ntent with what they could get. You
should not leap to the conclusion that she won't want you. Brides often
feel very lonely through the day when their husbands are in the city,
and I should think she would be delighted to have a friend of her own
age so near at hand. We will watch and see if we can get a glimpse of
her. She is almost sure to have gone out for a walk this fine morning,
and if so she will come home in time for lunch."

From that moment Sylvia's eyes were glued to the window, and every woman
between the ages of sixteen and sixty was in turn heralded as the bride,
and scornfully laughed aside by the nurse.

"I told you that she was young and pretty!" she repeated laughingly. "I
didn't mean that she was a schoolgirl, or a middle-aged woman. If she
is coming at all she will be here within the next half-hour, so lie
still and rest, and I'll play Sister Anne for you."

Ten minutes passed, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and Whitey was
beginning to hint at a return to bed, when at last the longed-for figure
hove in sight. Sylvia raised herself on her pillows and peered eagerly
forward, her scarlet dressing-jacket making a brilliant patch of colour
against the background of white. She saw a slight, graceful figure clad
in a tightly fitting black cloth costume, and a mass of flaxen hair
beneath a sailor hat, and even as she looked the girl raised her head
and stared upward with eager interest. She had a delicate, oval face
and grey-blue eyes beneath thoughtful brows, but at the sight of the
invalid the whole face flashed into sunshine, and the lips curled into a
smile of such irrepressible rejoicing which was more eloquent than
words. The next moment her head was lowered, and she walked demurely up
the path dividing the little gardens, while Sylvia lay back on her
pillows a-quiver with excitement.

"Oh, oh, the d-arling! What a perfect duck of a darling! Did you see
her smile? Didn't she look glad to see me? Whitey, why did she look so
pleased? What can she know about me?"

"My dear, she has seen the doctor's carriage drive up at all hours of
the day, and two nurses going in and out, to say nothing of the bark
which was laid down on the road. She must have known that someone was
seriously ill, and no doubt the servants have told her that it was a
young girl like herself. Yes, it was delightful to see her. You won't
have any better congratulation on your recovery than that smile!"

"Whitey,