invariably harmonized with the occasion, or with the way she sought
to mould the occasion. Sometimes she had snapped her fingers at fashion,
taken matters with the high hand--and carried the occasion triumphantly.
The illustrated weeklies published portraits of her when the theatrical
market was dull.

It was characteristic of Olive that although she was going to visit a
blinded girl with bandaged eyes, yet when she left the Hotel Quisisana
at Wiesbaden for the surgical home she had dressed studiously for the
occasion. The part to be dressed was that of "the outraged wife." The
gown was of clinging grey cashmere, cut with simplicity and dignity,
with touches of soft violet to suggest sensitive inner feelings. The hat
was of grey straw with willowy feathers drooping softly from it. She
wore no jewellery beyond a simple pearl brooch and her wedding-ring.

Dressed thus, she felt ready for any cruelty.

A nurse showed her into the room where Elaine lay on her _chaise
longue_ with bandages hiding the upper part of her face.

"Do you suffer much?" asked Olive softly, when the nurse had left them
alone.

"Thank you--there is no pain now. Only waiting for the day of release,
when my bandages are to be removed."

"It must be terrible to know that one's sight can never be restored."

"I don't expect it. But I shall have a fair measure of sight. Dr.
Hegelmann promises it."

"Still, it's best not to raise one's hopes too high. Doctors have to be
optimistic as part of their trade. I remember one very sad case
where----" Olive stopped herself abruptly as though her tongue had run
away with her. "Pardon me--I was forgetting."

"I know," affirmed Elaine happily.

"You know what?"

"That I shall have a fair measure of sight. The doctor tells me recovery
depends largely on the mental condition. I was worrying myself up till a
few days ago, but now I'm supremely happy. So I shall recover--I've
something to live for, you see!" Elaine reached for the vase by her side
and raised a spray of white lilac to breathe in its fragrance.

The happiness so evident on Elaine's lips stirred Olive uneasily.

"Then you've had good news from outside? I'm very glad to hear it," she
said.

"Good news? Why, yes, thanks to you! I want first to thank you for your
generosity. I was worrying so until I heard the news from John."

"From whom?"

"Your husband. You see, he will always be John Riviere to me. That's how
I knew him during these wo