Harriet now appeared in the hallway, her hair falling in a braidover her shoulder, and the long lines of the black robe she woregiving her figure an unusual effect of height. She did not seeRichard immediately, for she had eyes only for Ward, as she caughthis shoulder, and took away the siphon. 

"Now, Ward--look here, " she said, sternly. "What sort of honour doyou call this! Half an hour ago I thought all this nonsense wasSTOPPED. Shame on you! Those girls promised me--"

She saw Richard, and laughed, the colour flooding her face. 

"Aren't they simply shameless!" she said. "I had them all settleddown, once! Nina, where's Francesca? You see, " Harriet said, inrapid explanation to Richard, "I gave the girls my room to-night, so that they could all be together, and this is my reward!"

The girls, entirely unalarmed by her severity, had desertedRichard now, and were clinging to her with weak laughter andfeeble explanations. 

"Francesca unlocked that door, and rushed into Mr. Carter's room!"Amy explained, wiping her eyes. "And then the boys locked her inthere!"

The composed reappearance of Francesca at this point, however, added to the general hilarity. 

"You DID NOT lock me in, Smarties!" Francesca drawled, childishly. "They climbed to the balcony, and we were--well, we wereundressing, " she said to Richard, "and here they were hammeringand yelling like--like Siwashes! We grabbed our wrappers, wewanted to---"

"We wanted to lock them out there!" Amy explained, laughinguncontrollably. "But--"

"And I snapped off the light--" Nina interposed, with deepsatisfaction. 

"And, mind you--"

"And, Father--"

"And the wonder was that we didn't die of fright--"

"Now, look here, " Harriet said, in the babel, "I'll give you allexactly two minutes to QUIET DOWN. Never in the course of my life--"

Richard thought her maternal indulgence delightful; he thought theyoung people who clung about her charming in their apologetic andlaughing promises. Ward and Bruce Hopper mounted to their ownregion; Richard went with the girls and Harriet to the rooms thathad been attacked. Pilgrim, the tireless, was already there, replacing pillows, straightening beds, untwisting curtains. Thegirls, with reminiscent bubbles of laughter, began to help her. 

After the last good-nights, Richard and Harriet had no choice butto cross the hall again, and they stood there for a moment, laughing at the recent excitement. 

"After twelve, " Harriet said, with a smiling shake of her head. "Aren't they young demons! However, " she added in an undertone, "it's the best thing in the world for Nina! This sort of nonsensewill blow cobwebs away!"

Richard was only conscious of a desire to prolong this intimatelittle moment of parental consultation. 

"She doesn't speak of Blondin?" he asked. 

"Not at all. The birthday came and went placidly enough, " Harrietanswered, suddenly intent after her laughing. And as he did notspeak for a second, she looked up at him, innocently. "You don'tthink she's hiding anything?" she asked, anxiously. 

"I--no, I hardly think so, " Richard answered, confusedly. Theireyes met, and he smiled vaguely. Then Harriet slowly crossed thehall to the door of the guest room where she was spending thenight, and gave him an only half-audible good-night. Richard stoodwatching the door for a moment or two after it had closed upon theslender, dimly seen figure. Then he went to his own rooms, andbegan briskly enough to move about between the mirrors anddressing room, windows and bed. But two or three times he stoppedshort, and found himself staring vacantly into space, all movementarrested, even thought arrested for whole long minutes at a time. 

Harriet, entering her room, closed the door noiselessly, andremained for a long time standing with her hands resting againstit behind her, her eyes alert, her breath coming as if she hadbeen running. There was only a night light in the bedroom; thecovers were still tumbled back from her sudden flight toward therioting youngsters in the hall. She got back into her bed, andopened her book. But for a long time she neither slept nor read;her eyes widened at the faintest sound of the summer night; herheart thumped madly when the curtains whispered at the window, orthe wicker chairs gave the faintest creak. It had not been onlyfor Richard that the midnight hour of responsibility andinformality shared had had its thrill. 

One o'clock. Harriet closed her book and snapped off her light. But first she went to the window, and leaned out into the sweetdarkness. There was shadow unbroken everywhere; no light in allthe big house was burning as late as her own. 

CHAPTER XXI

After that life took on a mysterious fragrance and beauty thatmade every hour of it an intoxication to the master and mistressof Crownlands. The fact that their secret was all their own wasall the more enchanting. To the domestic staff, to the children, to the outside world, life went upon its usual smooth way. Mr. Carter would be in town to-night, Mr. Carter was detained at theoffice, Mrs. Carter was chaperoning the young people, there wereflowers for Mrs. Carter. That was all Bottomley and Pilgrim andWard and Nina saw. 

But to Harriet and Richard the delicious, secret game of hide-and-go-seek made everything else in the world insignificant. Harrietopened the boxes of flowers he sent her with a heart suffocatingwith joy. Richard consented to be absent from the dinner tableover which she presided with an agony of renunciation that almostmade him feel ill. When he chanced one day to meet her with Nina, in a breezy, awninged summer restaurant, the sight of the slenderfigure thrilled him as he had never been thrilled by any woman hehad ever known. He was to speak to her, to hear her voice! One dayhe bought her shoes; in the shop she looked at him for approval. He thought the shoes, low shoes with buckles, that showed thesilk-clad ankle, very suitable and pretty. He was thrown intosudden confusion when the shoe clerk turned to him with a murmuredmention of the price. 

Ten dollars? Richard fumbled for his purse. He had met her walkingalone in the Avenue; she had said that she must get shoes. Hundreds of other men were presumably buying their wives shoes, upand down the brilliant street. But Richard found the adventureshaking to the soul. 

"They're lovely shoes, " Harriet said, as they walked out into thesunshine. She told him that she was to meet Nina at his mother'sat five. Richard, with sudden eagerness, wondered if she wouldspend the interval in having tea somewhere, but instead they wentinto a bookshop, and she carried a new book triumphantly away. "It's a frightful day in town, " Harriet said, "and if we're alittle early we may all get away to the country that much sooner!"

She established herself contentedly beside him when they didfinally start for Crownlands. Ward, beside Hansen, did most of thetalking; Nina was silent, and Harriet noticed that she was verypale. Richard was repeating to himself one phrase all the way; aphrase that he found so thrilling and absorbing that it was enoughto keep him from speaking aloud, or listening to what the otherssaid. 

"I love her--I love her--I love her!" thought Richard. Andsometimes he glanced sidewise at her, her beautiful hair ripplingin thick waves under the thin veil, her face a little pale fromthe heat of the day, her glorious eyes faintly shadowed. When theswift movement of the car brought her shoulder against his, theireyes met for a smiling second, and it seemed to Richard that hisheart brimmed with the most delicious emotion that he had everknown. 

Nina complained of a headache when they reached home, and wentearly to bed. Harriet, when she had tubbed and changed to anevening gown, glanced in at Nina, and thought the girl asleep. There were men guests for dinner, and afterward there was bridge. Harriet sat with Madame Carter for awhile, for the old lady hadalso dined upstairs, went about the house upon her usual errands, and, going to her own room, found Nina reading, at about teno'clock. Nina did not look up or speak as Harriet came in. 

The door that led to Richard's room was not only unlocked, butactually ajar. Harriet gave it a surprised glance, and spoke toNina, in the next room. 

"Nina, did you unlock this door?"

"What door?" Nina called. "Oh, yes!" she added. "I did. "

"Oh, " Harriet murmured. And she stepped to the door, and lookedinto Richard's room. 

It was a sort of upstairs sitting room, furnished simply, in manfashion, with deep leather chairs on each side of the fireplace, broad tables carrying only the essential lamps and ashtrays, ashabby desk where Richard kept personal papers, and bookshelvescrammed with novels. Harriet, making a timid round, saw Balzac andDickens, Dumas and Fielding, several Shakespeares and a completeMeredith, jostling elbows with modern novels in bright jackets, and yellow French romances losing their paper covers. 

With a great sense of adventure she looked down from theunfamiliar windows at a new perspective of driveway and garden, peeped into the big square bedroom beyond. Two large photographsof Nina and Ward and an oil painting of his mother were here;there had been several pictures of Isabelle once, Harriet knew, but these had long ago disappeared. 

Suddenly her heart turned to water; some tiny sound in the silencewarning her that someone had entered. She turned, discovered herein the very centre of his own private apartment. He was standingnot three feet away from her. For a second they stared at eachother with a sort of mutual trepidation. 

"Hello!" he said; then matter-of-factly, "I brought home a paperto-night; I wanted Unger to see it! I left it in the suit I wore. "

He stepped to the dressing room, and groped in a pocket, withoutmoving his pleasant look from her. 

"Giving my room the once over?" he said. 

"Nina left the door open. I've never been in here before, " Harrietsaid, trying to make her voice as natural as his own. Confused andashamed, she was hardly conscious of what she said. 

"Here we are!" Richard glanced at the paper he had found. "Seehere, " he said, presently, going to a window, "come here a minute, I want to show you this! You see, " they were both looking out intothe moonlight now, "you see, this is where I propose to build onthat big room downstairs, throw the library into the blue room, and have a big sleeping porch upstairs here, " he explained. "Perfectly feasible, and yet it will make a different house ofit!"

Harriet commented interestedly enough. But she heard his voicerather than his words, and saw only the well-groomed, black-cladfigure, the shining patent-leather shoes, the fine hand thatindicated the changes. 

Perhaps he was conscious of confusion, too, for his words stopped, and presently they were looking at each other in a strangesilence, Richard still smiling, Harriet wide eyed. 

Then suddenly his strong arms held her close, and her blue, frightened eyes were close to his, and she felt everything else inthe world slip away from her except the exquisite knowledge thatshe loved this man with all her heart and soul. 

"I want to tell you something, " Richard said, quickly andincoherently. "I want you to know that I love you--I think I'vealways loved you! This wasn't in our bond, I know, but I think Icouldn't have wanted you so without loving you! If--if the timecomes, Harriet, when you can care for me, you'll tell me, won'tyou? That's all I want, just to know that you will tell me. You'regoing to tell me, yourself! I'm going to make you love me! I'll bepatient--I'll not hurry you--but some day you'll have to tell methat I've--I've won you!"

He had spoken swiftly, almost sternly, with a sort of desperatedetermination. Now he freed her arms as suddenly as he had graspedthem, and added, in a lower tone:

"Until that time I'll not--not even--kiss the top of your hair, Harriet, " he said. 

In the mad rushing of her senses she could not find the rightword, but she detained him with an entreating hand. Her eyes, shining with a look that he had never seen there before, werefixed on his. But Richard did not look at her eyes, he looked downat the hand she had laid on his own. 

"I don't think, " Harriet said, breathlessly, "that I can ever likeyou any more than I do!"

She had meant it for surrender; her heart was beating wildly withthe glorious shame of a proud woman who gives herself. But Richardwas not looking at the betraying eyes. In the great new love thathad swept him from all his old moorings there was a deep humility. He only heard her say that she could never learn to love him. Hebent his head over her finger tips, and kissed them, as he saidquietly:

"But I'm going to try to make you, just the same!"

Then he was gone, and Harriet was standing alone in the softlylighted room. For a few moments she remained perfectly still, withher white hands pressed to her burning cheeks. Then, shaken withjoy and surprise, with a delicious terror and something of achild's innocent chagrin, she went noiselessly back to her ownroom, closed the communicating door, and undressed with pauses forthe dreams that would come creeping over body and soul, and holdher in their exquisite stillness for long minutes together. 

She was brushing her hair when Nina suddenly appeared, and camelifelessly in to sit on the edge of Harriet's bed. "I want to askyou something!" Nina said, in an odd voice. "And, Harriet, I wantyou to tell me the truth!"

Harriet, turning, faced her between two curtains of rippling gold. She saw a new Nina, a subdued, thoughtful, serious woman in theold confident Nina's place. 

"But first I ought to tell you that I wasn't with Amy to-day!"Nina said. 

"Oh, Nina! Must we begin that sort of thing?" Harriet reproachedher. But she was puzzled by Nina's manner. "Back to school-girltricks!" she said. 

"Never back to a school-girl, " Nina said, with trembling lips. "No, " she added, passionately, "I'll never be that again. Harriet, " she went on, "I've written Royal three times, since mybirthday, and I've seen him twice. "

"You saw him to-day?" Harriet ventured. 

"I went there this afternoon, " Nina admitted, heavily. Thensuddenly, "Harriet, did my father pay him--did he take money--tobreak our engagement?"

"Nina, what a horrible thought! Of course not!" Harriet couldfortunately answer in perfect honesty. 

"Oh, Harriet, " the girl caught her hands, turning sick andimploring eyes toward her, "are you sure?"

"Nina, dear, your father would have told me!"

"He might not--he might not!" Nina said, feverishly. "But if hedid----!" she whispered, half to herself. "That's Pilgrim, I rangfor her, " she said, of a knock on her own door. "Ask my father tocome up, will you?" she said to the maid, when Pilgrim appeared. "We'll settle it now!"

"Mr. Carter is just coming up, " Pilgrim said. And a moment laterRichard, with an interested face, came through Nina's room, andjoined them. Harriet had had time only to knot her hair backcarelessly, and slip into the most formal of her big Chinesecoats. 

"Father, " Nina said, when they three were alone together, "didRoyal Blondin take a check from you ten days ago?"

Richard, taken unaware, glanced sharply at Harriet, who shook herhead, with an anxious look. He sat down beside Nina on the bed, and put a fatherly arm about her. 

"Ah, Father, DON'T put me off!" the girl begged. "I wrote him, after my birthday, " she said, "and told him that money made nodifference to me. He didn't answer. Then I got Bruce Hopper to askhis mother to have Blondin meet her at the club for tea, and I sawhim then. Bruce, " Nina cast in, still in the new, self-containedtone, "has been wonderful about it! I know he only seems a silentsort of boy, but I'll never forget what he's done for me! Royal, "she resumed, "didn't want to see me, and said he had promisedFather that it was OVER. He--but I needn't tell you all he said. It sounded----" Nina clung to her father's hands, and shut hereyes. "It sounded so--so false!" she whispered, bitterly. "So Iwent to his studio to-day!" she presently continued. "And--therewere two or three women there, but it wasn't that. They were--well, perhaps they were just having fun. But----" And Nina lookedpitifully from Harriet's sympathetic face to her father's troubledeyes. "But I've not been having much fun!" she faltered, with asuddenly trembling mouth. "I've been planning--PRAYING!--thatsomehow it would come out right. He told me to-day that he hadpromised not to see or speak to me for two years, " she said, slowly. "I--Father, I KNEW that he had a reason! He was changed. Inever saw him so! And two hours ago, " she pointed to the door thatled into her father's room, "two hours ago I went in there, " shesaid, "and I looked over your own check book. Father, did youwrite him a check? Was that the stub that had 'R. B. ' on it?"

Richard looked at her sorrowfully. 

"I'm sorry, Nina, " he said, simply. "I told him you should notknow, from me! I would have spared you that. "

For a few minutes there was silence in the room. Then Nina saidbravely, through tears:

"I don't know why you should be sorry for what will save me monthsof slow worry, all at one blow! You and Harriet needn't worry anymore. I'm cured. I've been a fool, I let him flatter me and lie tome, " said this new Nina, with bitter courage, "but I'm over itnow. I'm sorry I gave you so much trouble, Father----"

"My darling girl, " her father said, tenderly. "I only wish I couldspare you all this!"

"Better now than two or three years after we were married, " Ninasaid. "Plenty of girls find it out then! Father, I want you to getthat check, through the clearing-house, for me, " she said, heroically, "and I want to keep it. If ever I'm a fool about a managain, I'll take it out and look at it!"

"I have it, I told Fox to get it to-day, " Richard said. "You shallhave it!"

Nina had turned suddenly white; it was as if a last little hopehad been killed. 

"You have it!" she whispered. "He cashed it, then!"

"He cashed it the next morning, " Richard said. Nina was silent fora moment. 

"How you must laugh at me, Harriet!" she said then. 

"I? Laugh at you!" Harriet said, stricken. "My darling girl, I amthe last woman in the world who could do that! I was only yourage, Nina, when I met him--you know that story. Why, Nina, you'rebut eighteen, after all, you'll have many and many an affairbefore the right man comes along, " Harriet said. "You'll look backon this some day, and say, 'It was an experience, and I learnedfrom it! It is only going to make me happier and more sure whenthe man whom I really love comes to me!' Aren't you much richernow, in actual knowledge of men, than Amy and Francesca, whohaven't had anything but school flirtations?"

Nina, sitting between Richard and Harriet on the bed, lookedwistfully from one face to another. 

"I'll try to make it so, Harriet!" she said. And somewhat timidlyshe added, "Father--and Harriet--shall you feel dreadfully if Isay that I don't want to go to Brazil? I'll tell you why. Ward isgoing out to the Gardiner ranch, and Bruce is going, too, and itseems to me that riding and camping and living in the open airwill be--well, will seem better to me than just being on thesteamer! I dread seeing strange places and meeting people, " saidNina. "The Gardiner girls were simply darling to me the term theywere in school, and--don't you remember, Harriet?--we were theonly people who took them out for Christmas and Easter holidays, and they like me! And--if you wouldn't be too disappointed, Harriet, I believe I would like it better!"

"My darling girl, " Harriet said, warmly, "you must do what seemsright to you. But you won't need me?" she added, tactfully. 

"Well, you see Mrs. Gardiner and Mrs. Hopper are sisters, " Ninaexplained, readily, "and they'll be with us. But if you'd LIKE tocome--we are going camping in the most glorious canon that youever saw!" Nina interrupted herself with sudden enthusiasm. "And Iam so glad I really can ride! I'd feel so horribly if I couldn't!"

"I think you'll have a wonderful two months of it, " Harriet said, "and then Granny'll be coming West, to spend the winter in SantaBarbara, and that will be delightful, too! And now, Nina love, it's after eleven o'clock, " she ended with a change of tone, "andyou have had a terrible day! We will have to do some more shoppingto-morrow afternoon, and try on the riding habits, and do athousand things. And, Nina, " Richard heard her add tenderly, whenhis daughter had given him a rather sober good-night kiss at thedoor of her room, "whenever you feel sad and depressed about it, just remember to say to yourself, 'This won't last! In a fewmonths the sting will all be gone!'"

"Nina is in safe hands!" Richard said to himself, thankfully, ashe closed the door. He carried a memory of Harriet's earnest eyes, her low, eager voice, her encouraging arm about Nina's shoulders. 

 They were all at breakfast when he came down the next morning. His mother, in one of the lacy, flowing robes she always worebefore noon, laid down a letter half-read, to smile at him. Ward, his dark head very sleek above his informal summer costume, wasdeep in talk with Bruce Hopper, who had evidently ridden over fromthe country club, and was in a well-fitting, shabby jersey thatbecame his somewhat lanky frame. Nina, somewhat silent, butinterested in everything, wore an expression of quiet self-possession that her father found touching. Nina was growing up, hethought. 

Completing the group, and officiating at the foot of the table, was the radiant Harriet. She looked as fresh as one of the creamyrosebuds that were massed in the dull blue bowl before her, hershining hair framing the dusky forehead like dull gold wings, thefrail sleeves of her blue gown falling back from her rounded arm. 

"You're late, my son, " said Madame Carter, as he kissed hertemple. 

"Never mind, " Harriet said, serenely, "I've just this instantcome, and he saves my face! Do turn that toast, Ward!" she added. And to the maid, "Mr. Carter's fruit, Mollie, please. "

Breakfast was the least formal of all the informal meals atCrownlands. Bottomley was never in evidence until the lateluncheon; mail and newspapers, and the morning gaiety of the youngpeople all made for cheerful disorder. 

"If you're going into town at ten, Father, we'll go, too, " Ninasuggested. "But I can't, " she was heard to murmur in an undertoneto the disappointed Bruce. "I have to get CLOTHES, don't I?"

"Oh, Brazil--Brazil--Brazil!" the youth said, disgustedly. "I hatethe sound of it!"

"THESE clothes are for the ranch, " Nina said, smiling. Both herfather and Harriet augured well from the youth's instantlytransformed face. 

"Say--honestly?" he asked, ineloquently, with an irrepressiblegrin. 

"I think so, " Nina murmured. The rest of their conversation wasinaudible; they presently wandered forth to finish it on thetennis court. Ward followed his grandmother upstairs, and Harrietand Richard were left to finish their breakfast alone. 

"You look tired, " Harriet said, rising, when his omelette came in, and pausing beside the head of the table for an instant on her wayto the pantry. 

"I had a bad night, " Richard admitted. "But that's not all you'regoing to have for breakfast?" he protested. 

"I never have more!" Harriet smiled. "I'm sorry about the badnight, " said she. 

"I couldn't help thinking----" Richard began. 

"What is it, Mollie?" he added, harshly, to the hovering maid. 

"Nothing--no matter--sir, " Mollie stammered, retreating. "It wasjust that the man about the sheep came, sir----" she faltered. 

"The sheep!" Richard echoed, frowning. Harriet laughed gaily. 

"Oh, yes!" she said. "I told you I had ordered two or three youngsheep, " she explained, "to keep our lawns cropped. They look soadorable, and they do it so nicely! Has he got them, Mollie?" sheadded, eagerly. "Oh, I must see them! I'll be back in exactly fiveminutes, Mr. Carter, " she said. 

"What are we supposed to do with them in winter?" Richard asked, smiling. 

"Oh, they will have a little--a little byre!" she answered, readily. "You'll--you'll like them!" And he heard her joyous voicefollowing Mollie away. 

Richard pushed back his plate, and looked irresolutely after her. Then suddenly he rose, and walked through the pantry, asking twostartled maids for Mrs. Carter. Etelka had been several years inthe house without ever seeing "him" in this neighbourhood before. 

Richard crossed a sunshiny brick-walled yard, where linen wasdrying, and went through a brick gateway that gave on a neglectedlittle lane. The lane had once been the driveway for a carriageand a prancing pair, but there were only riding horses atCrownlands now, and three of these were looking over the wall atthe grass-grown road. And Richard found Harriet here. 

She was on her knees, in the pleasant green shadow of the oldsycamores and maples, her back was toward him, she was looking upinto the face of the old stableman, Trotter, who stood before her, his crooked, dwarfed old figure still further bent, as he held twostrong young ewes by their thick, woolly shoulders. 

As Trotter gave him a respectful good morning, Harriet sprang toher feet, and whirled about, and Richard saw the woodeny stifflegs of a very young lamb dangling from her arms, and the lamb'smeek little black-rubber face close to the beautiful face heloved. 

"Oh, Richard!" she said, carried away by her own delight. "Look atit! Isn't it the sweetest darling baby that ever was! Oh, yousweet!" she said, putting her lips to the little woolly head. 

"You are!" Richard said quite without premeditation. 

Harriet laughed, surrendered the little lamb to Trotter, andfollowed the old man's departure to the stables with an anxiouswarning. 

"They're to have this little enclosure all to themselves, " sheexplained to Richard, when they were alone. "He's going to buildthem a little shed. " And as Richard, his back leaning against thelow brick wall, made no immediate attempt to move, she looked athim expectantly. "Shall we go back?" she suggested. 

"That sounded very pleasant to me, " Richard said, with deliberateirrelevance. 

Harriet looked at him in puzzled silence. 

"I mean your calling me Richard, " he said. 

She flushed brightly, and laughed. 

"Did I? I always think of you as Richard!" she explained. 

"So you abandon me on the Brazil trip?" he asked, watching herseriously. 

"Well----?" Harriet shrugged. "I thought you had to go, " sheadded. "I'm--I'll confess I'm disappointed. But to have Nina wantto do anything is such a relief to me that I'm only going to thinkof that!"

"Yes, I have to go, " Richard said, slowly. "I must be there for amonth at least. But I'm disappointed, too. I got thinking of it, in the night--I couldn't sleep! I'm disappointed, too. " He fellsilent. "I wish, " he said, hesitatingly, "that you had not told methat you--you don't feel that you--are going to love me!" he said. "I love you with all my heart and soul. It--well, it's all I thinkof, now. I want----" He turned, and picking an ivy leaf from thewall, looked at it intently for a moment, and tore it apart beforehe let it fall. "However, " he said, philosophically, smiling ather, "we'll let that wait!"

Harriet, close to him, laid one hand upon his shoulder. 

"You misunderstood me, " she said, steadily. "What I said was thatI could not love you more than I do! Aren't you--ever--going tounderstand?"

For a long minute they looked straight into each other's eyes. 

"Harriet, do you mean it?" Richard said then, simply. 

"Yes, " she answered, "I mean it! I've always meant it. I'vealways loved you, I think. No man could want any woman to love himmore!"

The blue eyes so near his own were misty with sudden tears. In thedeserted little lane, in the blue summer morning and the greenshade of the sycamores, they were alone. Richard put his armsabout her. 

And for a moment he held all the beauty and fragrance and laughterand tears that was Harriet close to his heart; the soft hairtumbled, the brown, firm young hand resting on his shoulder, thewarm cheek against his own. 

A breeze rustled through the branches high above them; the blueriver, beyond the brick wall, flowed on in an even sheet of satin;two birds looped the enclosure in a sudden twittering flight; andfrom the stable region came the plaintive bleating of a mothersheep. But to Harriet and Richard the world was all their own. 

"My wife!" said Richard Carter. 

THE END