a worked hard to get the house ready for Polly, who was still in
Boston with her mother-in-law, and seemed quite content to leave the
arranging of her new quarters to her sister and husband, who preceded
her by several weeks; indeed, she was becoming so accustomed to being
waited upon that she considered herself in a fair way of being
spoiled. An heir was expected, and an heir seemed a very important
thing to the elder Minthrops. They treated Polly as a queen bee, and
the rest of the world as slaves to wait upon her. She was behaving in
a way to satisfy their requirements in a daughter-in-law, and life was
to be smoothed accordingly.

Every day brought a fresh suggestion covered by a check. Ben was
invited to select a high-stepping gray horse--a pair of cobs--a tiny
brougham--a victoria--a piano--a pianola. Deena shopped till she
almost sank exhausted, and yet the requests kept coming. If dear Mrs.
Ponsonby didn't mind the trouble, perhaps Polly might be warmer with
sable rugs--perhaps an extra sofa in her room might induce her to lie
down oftener--perhaps a few of those charming lace and linen
tablecloths might make her feel like giving little dinners at home
instead of fatiguing herself by going out to find her amusements.

Deena would have been more than mortal if the image of old Mrs.
Ponsonby had not risen before her eyes in forbidding contrast to so
much indulgence. She realized that the genus mother-in-law has widely
differing species, and yet in her heart she doubted whether Mrs.
Minthrop, with money to anticipate every wish of her only son, loved
him a whit more than frugal, self-denying Mother Ponsonby had loved
her Simeon. Lavishness or thrift, alike they proved a mother's
affection.

Deena executed all the commissions without a shadow of covetousness
and rejoiced in her sister's good fortune; it was reserved for Polly
and Ben, when they took up their life in New York, to show her the
depths of her own loneliness by the fullness of their comradeship, and
her yearning needs by their mutual devotion.

Polly arrived one bleak December day, the week before Christmas,
escorted by Mrs. Minthrop and two maids, and was met at the Grand
Central by her husband in a state of boyish excitement. His delight in
having his wife with him once more was so genuine that Deena forgave
him an amount of fussiness she never before suspected in his
easy-going nature. He altered his orders half a dozen times as to
which carriage