d at this free speech, but
Constance gave her no time for reply.

"Your sister is in Miss Ardsley's rooms and they would like to speak to
you," she said to Patricia. "They were coming up here, but they saw the
dray-load of hats being taken in, and they concluded there would be more
breathing room downstairs."

Patricia had a sudden misgiving that something might be wrong at the
studio--Judith or Bruce ill. Constance saw the thought in her face and
shook her hand.

"Everything's O.K." she assured her. "Miss Ardsley's got a room for you
at last, that's all. They want you to come down and deliver sentence."

To Patricia this seemed a veritable finger of destiny.

"Shall I bother you if I move out?" she asked Rosamond rather wistfully.

If she had hoped for comfort, she got very little. "Why should you go at
all?" asked Rosamond, while she held a hat up for inspection, viewing it
first on one side and then on the other. "I thought you were very well
as you are."

"But," faltered Patricia. "I was only to stay till I could get a room."

She hoped Rosamond would lay down the hat and look at her with friendly
eyes. Rosamond kept on with her scrutiny.

"Stay as long as you will. I'm sure we've got on beautifully together,"
she said with her air of amiable indifference.

After that Patricia felt she had no choice.

She followed Constance into Miss Ardsley's rooms without knowing how she
got there, and even Elinor's gentle words of greeting sounded stiff and
formal to her quivering, over-wrought humor. Miss Ardsley's genteel
accents grated horribly on her. She was anxious to have the interview
over and she readily agreed to take the room at once, without evincing
any interest in it or anything else. All that she wanted just then was
to get away by herself, so afraid was she that the tears so near her
eyelids might pop out at any moment.

Elinor very properly put her changed manner down to the incident of the
night before, and she did not insist on going up with her to talk it
over with Miss Merton, as she would have done if all had been as usual
between Patricia and herself.

She sighed a little as she kissed her good-bye in the corridor, and
wondered sadly at the stony face her dear Miss Pat turned to her at
parting.

"You'll want me to come over and help you move?" she asked, with a world
of tender concern in her tones.

Patricia heard only the mere words. She was wild to get away before she
disgraced herself