uncle put in a quiet
bid, as he did now and then, she held her breath, fairly, for fear he
would not get what he wanted.

To Allan there was an unreality about it all. It seemed so short a time
since he and Genevieve and Celia had been children together, taking tea
with Cousin Thomas and Cousin Anne. What a strange household the two had
constituted in this old mansion, where their whole lives had been spent.
As he thought of it, he felt he had an inkling of why Thomas Gilpin had
done as he did. Perhaps he had felt it would be better to have a clean
sweep, and thus make possible for some one a fresh beginning in the old
place. A fine substantial house it was, needing only a few improvements to
make of it, with its spacious, high-ceiled rooms and wide hall, a most
desirable residence.

Rosalind's voice recalled him. "May I come again this afternoon, Uncle
Allan? They may begin on the furniture."

The auction continued for three or four days. Rosalind became the proud
possessor of the dolphin bureau; and her uncle obtained also the miniature
of Patricia, for what seemed indeed an extravagant sum, but he had given
his promise to his sister.

At the close of the sale on the second day, Allan went into the library to
examine some books. The throng of onlookers and buyers had dispersed; only
the auctioneer's assistants remained at work in the hall. Purchases had
been promptly removed, and the house already seemed dismantled and bare.

Absorbed in his search for a volume not on the catalogue, but which he
felt sure was somewhere on the shelves, he became aware of Celia Fair's
voice just outside the door. The next moment she entered the library and,
going to the fireplace, stooped to examine the andirons. She had not
observed him. Should he go quietly out, or make one more appeal to be
heard? Allan hesitated.

With her hand on the high mantel-shelf and her head against her hand,
Celia stood looking down on the vacant hearth. There was something of
weariness in the attitude. What a delicate bit of porcelain she seemed!
Allan had a sudden, illogical vision of a fire of blazing logs, and
himself and Celia sitting before it.

He moved out of the shadow and she saw him; but though she stood erect and
tense in a moment, she did not, as he expected, hasten from the room.
Instead, she hesitated, and there was an appeal in her eyes very different
from the defiance of a few weeks ago.

"I didn't know there was any one here," she