rite,
but she was withal so polite in her greetings, dropping to everyone a
little French courtesy when she spoke, and all in her quaint, broken
dialect, that everybody fell in love with her at sight. None of the
other mothers had such a child, and few of them knew that such children
existed.

Jane watched the workings of Lucy's mind with many misgivings. She
loved her lightheartedness and the frank, open way with which she
greeted everybody who crossed their threshold. She loved, too, to see
her beautifully gowned and equipped and to hear the flattering comments
of the neighbors on her appearance and many charms; but every now and
then her ear caught an insincere note that sent a shiver through her.
She saw that the welcome Lucy gave them was not from her heart, but
from her lips; due to her training, no doubt, or perhaps to her
unhappiness, for Jane still mourned over the unhappy years of Lucy's
life--an unhappiness, had she known it, which had really ended with
Archie's safe adoption and Bart's death. Another cause of anxiety was
Lucy's restlessness. Every day she must have some new excitement--a
picnic with the young girls and young men, private theatricals in the
town hall, or excursions to Barnegat Beach, where they were building a
new summer hotel. Now and then she would pack her bag and slip off to
New York or Philadelphia for days at a time to stay with friends she
had met abroad, leaving Ellen with Jane and Martha. To the older sister
she seemed like some wild, untamable bird of brilliant plumage used to
long, soaring flights, perching first on one dizzy height and then
another, from which she could watch the world below.

The thing, however, which distressed Jane most was Lucy's attitude
towards Archie. She made every allowance for her first meeting at the
station, and knew that necessarily it must be more or less constrained,
but she had not expected the almost cold indifference with which she
had treated the boy ever since.

As the days went by and Lucy made no effort to attach Archie to her or
to interest herself either in his happiness or welfare, Jane became
more and more disturbed. She had prayed for this home-coming and had
set her heart on the home-building which was sure to follow, and now it
seemed farther off than ever. One thing troubled and puzzled her: while
Lucy was always kind to Archie indoors, kissing him with the others
when she came down to breakfast, she never, if she could help it,
a