of cluttered notations; all of which proved that the
understudy secretary had not yet mastered the law of efficiency.

It seemed amusing to Mary. She thought: "How stupid! How can she--when
the wicker basket is the one logical place for----"

Then she spied Steve's desk, bearing a suggestion of the same disorder
about it. When she spoke his name and he started up, holding out both
hands, she saw a queer, bright look in his eyes, as if he, too, were
trying to convince himself that everything was all right.

"So you really missed me?"

"Missed you! Heaven alone can record the unselfish struggle I endured
to let you play. I give you my word."

He wheeled up a chair for her, just as he used to wheel up a chair
for Beatrice, and sitting opposite him Mary heard an almost womanish
enumeration of petty troubles and disturbances, a pathetic threat as
to the avalanche of work which would await her in the morning.

"And now I will be polite enough to ask if you had a good time?"

"Very! And Mrs. O'Valley?"

It was so horrid to have to pretend when each knew the other was
pretending; and as they pretended to the world in general, what a
relief and blessed lightening of tension it would have been to have
said merely an honest: "We don't care about Mrs. Gorgeous Girl or any
one else. We are quite content with each other. True, this is still
platonic friendship--with one of us--but all tropical twilight is of
short duration. It won't be platonic much longer. So let's talk about
ourselves all we like!"

But being thoroughbred young persons they felt it was not the thing
even to think frankly.

"She is well," Steve said, briefly.

"She came down here, she wrote me, when she wanted to find out about
something or other. I've forgotten just what."

Steve smiled. "Yes, for nearly a week Mrs. O'Valley managed to create
a furore among her own set. Before she came here she ordered an entire
new outfit of clothes--business togs. There were queer hats and shirt
waists and things." He laughed at the remembrance. "Then she had to
practise getting up early; that took a lot of time. Meanwhile, Miss
Sartwell did your work just as we planned. It was found necessary to
postpone her business career still further because of an out-of-door
pageant that required her services as a nymph. She caught cold at
rehearsal and enjoyed a week of indoors.

"Then Gay turned up with a whole flock of new decorators for the
d----for the villa thing, and