. This was indicative of
one of two things: either Mrs. Stannard was so reticent that she did not
care to tell anybody, or else she had told others and kept it from
her,--from her who believed that she had made a most favorable
impression on this charming and popular lady of whom all men and most
women spoke so admiringly. Mrs. Turner's face betrayed her mental
perturbation, and Mrs. Stannard was quick to divine the cause. In
genuine kindness of heart she came promptly to the relief of her pretty
friend. Without being in the least blind to her frivolities, Mrs.
Stannard saw much that was attractive and pleasant in Mrs. Turner. She
was vastly entertained by her, and enjoyed studying her as she would a
graceful statue or a finished picture. Beneath the surface she had no
desire to penetrate. Warm friends and loving friends she had in troops,
and women of Mrs. Turner's mental calibre were sources of infinite,
though quiet, entertainment. She enjoyed their presence, was cordial,
kindly, even laughingly familiar, yet always guarded. Mrs. Stannard's
most pronounced characteristic was consummate discretion. She knew whom
to trust, and others might labor in vain to extract from her the
faintest hint that, repeated carelessly or maliciously, would wound or
injure a friend.

But here was a thing all the world might know. Truscott's telegram had
reached her the evening before, saying that the three ladies, escorted
by Lieutenant Gleason, would arrive at such a time, and that Mrs.
Truscott and Miss Sanford would gladly accept her offer. The average
woman could hardly restrain herself from going out and seeking some one
to whom to tell the interesting news. Few pleasures in life are keener
than the bliss of being able to convey unexpected tidings,--when they
are welcome,--but Mrs. Stannard knew that the ladies of the regiment
with whom she felt at all intimate were over at the hop-room. She had
all a woman's eagerness to tell the news, but--she was loyal to the
--th, and would not even in so little a thing let others be the bearers.
That Mrs. Stannard was a woman capable of deeds of heroism we deduce
from the simple fact that she went to bed that night without having
breathed the story to a soul. She had a strong impulse to tell her cook
and housemaid,--old and reliable followers of her fortunes,--but she
well knew that those amiable domestics would be clattering up and down
the back yards all the evening, and the news would surpris