t the
doctor lay back with closed eyes. He was not asleep, however, for he
opened his eyes at her light footfall. She looked very beautiful in her
unconfined gown, the red tone heightening the creamy colorlessness of
her face.

"Will you put them on?" she asked in a hushed voice, holding out the
slippers.

"You are very kind," he replied, looking with hungry eyes into her face.
Seeing that he did not take them, she placed them on the carpet. The
action recalled him to himself, and wishing to detain her, he said,--

"Do they belong to a man as big as I?"

"They are my cousin's."

She had half turned to leave.

"Ah," he returned, "and will he relish the idea of my standing in his
shoes?"

No double-entendre was intended, but Ruth's thoughts gave one miserable
bound to Arnold.

"He will be pleased to add to your comfort," spoke Mrs. Levice from the
bed, thus saving Ruth an answer.

"I do not need them," said the doctor, turning to her swiftly; "and,
Mrs. Levice, if you do not go to sleep, I shall leave."

"I want Ruth to stay in the room," she murmured petulantly.

"Very well, Mamma," said Ruth, wearily, seating herself in a low,
soft-cushioned chair in a remote corner. She knew how to sit perfectly
still. It was a peculiar situation,--the mother, who had been the means
of drawing these two together first and last, slept peacefully; and he
and she, the only waking mortals in the house, with the miserable gulf
between them, sat there without a word.

Ruth's temples throbbed painfully; she felt weak and tired; toward
morning she sank into a heavy sleep. Kemp did not sleep; he kept his
face turned from her, trying to quiet his thoughts with the dull lullaby
of the rain. But he knew when she slept; his gaze wandered searchingly
around the room till it fell upon a slumber-robe thrown across a divan.
He arose softly and picked it up; his light step made no sound in the
soft carpet. As he came up to Ruth, he saw with an inward groan the
change upon her sleeping face. Great, dark shadows lay about her eyes
not caused by the curling lashes; her mouth drooped pathetically at the
corners; her temples, from which her soft hair was rolled, showed the
blue veins; he would have given much to touch her hair with his hand,
but he laid the cover over her shoulders without touching her, and
tucked it lightly about her knees and feet. Then he went back to his
chair. It was five o'clock before either mother or daughter opened h