and selfish before and after they are married. I know, because so many
women came to me when my husband was alive to ask how it was that I
continued so happy in my married life."

"But I don't want to marry any one," Helen remonstrated gently.
"American girls are not always thinking only of getting married."

"What I meant was this," said Lady Gower, "that, in my experience, I
have heard of but few men who care in the way this young man seems to
care for you. You say you do not love him; but if he had wanted to gain
my interest, he could not have pleaded his cause better than you have
done. He seems to see your faults and yet love you still, in spite of
them--or on account of them. And I like the things he does for you. I
like, for instance, his sending you the book of the moment every week
for two years. That shows a most unswerving spirit of devotion. And the
story of the broken bridge in the woods is a wonderful story. If I were
a young girl, I could love a man for that alone. It was a beautiful
thing to do."

Helen sat with her chin on her hands, deeply considering this new point
of view.

"I thought it very foolish of him," she confessed questioningly, "to
take such a risk for such a little thing."

Lady Gower smiled down at her from the height of her many years.

"Wait," she said dryly, "you are very young now--and very rich; every
one is crowding to give you pleasure, to show his admiration. You are
a very fortunate girl. But later, these things which some man has done
because he loved you, and which you call foolish, will grow large in
your life, and shine out strongly, and when you are discouraged and
alone, you will take them out, and the memory of them will make you
proud and happy. They are the honors which women wear in secret."

Helen came back to town in September, and for the first few days was so
occupied in refurnishing her studio and in visiting the shops that she
neglected to send Carroll word of her return. When she found that a
whole week had passed without her having made any effort to see him,
and appreciated how the fact would hurt her friend, she was filled with
remorse, and drove at once in great haste to Jermyn Street, to announce
her return in person. On the way she decided that she would soften the
blow of her week of neglect by asking him to take her out to luncheon.
This privilege she had once or twice accorded him, and she felt that the
pleasure these excursions gave Carroll were