f the box with a vague uneasiness tugging at
her heart. Carter, frankly interested in the voluptuous Carmen, had no
eyes except for the stage, and did not notice his sister's
perturbation. It is worthy of note that she did not call his attention
to the occupants of the other box.

For as she stealthily watched her betrothed husband's removal of
Constance's cloak there was something in the manner of both that drove
the color from her face. And when, in an intermission, as he leaned over
her, she saw Constance Brevoort's lips laid surreptitiously on his
throat, she gave a heart-broken gasp and nervously implored her brother
to take her back to the hotel.

All unconscious of the cause, and with never a look at the opposite box,
he instantly complied, reproaching himself with having subjected her to
this unadvisable strain on her nerves. On their arrival at their hotel
she pleaded a slight indisposition from weariness of travel and at once
retired.

With clenched hands and white face she lay staring into the darkness. It
was all plain to her now! For with an intuition that went straight to
the mark, she knew who was the instigator of the report of her
engagement to Lord Ellerslie; and she knew why! Curiously enough, she
attached no blame to him, but she felt a deep and increasing hatred for
the woman who had robbed her. There could be only one interpretation of
their relations and her whole nature resented it passionately. But her
love for him was very great and she was eager to give him the benefit of
the doubt, even while her whole sentience shrieked his guilt.

The next morning she called a bellboy and handed him a bank note upon
which lay a slip of paper.

"Find out for me, please," she said, with a forced smile, "the hotel
where these two friends of mine are registered, without letting them
know. I want to call upon them unexpectedly and surprise them." The lad
bowed his appreciation of her generosity and in less than a half hour
returned with the desired information. It was "dead easy to locate
swells of that kind," as he shrewdly remarked to an envious colleague
who had begrudged him that magnificent tip.

She was all honied complaisance when she called upon Constance that
morning immediately after breakfast, much to that lady's consternation
and surprise. For a moment Mrs. Brevoort was speechless and
panic-stricken, but she was an old campaigner and soon recovered her
composure. She professed her delight at t