he is mine. Probably that is all she can do without
bringing black ruin upon them all. Well, I suppose I should imitate
her self-sacrificing spirit; but I hate this jumbling of Wall Street
with affairs of the heart. It angers me that she must play with that
fellow for financial reasons, and that he, conscious of power, may use
language which she would not dare to resent. I can't imagine Madge
in such a position. Yet, who knows? As the French say, 'It is the
unexpected that happens,' and this has proved true enough in my
experience. I'll go and see how Madge is now, and be as penitent as
she requires. I don't mind being tyrannized over a little by such a
girl;" and he returned.

As he approached Mrs. Muir's door he heard the sound of voices and
laughter, and plainly those of his brother and Madge. In response
to his knock Mrs. Muir opened the door a little way, and he caught a
glimpse of Henry.

"Well?" said Mrs. Muir.

"It's not well at all," he began, in an aggrieved tone. "Here's a
family party, and I'm shut out in outer darkness. What have I done to
be banished from Rome?"

"'What's banished but set free?'" trilled out Madge. "Oh, Graydon, I'm
not fit to be seen!"

"How can I know that unless I see you?"

"Nonsense, Madge!" expostulated her sister, "you look charming. Why
put on airs? As he says, it's a family party. Let him join in our
fun;" and, without waiting for further objections, she brought him in
and gave him a chair.

"Now this warms an exile's heart," he began. "If you had shut the
door on me I should have asked Henry to send me back to Europe. Mary's
right, Madge; you do look charming."

And so she did, blushing and laughing in her dainty wrapper, with her
long hair falling over her shoulders and fastened by a ribbon.

"How comes it that you are in such a deserted and disconsolate
condition?" cried Mary.

"I am not in such a condition. Since crossing your threshold I have
become contentment itself. Indeed, I regard myself as the most favored
man in the house, for I, first of all, am able to lay my homage at
Madge's feet."

"Let me warn you from the start that it will prove a stumbling-block
in both our paths," said the girl. "Did you not receive my message?
But, then, it's stupid to think you will ever consider me."

"I have been considering you a great deal more than you think,
especially since you metaphorically boxed my ears this morning, and
took away my breath generally this afternoo