theless was a mere cipher in the matter. In everything the
mother had her way, until it came to the room designed for Helen, and
which Mrs. Cameron was for converting into a kind of smoking or lounging
room for Wilford and his associates. Katy must not expect him to be
always as devoted to her as he had been during the winter, she said. He
had a great many bachelor friends, and now that he had a house of his
own, it was natural that he should have some place where they could
spend an hour or so with him without the restraint of ladies' society,
and this was just the room--large, airy, quiet, and so far from the
parlors that the odor of the smoke could not reach them.

"Oak and green will do nicely here," turning to Wilford, "but you must
have some very handsome cigar sets, and one or two boxes of chess. Shall
I see to that?"

Katy had submitted to much without knowing that she was submitting; but
something Bell had dropped that morning had awakened a suspicion that
possibly she was being ignored, and the wicked part of Helen would have
enjoyed the look in her eye as she said, decidedly, not to Mrs. Cameron,
but to Wilford: "I have from the very first decided this chamber for
Helen, and I cannot give it up for a smoking room. You never had one
at home. Why did you not, if it is so necessary?"

Wilford could not tell her that his mother would as soon have brought
into her house one of Barnum's shows as to have had a room set apart for
smoking, which she specially disliked; neither could he at once reply at
all, so astonished was he at this sudden flash of spirit. Mrs. Cameron
was the first to rally, and in her usual quiet tone she said: "Indeed, I
did not know that your sister was to form a part of your household. When
do you expect her?" and her cold gray eyes rested steadily upon Katy,
who never before so fully realized the distance there was between her
husband's friends and her own. But as the worm will turn when trampled
on, so Katy, though hitherto powerless to defend herself, aroused in
Helen's behalf, and in a tone as quiet and decided as that of her
mother-in-law, replied: "She will come whenever I write for her. It was
arranged from the first. Wasn't it, Wilford?" and she turned to her
husband, who, unwilling to decide between a wife he loved and a mother
whose judgment he considered infallible, affected not to hear her, and
stole from the room, followed soon by Mrs. Cameron, so that Katy was
left mistress of