on you and done you a great deal of harm. Why, Phillida,
you are as much superior to that woman as the sky is--" He was about to
say, "as the sky is to a mud-puddle," but nothing is so fatal to offhand
vigor of denunciation as the confirmed habit of properness. Millard's
preference for measured and refined speech got the better of his wrath
barely in time, and, after arresting himself a moment, he finished the
sentence with more justness as he made a little wave with his right
hand--"as the sky is to a scene-painter's illusion."

Then he went on: "But Mrs. Frankland is persuasive and eloquent, and you
are too sincere to make allowance for the dash of exaggeration in her
words. You won't find her at a mission in Mackerelville. She is dressed
in purple by presents from the people who hear her, and Mrs. Hilbrough
tells me that Mrs. Benthuysen has just given her a check of a thousand
dollars to go to Europe with."

"Why shouldn't they do such things for her? They hardly know what to do
with their money, and they ought to be grateful to her," said Phillida
with heat. "Charley, I don't like to have you talk so about so good a
woman. I know her and love her. You don't know her, and your words seem
to me harsh and unjust."

"Well, then forgive me, dear. I forgot that she is your friend. That's
the best thing I ever knew about her."

Saying this, he put on his hat and went out lest he should give way
again to his now rising indignation against Mrs. Frankland, who, as the
real author of Phillida's trouble, in his judgment deserved severer
words than he had yet applied to her. But when he had opened the front
door he turned back suddenly, distressed that his call had only added to
the troubles of Phillida. She sat there, immovable, where he had left
her; he crossed the room, bent over her, and kissed her cheek.

"Forgive me, darling; I spoke hastily."

This tenderness overcame Phillida, and she fell to weeping. When she
raised her head a moment later Charley had gone, and the full confession
she had intended must be deferred.

To a man who has accepted as a divine authority all the conventions of
society, hardly anything that could befall a young woman would be more
dreadful than to become a subject of notoriety. His present interview
with Phillida had thoroughly aroused Millard, and he was resolved to
save her from herself by any means within his reach. Again the
alternative of an early marriage presented itself. He might