poke
with a self-possession which made her seem many years older than her
cousin.

"I had better tell you now, that we may understand each other. I am not
going to be married."

To Olga's voiceless astonishment she answered with a pale smile. Grave
again, and gentle as she was firm, Irene continued.

"I am going to break my engagement. It has been a mistake. To-night I
shall write a letter to Mr. Jacks, saying that I cannot marry him; when
it has been sent, I shall tell my father."

Olga had begun to tremble. Her features were disturbed with an emotion
which banished every sign of sorrow; which flushed her cheeks and made
her eyes seem hostile in their fixed stare.

"How can you do that?" she asked, in a hard voice "How is it possible?"

"It seems to me far more possible then the alternative--a life of
repentence."

"But--what do you mean, Irene? When everything is settled--when your
house is taken--when everyone knows! What do you mean? Why shall you do
this?"

The words rushed forth impetuously, quivering on a note of resentment.
The flushed cheeks were turning pallid; the girl's breast heaved with
indignant passion.

"I can't fully explain it to you, Olga." The speaker's tones sounded
very soft and reasonable after that outbreak. "I am doing what many a
girl would do, I feel sure, if she could find courage--let us say, if
she saw clearly enough. It will cause confusion, ill-feeling, possibly
some unhappiness, for a few weeks, for a month or two; then Mr. Jacks
will feel grateful to me, and my father will acknowledge I did right;
and everybody else who knows anything about it will have found some
other subject of conversation."

"You are fond of somebody else?"

It was between an exclamation and an inquiry. Bending forward, Olga
awaited the reply as if her life depended upon it.

"I am fond of no one--in that sense."

Irene's look was so fearless, her countenance so tranquil in its
candour, that the agitated girl grew quieter.

"It isn't because you are _thinking_ of someone else that you can't
marry Mr. Jacks?"

"I am thinking simply of myself. I am afraid to marry him. No thought
of the kind you mean has entered my head."

"But how will it be explained to everybody?"

"By telling the truth--always the best way out of a difficulty. I shall
take all the blame on myself, as I ought."

"And you will live on here, just as usual, seeing people----?"

"No, I don't think I could do that. Most likel