s knock," the little girl answered, jumping down to open the
door; and Miss Viner in fact stood on the threshold.

"Come in," Anna said with a smile, instantly remarking how pale she
looked.

"May Effie go out for a turn with Nurse?" the girl asked. "I should like
to speak to you a moment."

"Of course. This ought to be YOUR holiday, as yesterday was Effie's. Run
off, dear," she added, stooping to kiss the little girl.

When the door had closed she turned back to Sophy Viner with a look that
sought her confidence. "I'm so glad you came, my dear. We've got so many
things to talk about, just you and I together."

The confused intercourse of the last days had, in fact, left little time
for any speech with Sophy but such as related to her marriage and the
means of overcoming Madame de Chantelle's opposition to it. Anna had
exacted of Owen that no one, not even Sophy Viner, should be given a
hint of her own projects till all contingent questions had been disposed
of. She had felt, from the outset, a secret reluctance to intrude her
securer happiness on the doubts and fears of the young pair.

From the sofa-corner to which she had dropped back she pointed to
Darrow's chair. "Come and sit by me, dear. I wanted to see you alone.
There's so much to say that I hardly know where to begin."

She leaned forward, her hands clasped on the arms of the sofa, her eyes
bent smilingly on Sophy's. As she did so, she noticed that the girl's
unusual pallour was partly due to the slight veil of powder on her
face. The discovery was distinctly disagreeable. Anna had never before
noticed, on Sophy's part, any recourse to cosmetics, and, much as
she wished to think herself exempt from old-fashioned prejudices, she
suddenly became aware that she did not like her daughter's governess to
have a powdered face. Then she reflected that the girl who sat opposite
her was no longer Effie's governess, but her own future daughter-in-law;
and she wondered whether Miss Viner had chosen this odd way of
celebrating her independence, and whether, as Mrs. Owen Leath, she would
present to the world a bedizened countenance. This idea was scarcely
less distasteful than the other, and for a moment Anna continued to
consider her without speaking. Then, in a flash, the truth came to her:
Miss Viner had powdered her face because Miss Viner had been crying.

Anna leaned forward impulsively. "My dear child, what's the matter?"
She saw the girl's blood rush up unde