when they had gotten a little away from the
crowd. "I want to give up my part. Do you suppose Mary Horton would take
it now?"

"You want to give up Bassanio?" Betty repeated wonderingly.

"Yes. There's no use in mincing matters. I did have a condition in
French, and Miss Carter was tutoring me, just as you thought. I had
worked it off the day I answered your note, but of course that doesn't
alter anything. They say mademoiselle never hands in her records for one
semester until the next one is almost over, so nothing would have come
to light until it was too late for a new person to learn the part. Don't
look so astonished, Betty. It's been done before and it may be done
again, but I don't care for it myself." Then, as Betty continued to
stare at her in horrified silence, "If you're going to look like that, I
might as well have kept the part. The reason I decided to give it up was
because I didn't think I should enjoy seeing your face at the grand
denouement. You see, when you and Eleanor came in that afternoon I
thought you'd guessed or that Barbara Gordon and Teddie Wilson, who knew
of a similar case, had, and had sent you up to make sure. But after
you'd apologized for your note and squared things with Eleanor, I--well,
I didn't think I should enjoy seeing your face," ended Jean, with a
little break in her voice. "I--told you I had a sense of honor, and I
have."

Betty put out her hand impulsively. "I'm glad you changed your mind,
Jean. It's too bad that you can't have a part, but you wouldn't want it
in any such way."

"I did though," said Jean, blinking back the tears. "I knew it would
come out in the end,--I counted on that, and I shouldn't have minded
Miss Stuart's rage or the committee's horror. But you're so dreadfully
on the square. You make a person feel like a two-penny doll. I don't
wonder that Eleanor Watson has changed about a lot of things. Anybody
would have to if they saw much of you."

Betty's thoughts flew back to Georgia. "I wish I thought so."

"Well," said Jean fiercely, "I do. That's why I've always hated you. I
presume I shall hate you worse than ever to-morrow. Meanwhile, will you
please tell Barbara? I can't help what they all think, and I don't care.
I only wanted you to see that I've got a little sense of obligation
left and that after I've let a person apologize--Don't come any further,
please."

Jean ran swiftly down the steep path leading to the lower level of the
back campus and