mpire to
Blanche Leary or have shared it with her, she would have yielded
gracefully; but very palpably some other influence than Blanche's had
driven joy from her son's countenance and lightness from his heart.

Miss Blanche Leary, whom Tryon found in the house upon his return, was
a demure, pretty little blonde, with an amiable disposition, a talent
for society, and a pronounced fondness for George Tryon. A poor girl,
of an excellent family impoverished by the war, she was distantly
related to Mrs. Tryon, had for a long time enjoyed that lady's favor,
and was her choice for George's wife when he should be old enough to
marry. A woman less interested than Miss Leary would have perceived
that there was something wrong with Tryon. Miss Leary had no doubt that
there was a woman at the bottom of it,--for about what else should
youth worry but love? or if one's love affairs run smoothly, why should
one worry about anything at all? Miss Leary, in the nineteen years of
her mundane existence, had not been without mild experiences of the
heart, and had hovered for some time on the verge of disappointment
with respect to Tryon himself. A sensitive pride would have driven
more than one woman away at the sight of the man of her preference
sighing like a furnace for some absent fair one. But Mrs. Tryon was so
cordial, and insisted so strenuously upon her remaining, that Blanche's
love, which was strong, conquered her pride, which was no more than a
reasonable young woman ought to have who sets success above mere
sentiment. She remained in the house and bided her opportunity. If
George practically ignored her for a time, she did not throw herself at
all in his way. She went on a visit to some girls in the neighborhood
and remained away a week, hoping that she might be missed. Tryon
expressed no regret at her departure and no particular satisfaction
upon her return. If the house was duller in her absence, he was but
dimly conscious of the difference. He was still fighting a battle in
which a susceptible heart and a reasonable mind had locked horns in a
well-nigh hopeless conflict. Reason, common-sense, the instinctive
ready-made judgments of his training and environment,--the deep-seated
prejudices of race and caste,--commanded him to dismiss Rena from his
thoughts. His stubborn heart simply would not let go.

XXI

A GILDED OPPORTUNITY

Although the whole fabric of Rena's new life toppled and fell with her
lov