rdly likely. They have known each other for such a short time."

"Time has nothing to do with love," said the sophisticated Sara. "A man
and a girl can meet and love in a week and live happy ever after. Oh,
yes, they can. And they can know each other all their lives and be
perfectly miserable. Dad and mother grew up together, and you've heard,
Mrs. Martens, what a life they lived."

The story of the unhappiness of Sara's parents was common property. Yet
it hurt Sophie to see the hard look in the girl's eyes.

"My dear child," she said, "everything depends on the amount of
affection which two people give each other--time doesn't count."

Sara was digging the point of her parasol into the sand. "I've never
seen anything like it with Justin. Why, he's _never_ asked any woman to
fly with him. And when I looked up a while ago, and saw that he
had--her--I knew he wouldn't have--asked her--if he hadn't--cared----"

"Perhaps we are making things more serious than they really are," Sophie
said. But as the two women walked on together, her mental disturbance
continued. What if Miss Matthews and Sara had spoken the truth? How
would it affect Bettina--how would it affect--Diana?

"I can't quite understand what all the men see in her," Sara was saying.
"Of course she's a beauty. But she's so little and white--and she
doesn't seem so terribly clever----"

"There's a charm she has inherited from those sleepy Venetian ladies,
who only waked now and then to flash a glance at some man--and hold him
captive. Those beauties were without conscience. But Bettina has a
Puritan streak in her which she gets from her mother--that's what makes
her such a fascinating combination, Sara. She's like a little nun; yet
one feels instinctively that back of that calm exterior there is force
and fire."

Sara nodded. "I know. Men don't like the obvious. That's why so many of
us American girls fail to inspire grand passions. We have no
surprises--no high lights or shadows--it's all glare----"

"I'm not sure, my dear, but that, in the long run, such women make men
happier than the other kind. In this practical world there's little room
for varying moods."

"If Justin marries Bettina," said Sara, "they'll live on rhapsodies."
She drew a quick short breath. "There won't be any commonplaces. They're
both made that way. It will be all romance and roses----"

"My dear--aren't we taking things a bit for granted?"

"You'll see. You haven't watched them