me, and I should get into equal trouble at home. Keith would
hear, and he would never forgive me. I don't believe I could even return
to Birkwood, if all the girls at school were to know about it too."

She felt as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice, and that at
any moment the frail ground might give way under her feet, and plunge
her into the depths of the abyss. "Cousin Marion" seemed her evil
genius; from the very first Aldred had been haunted by the fear of this
meeting. It was wrong to wish people ill, but she regretted with all her
heart that the German spa had effected so speedy a cure, and that the
doctor had given permission for the invalid to return to England.

"I've been practising a fraud for the last eight months," she groaned,
burying her face in the pillow. "I'll allow that much to myself, though
I'll try to hide it from everyone else."

The agony she was enduring made her really feverish, for distress of
mind is often far harder to bear than pain of body. She had gained all
she wanted--popularity at school, a complete hold upon Mabel's
affection, and a permanent invitation to a house where it was an honour
to be received as a guest. And now, must all this be lost? The
friendship had grown so necessary to her that she felt she could not
live without it, and the prospect of estrangement and cold looks was
appalling. At any cost she must manage to avoid this fatal expedition to
Evington. She would sham illness, and ask to remain in her bedroom, so
that they could not possibly include her in the party. To be sure, she
would miss everything that was going on; but that was nothing, in
comparison with the horror of an introduction to "Cousin Marion".

"If she comes over here, and asks to see me, I must have something
infectious!" thought Aldred. "I wonder if I could rub anything on me to
bring out a rash? Nettles might do it, only I can't go out to pick them.
Was any wretched girl ever in such a desperate strait?"

She had had so little experience of ill health that it was rather
difficult for her to feign symptoms. She had mentioned biliousness to
Mabel on the spur of the moment, as it was the first idea that came into
her head; but she had rarely suffered from an attack. She remembered,
however, that it included a bad headache, and a disinclination to
consume anything except soda water and biscuits.

"I shan't dare to touch proper meals, no matter how hungry I am," she
reflected. "I expect