er mind slipped into more peaceful
channels. She looked about the quiet room. The firelight threw her face
into relief and accentuated the faint lines of pain that had come during
the last few weeks; a pensive touch had been added to a countenance that
combined loveliness with strength. The yellow puff-ball in the gilded
cage by the window stirred drowsily, with a faint, comforting chirp. The
white and gold of blossoming narcissi, rising from their sheaths of
green, gleamed purely from a tabouret, and their incense filled the
room.

Presently she took up events of recent occurrence with clearer mind. She
had probably exaggerated the seeming coherence of disconnected
happenings. She longed to think so. Eva took great interest in the
senatorial contest. Should that be an indictment? She craved
excitement--expected to hold the stage in any episode; her position as
the wife of an eminent jurist gave her a certain prestige in the
political arena where pretty women were not unwelcome. The power they
wielded, whether consciously or not, was almost unlimited--Winifred had
seen enough of the average legislator to appreciate that fact.

In thinking it over, Winifred admitted that Mrs. Latimer had known for
many years Mr. Burroughs, Mr. Moore, Mr. Danvers and her brother
Charlie--four of the men who were playing their part in the drama fast
drawing to its climax. What cause for apprehension in this? Ever since
the Latimers' marriage their home had been a rendezvous for the
politicians of the State--at least, of Arthur's party. Surely Mrs.
Latimer could receive the same guests, even if the judge was away--even
if some among her satellites were men whose reputations excluded them
from all but the very smartest set. If she talked politics she did so in
the pursuit of her affirmed desire to learn of politics at first hand.
It could not be that she would descend to the plane of a lobbyist! But
what would Judge Latimer think of this surprising fervor? He would not
care to express himself as opposed to Burroughs. Did not Eva care for
her husband's opinions--for his reputation? Winifred did not feel called
upon to judge her friend; she was only trying to account for the
circumstantial evidence accumulating against Eva.

When the girl turned her thoughts to her brother, she was sucked into a
whirling maelstrom. The doctor's opinion of her had been correct. She
knew her brother and his fluctuating fortunes as only a sister of
infinite lo