to escape to her room with a book, and be out of it all, and the two
weeks away from her country life seemed long to her. She couldn't
reconcile Margaret's love of the world, her tolerance of Carmen,
and other men and women whose lives seemed to be based on Carmen's
philosophy, with her devotion to the church services, to the city
missions, and the dozens of charities that absorb so much of the time of
the leaders of society.

"You are too young, dear, to be so good and devout," was Carmen's
comment on the situation.

To Miss Forsythe's wonder, Margaret did not resent this impertinence,
but only said that no accumulation of years was likely to bring Carmen
into either of these dangers. And the reply was no more satisfactory to
Miss Forsythe than the remark that provoked it.

That she had had a delightful visit, that Margaret was more lovely
than ever, that Henderson was a delightful host, was the report of Miss
Forsythe when she returned to us. In a confidential talk with my wife
she confessed, however, that she couldn't tell whither Margaret was
going.

One of the worries of modern life is the perplexity where to spend the
summer. The restless spirit of change affects those who dwell in the
country, as well as those who live in the city. No matter how charming
the residence is, one can stay in it only a part of the year. He
actually needs a house in town, a villa by the sea, and a cottage in the
hills. When these are secured--each one an establishment more luxurious
year by year--then the family is ready to travel about, and is in a
greater perplexity than before whether to spend the summer in Europe
or in America, the novelties of which are beginning to excite the
imagination. This nomadism, which is nothing less than society on
wheels, cannot be satirized as a whim of fashion; it has a serious
cause in--the discovery of the disease called nervous prostration, which
demands for its cure constant change of scene, without any occupation.
Henderson recognized it, but he said that personally he had no time to
indulge in it. His summer was to be a very busy one. It was impossible
to take Margaret with him on his sudden and tedious journeys from
one end of the country to the other, but she needed a change. It was
therefore arranged that after a visit to Brandon she should pass the
warm months with the Arbusers in their summer home at Lenox, with a
month--the right month--in the Eschelle villa at Newport; and he hoped
n