ful dressing was for him."

"Poor Basil!"

"She asked me to stay and lunch with her, but very coolly, and when
I refused, did not press the matter as she used to do. Yes, she was
expecting him. I understand now her nervous manner, her restlessness,
her indifference to my short visit. I wish I could do anything."

"You cannot, and you must not try."

"Some one must try."

"There is her husband. Have you heard from Tyrrel yet."

"I have had a couple of telegrams. He will write from Chicago."

"Is he going at once to the Hot Springs?"

"As rapidly as possible. Colonel Rawdon is now there, and very ill.
Tyrrel will put his father first of all. The trouble at the mine can be
investigated afterwards."

"You will miss him very much. You have been so happy together."

"Of course I shall miss him. But it will be a good thing for us to be
apart awhile. Love must have some time in which to grow. I am a little
tired of being very happy, and I think Tyrrel also will find absence a
relief. In 'Lalla Rookh' there is a line about love 'falling asleep in a
sameness of splendor.' It might. How melancholy is a long spell of hot,
sunshiny weather, and how gratefully we welcome the first shower of
rain."

"Love has made you a philosopher, Ethel."

"Well, it is rather an advantage than otherwise. I am going to take a
walk, Ruth, into the very heart of Broadway. I have had enough of the
peace of the country. I want the crack, and crash, and rattle, and grind
of wheels, the confused cries, the snatches of talk and laughter, the
tread of crowds, the sound of bells, and clocks, and chimes. I long for
all the chaotic, unintelligible noise of the streets. How suggestive
it is! Yet it never explains itself. It only gives one a full sense of
life. Love may need just the same stimulus. I wish grandmother would
come home. I should not require Broadway as a stimulus. I am afraid she
will be very angry with me, and there will be a battle royal in Gramercy
Park."

It was nearly a week before Ethel had this crisis to meet. She went down
to it with a radiant face and charming manner, and her reception was
very cordial. Madam would not throw down the glove until the proper
moment; besides, there were many very interesting subjects to talk over,
and she wanted "to find things out" that would never be told unless
tempers were propitious. Added to these reasons was the solid one that
she really adored her granddaughter, and was immensely cheere