the hat?" he asked, insultingly.

"I meant to ask you to," she said, and a tear escaped and splashed on
the lapel of her new coat, "but never mind, I will find some means to
pay for it myself." And she moved toward the door, wounded pride
expressed in every line of her retreating figure.

"Come back, if you please," he called. "This is childish folly. How
can you pay when you have no money except what I give you? I am
responsible for your debts, and as you have taken advantage of that
fact, I have no choice but to pay. This must never occur again. How
much is it?"

"I--I don't know," faltered Deena, struggling with her emotion.

"You don't know? You buy without even asking the price?" he pursued.

The enormity of the offense crushed his irritation; it struck at the
very foundations of his trust in Deena's judgment, at her whole future
usefulness to him; he almost felt as if his bank account were not in
his own keeping.

She tried to answer, but no words would come; explanations were beyond
her powers, and she left the room, shutting the door behind her. A
passion of tears would have made the situation bearable, but when you
are the lady of the house and unexpected company is coming to tea, and
you have but one servant, you have to deny yourself such luxuries.

Deena went for a moment into the open air while she steadied her
nerves; she forced herself to think what she could add to the evening
meal, and succeeded in burying her mortification in a dish of smoked
beef and eggs.

Old Mrs. Ponsonby had never given in to late dinners, and Simeon's
digestion was regulated to the more economical plan of a light supper
or tea at seven o'clock.

Deena gave the necessary orders and went upstairs to her own room. One
blessing was hers--a bedroom to herself. Simeon had given her his
mother's room and retained his own, which was directly in the rear.
She shut the communicating door, and was glad she had done so when she
heard his step in the passage and knew he had come to make the brief
toilet he thought necessary for tea. She tore off her finery--hung the
pretty costume in her closet, and, as she laid her hat on the shelf,
registered a vow that no power on earth should induce her to pay for
it with Ponsonby money. Though the clock pointed to ten minutes to
seven, she shook down her hair and parted it in the severe style that
had won its way to her mother-in-law's heart. At this point Simeon's
door opened, and Deena remem