adn't I better run and take off my things?" she whispered. "I feel so
untidy."

He looked at her. She was clad in the white woollen cap and coat that she
had worn in the day. Her eyes were alight and sparkling, her brown face
flushed. She looked the very incarnation of youth.

"I think she will like to see you as you are," said Scott.

He knocked upon the door three times as before, and in a moment opened
it.

"Go in, won't you?" he said, standing back.

Dinah entered.

"Ah! She has come!" A hollow voice said, and in a moment her shyness was
gone.

She moved forward eagerly, saw Isabel seated in a low chair, and
impulsively went to her. "How kind you are to ask me to come again!" she
said.

And then all in a moment Isabel's arms came out to her, and she slipped
down upon her knees beside her into their close embrace.

"How kind of you to come, dear child!" Isabel murmured. "I am afraid it
is a visit to the desert for you."

"But I love to come!" Dinah told her with warm lips raised. "I can't tell
you how much. I was never so happy before. Each day seems lovelier than
the last."

Isabel kissed her lingeringly, tenderly. "My dear, you have a happy
heart," she said. "Tell me what you have been doing since I saw you
last!"

She would have let her go, but Dinah clung to her still, her cheek
against her shoulder. "I have been very frivolous, dear Mrs. Everard,"
she said. "I have done lots of things. This afternoon we were luging, and
now I have just come from the carnival, I wish you could have been there.
Some people are wearing the most horrible masks. Billy--my brother--has a
beauty. He made it himself. I rather wanted it to wear, but he wouldn't
part with it."

"You could never wear a mask, sweetheart," Isabel said, clasping the
small brown hand in hers. "Your face is too sweet a thing to hide."

Dinah hugged her in naive delight. "I always thought I was ugly before,"
she said.

Isabel's face wore a wan smile. She stroked the girl's soft cheek. "My
dear, no one with a heart like yours could have an ugly face. How did you
enjoy your dance with Eustace last night?"

Dinah bent her head a little, wishing earnestly that Scott were not in
the room. "I loved it," she said in a low voice.

"And afterwards?" questioned Isabel. "No one was vexed with you, I hope?"

Dinah hesitated. "Colonel de Vigne wasn't best pleased, I'm afraid," she
said, after a moment.

"He scolded you!" said Isabel, swift regret in