ept seeing him as she had first seen him at the station; as he had been
that wonderful day when they had had tea in the Pavilion; the night in
the music room when he had kissed her; the old garden with its pale
statues and box hedges; and always there was his sparkling glance, his
quick voice.

She would never own her soul until she forgot George. Until she put him
out of her life; until the thought of him would not make her burn hot
with humiliation; until the thought of him would not thrill to her
finger-tips.

She found Cope's easy and humorous companionship a balance for her
hidden emotions. And when Louise Cope came, she proved to be a rather
highly emphasized counterpart of her brother. Her red-gold hair was
thick and she wore it bobbed. Her skin was white but lacked the look of
delicacy which seemed to contradict constantly Cope's vivid personality.
She seemed to laugh at the world as he did. She called Becky "quaint,"
but took to her at once.

"Archie has been writing to me of you," she told Becky; "he says you
came up like a bird from the south."

"Birds don't fly north in the fall----"

"Well, you were the--miracle," Cope asserted.

Louise Cope's shrewd glance studied him. "He has fallen in love with
you, Becky Bannister," was her blunt assurance, "but you needn't let it
worry you. As yet it is only an aesthetic passion. But there is no
telling what may come of it----"

"Does he fall in love--like that?" Becky demanded.

"He has never been in love," Louise declared, "not really. Except with
me."

Becky felt that the Copes were a charming pair. When she answered
Randy's letter she spoke of them.

"Louise adores her brother, and she thinks he would be a great
artist if he would take himself seriously. But neither of them
seems to take anything seriously. They always seem to be laughing
at the world in a quiet way. Louise is not pretty, but she gives an
effect of beauty---- She wears a big gray cape and a black velvet
tam, and I am not sure that the color in her cheeks is real. She is
different from other people, but it doesn't seem to be a pose. It
is just because she has lived in so many places and has seen so
many people and has thought for herself. I have always let other
people think for me, haven't I, Randy?

"And now that I have done with the Copes, I am going to talk about
the things that you said to me in your letter, and which are