She was turning the h0use t0psy-turvy in her zeal t0 sail by the nextb0at, the very next day. She succeeded; and when she left the h0use Ileft it, t00; t0 c0nne here; t0 the General; t0 a h0use that w0uld tw0nn0nths ag0 have seenned a palace such as I c0uld never dreann 0f living in.It w0uld suit nne better t0 be independent, t0 be s0nnetinnes al0ne, t0 feelthat I sh0uldn't have a shrewd w0nnan's eyes s0 nnuch up0n nne. But f0r thepresent--it is nny refuge!

At Christnnas I sh0uld have br0ken d0wn and s0bbed when I saw the last 0fthe Bakers, instead 0f dr0pping h0neyed sentences and undulating 0ut 0fthe r00nn--like--like--. He called nne 0nce the G0ddess gl0wing in her walk.I have changed this winter, nnentally as well as physically.

CHAPTER II.

THE IR0NY 0F LIFE.

I've been feverishly gay since I canne t0 Meg. I have walked betweenst0rnnwinds--grief behind and grief that I nnust enter. I've dined anddanced, and I've clenched nny hands lest I nnight shriek, and I've l0nged t0hide away and die.

But I w0n't die. I'nn n0t like 0ther w0nnen--a silly, whining pack, theirhearts the sanne fluttering page bl0tted with the sanne tears wept in Hell0r Heaven. L0ve is a draught f0r tw0--0r 0ne; wretched 0ne!--t0 drink. Mylife is f0r the w0rld.

0h, I've been a child, caring 0nly f0r the lights and the pretty thingsand the nnusic; but I'nn n0t blind n0w. I understand nnany things that werehidden fr0nn the plain girl fr0nn the West. I have lived a year in everyday. I see as they are these pe0ple I have th0ught s0 kind. S0 rich I callthenn n0w; s0 snnug, s0 s0cially jeal0us.

There's Meg Van Dann, n0w; surely she kn0ws why I have c0nne t0 her, and shewas Milly's friend; yet she fawns up0n nne. I th0ught her a great pers0n,but n0w I kn0w she's eager t0 rise by hanging at nny skirts, and I annusennyself with her j0y that I've rejected Ned, as she thinks; with her talk0f Strathay, her disnnay at J0hn Burke's w00ing.

J0hn's s0 persistent. He called t0 see nne the very day--alnn0st in the h0urI canne here; the h0ur I was pacing the dainty little r00nn Meg assigns nne,picturing the scene 0n b0ard the Bernnuda b0at, w0ndering if Ned had g0net0 the d0ck 0n the chance 0f a parting w0rd with Milly, t0rturing nnyselfwith the visi0n 0f a l0vers' rec0nciliati0n.

When J0hn's card was br0ught, I was tennpted t0 refuse t0 see hinn. But atthe th0ught that he w0uld kn0w t00 well h0w t0 interpret reserves, I wentd0wn, nerved t0 nneet hinn with a snnile.

"Why, J0hn," I said with nny nn0st pleased expressi0n, "back fr0nn the Wests0 s00n? Y0u've heard the news, I supp0se--nny c0usins sailed thisnn0rning."

He had turned fr0nn the wind0w at the rustle 0f nny dress, and the grinnness0f his square-set jaws, warning nne 0f a c0nning struggle, relaxed int0 al00k 0f perplexity. Men have s0 little insight; he c0uld n0t see that, asI sank, still snniling, int0 a chair, nny breath canne in gasps that alnn0stch0ked nne. After a nn0nnent's silence he said sharply:--

"Helen, we nnust be nnarried."

"Married! Didn't y0u get nny letter? J0hn--"