to her kingdom, and I wouldn't abate
a single courtier."

"I've waited for my kingdom," she declared; "waited for it in sackcloth
and ashes. You can't call Washington anything else for a congressman's
wife. Her husband may get glory; she gets snubs. Now my turn has
come, and I've plans galore. Milicent's debut is one of them. I'll
bring her out with a ball when she has had enough of her finishing
school. Ex-Senator Ludlow thinks it an inspiration."

The men exchanged a look.

"Handsome Ludlow isn't an ideal adviser for young girls," dropped
Shelby, quietly.

"He's a victim of gossip; he told me so. You and I know too well what
that means to countenance it. Besides, you're going to appoint him
commissioner of something or other--I read it in yesterday's papers;
but that's politics, I suppose."

Shelby gloomed in his corner, but made no answer.

Bowers essayed a diversion.

"I saw Bernard Graves's wife in the assembly chamber this morning," he
remarked. "Seems to me she's looking rather peaked since her marriage."

"Ruth Graves here!" exclaimed Cora.

"I saw her too," said Shelby. "She congratulated me later in the
executive chamber. She has been living in New York this winter.
Graves is still lecturing around the country, telling how he wrote his
poem and what it's all about."

"I presume she couldn't resist coming up to see how we would behave,"
Cora reflected, aloud.

"She is visiting Mrs. Van Dam," added the governor.

"Of all people!" Mrs. Shelby's wonder was unrestrained. "I do
remember, though," she continued presently, "that she made friends here
when she was in Vassar College. It's plain enough why Mrs. Van Dam has
taken her up again. She wants to know all about us."

It was an easy step now to the conclusion that perhaps such an old
friend really merited an invitation to the executive mansion.

The governor brushed his forehead with a weary gesture, drew a chair to
Bowers's side, and unfolded a bundle of manuscript.

"I know it's late," he said apologetically, "but there's a bit of my
message I'd like to read to you. There'll be no time in the morning if
you're still bent on taking the early train to Tuscarora. I'd like
your opinion whether it's what the plain people want."

Mrs. Shelby found the reading unspeakably juiceless and went yawning to
bed. Nor did the governor detain Bowers long. A servant entering
presently discovered Shelby before the grate alone.

"Don't wai