society, consequently he left her there. Habits soon grow.
The time came when he thought it was the wiser course. He felt more at
ease without her. If Dora by chance accompanied him, he watched her
anxiously, fearful lest others should discover and comment upon the
little deficiencies she felt so acutely.

The visit to Lady Charteris was duly paid--a day that Ronald enjoyed,
and Dora thought would never end. She could not feel at home with
these fine ladies, although Lady Charteris was kind to her and
Valentine laid herself out to please; not even when Valentine, pitying
her shy, timid manner and evident constraint, took her out into the
garden and tried hard to win her confidence. Dora's heart seemed to
close against the beautiful, brilliant lady who knew her husband and
all his friends so well. A fierce, hot breath of jealousy stirred the
simple nature. Ronald talked to Miss Charteris of things all unknown to
her; they seemed to have the same thoughts and feelings, while she was
outside the charmed circle, and could never enter it. She watched the
growing admiration on Ronald's face when Valentine played and sang, and
her restless heart grew weary and faint. She had never felt jealous
before. When Countess Rosali talked and laughed with her husband,
treating him sometimes as a captive and again as a victor, Dora never
cared; but every smile on this woman's fair face pained her--she hardly
knew why.

When Miss Charteris, under pretense of showing her favorite flower,
took Dora away from the others, and condescended to her as she had
never done to any other, actually caressing the anxious little face and
herself offering to be Mrs. Earle's true friend, Dora's heart closed
against her. She only replied by faint monosyllables, and never raised
her dark eyes to the face turned so kindly upon her.

When Ronald had taken his young wife away, Lady Charteris sat with her
daughter in an unbroken silence.

"Poor boy!" said the other lady at length, "and poor Dora! This is one
more added to the list of unhappy marriages. How will it end?"

As she watched the sun set in the golden west, Valentine asked herself
the same question: "How will it end?"

If any one had told Dora she was jealous, she would have denied it
indignantly, although Valentine was seldom out of her mind.

From pure kindness Lady Charteris wished Ronald to paint her daughter's
portrait; it was to be a large picture they could take back to
Green