t last said, glancing around the
luxurious apartment.

"I should think so, indeed, after the close quarters you have inhabited
of late," said Mrs. Mencke, with a contemptuous laugh. "Why, the
servants' rooms here are better than any portion of that house."

"Ye-s, but it was very quiet and peaceful and home-like there, and
everything was very neat and clean," said Violet, with another sigh.

"Well, everything is neat and clean here also, isn't it?" demanded her
sister, sharply, for cleanliness was one of her especial hobbies.

"Of course; but where have you been, Belle?" Violet asked, anxious to
change the subject, and glancing over her sister's richly clad figure.

"Oh, to a grand luncheon given by the Lincoln Club," Mrs. Mencke
replied, all animation; "and if you had only been well I certainly
should have taken you; I don't know when I have attended so brilliant an
affair. But, never mind, you will come out next season, and then we will
have plenty of amusement."

Violet did not appear to share her sister's eager anticipation of this
event and Mrs. Mencke was secretly much irritated by her languid
indifference.

"I sincerely hope that beggarly carpenter hasn't had an opportunity to
put any nonsense in her head," she mused. "What a piece of luck!--that
she happened to be in that car that day. Of course, the fact that he
saved her life has cast a glamour of romance around him--Violet is very
impressionable--and it may take time to disenchant her. I hope that
nurse was vigilant and did not allow her to see much of him; however,
one thing is sure, she won't get a chance to see him henceforth."

Mrs. Mencke was very confident of her ability to put an end to the
acquaintance, but she had yet to learn that there were certain events in
life which she was powerless to control.

CHAPTER V.

VIOLET ASSERTS HERSELF.

Mrs. Richardson never paid Violet her promised visit, for Mrs. Mencke
realized almost immediately that something was very wrong about her
young sister, who appeared strangely listless and unhappy, and she often
found her in tears.

"This will never do," the worldly woman said, with an energy and
decision that governed all her movements. "I'm not going to have Violet
moping about like a silly, love-sick damsel."

And after a hasty consultation with the family physician, with scarcely
a day's warning, she whisked her off to Saratoga, where she engaged
rooms at the Grand Union for two months, and