ointed to the pile--"It will be so
good of you if you will do them now."

She took each one up and handed it to me without speaking and I dictated
the answer.--I had had one from Suzette that morning thanking me for the
villa--but I was clearly under the impression that I had put it with the
one from Maurice and one from Daisy Ryven at the other side of the bed,
so I had no anxiety about it--Then suddenly I saw Alathea's cheeks flame
crimson and her mouth shut with a snap--and I realized that the irony of
fate had fallen upon me again, and that she had picked up Suzette's
lavender tinted, highly scented missive. She handed it to me without a
word--.

The letter ended:

"_Adieu Nicholas! tu es,
Toujours Mon Adore
Ta Suzette._"

but the way it was folded only showed "_Toujours Mon Adore--Ta
Suzette_"--and this much Alathea had certainly seen--.

I felt as if there was some evil imp laughing in the room--There was
nothing to be said or done. I could not curse aloud--so I simply took
the letter, put it with Daisy Ryven's--and indicated that I was waiting
for the next one to be handed to me--So Alathea continued her work.--But
could anything be more maddening--more damnably provoking!--and
inopportune--Why must the shadow of Suzette fall upon me all the time?--

This of course will make any renewal of even the coldest friendliness
impossible, between my little girl and me--. I cannot ask her to marry
me now, and perhaps not for a long time, if ever the chance comes to me
again, in any case. Her attitude, carriage of head, and expression of
mouth, showed contempt, as she finished the short-hand notes. And then
she rose and went into the other room to type, closing the door after
her.

And I lay there shivering with rage and chagrin.

I saw no more of Alathea that morning--She had her lunch in the
sitting-room alone, and Burton brought the dishes in to me, and after
luncheon he insisted that I should sleep for an hour until half-past two
o'clock. He had some accounts for Miss Sharp to do, he said.

I was so exhausted that when I did fall asleep I slept until nearly
four--and awoke with a start and an agony of apprehension that she might
have gone--but no--Burton said she was still there when I rang for
him--and I asked her to come in again--.

We went over one of the earlier chapters in the book and I made some
alterations in it; she never showed the slightest interest, nor did she
speak--; she merely took