ties, and she never saw him again. She wrote him repeatedly, but he
never answered her letters, and she was too proud to follow him. She had
one child, a baby girl, named Eleanor, who was the sole comfort of the
heartbroken mother."

At this juncture Anne and Grace exchanged significant glances.

"When Eleanor was about a year old, the mother wrote Guido Savelli once
more, begging him to come to her, if only for the sake of his child, but
either he never received the letter or else paid no attention to it, for
she received no reply. She relapsed into a dull, apathetic state, from
which the repeated efforts of her sister failed to arouse her. The
following winter she contracted pneumonia and died, leaving her sister
the sole guardian of Eleanor."

"How long ago did all this happen, dear Mrs. Gray?" queried Nora
eagerly, "and is little Eleanor living?"

"It was sixteen years ago, my dear," replied Mrs. Gray, "and the reason
that I have told you this long tale is because the baby girl is almost a
woman now, and----"

"The girl is Eleanor Savell and we met her the other day," broke in
Grace excitedly, forgetting for an instant that she had interrupted Mrs.
Gray. "She is going to live at 'Heartsease' and---- oh, Mrs. Gray,
please pardon me for interrupting you, I was so excited that I didn't
realize my own rudeness."

"Granted, my dear," smiled the old lady. "But how did you happen to meet
Eleanor? They arrived only a few days ago."

Grace rapidly narrated their meeting and conversation with Eleanor,
while Mrs. Gray listened without comment. When Grace repeated Eleanor's
remark about having made up her mind, the old lady looked a little
troubled. Then her face cleared and she said softly:

"My dear Christmas children, I am very anxious that for her own sake you
should become well acquainted with Eleanor. Her aunt was here yesterday,
and we had a long talk regarding her. Eleanor is an uncommon girl in
many respects. She has remarkable beauty and talent, but she is
frightfully self-willed. Her aunt has spoiled her, and realizes too
late the damage she has done by having allowed her to grow up on the
continent. They have lived in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, with an
occasional visit to America, and Eleanor has always done just as she
pleased. For years her aunt has obeyed her slightest whim, but as she
grows older she grows more like her father, and her aunt wants her to
have some steadying influence that will put