under no circumstances
could she have been content to wait quietly until the next day for the
coveted mail. If it were from her mother or father she could read it
over and over before bedtime and go to sleep happy in the possession of
it, and if it were from one of her numerous friends it would be joyfully
received.

The handwriting on the envelope Grace took from the bulletin board
looked strangely familiar. Tearing it open, she glanced hastily over the
few lines of the letter, an expression of incredulity in her eyes, for
the note said:--

"MY DEAR MISS HARLOWE:--

"May I come to Wayne Hall to see you to-morrow evening at half-past
seven o'clock? Please leave note in the bulletin board stating
whether this will be convenient for you.

"Yours sincerely,
"ALBERTA WICKS."

Grace read the note again, then mechanically folding it, returned it to
its envelope, and walked slowly back to Wayne Hall divided between her
disappointment in the letter, and speculation as to the purport of
Alberta Wicks's proposed call.

CHAPTER XXI

ALBERTA KEEPS HER PROMISE

During the following day Grace pondered not a little over the possible
meaning of Alberta Wicks's note. She wrote an equally brief reply,
stating that she would be at Wayne Hall the following night at the
appointed time, and tried, unsuccessfully, to dismiss the matter from
her mind. It persisted in recurring to her at intervals, and when, at
exactly half-past seven o'clock, Alberta Wicks was ushered into the
living room, Grace's heart beat a trifle faster as she went forward to
greet her guest, who looked less haughty than usual, and who actually
smiled faintly as she returned Grace's greeting.

"I know I am the last person you ever expected to see," began Alberta,
looking embarrassed, "but I simply felt as though I must come here
to-night. Are we likely to be interrupted?" she asked suddenly.

"Perhaps we had better go upstairs to my room," suggested Grace. "My
roommate is away this evening."

"Thank you," replied the other girl. She followed Grace upstairs with an
unaccustomed meekness that made Grace marvel as to what had suddenly
wrought so marked a change in this hitherto disagreeable senior.

Once the two girls were seated opposite each other, Alberta leaned
forward and said earnestly: "I know that you must dislike me very, very
much, Miss Harlowe, and I always supposed that I disliked you even more,
but I have l