fter all your
kindness to me--"

"There, dear, I believe _you_. I know there has been some mistake. Mrs.
Dane has always been so anxious, one might say jealous for my welfare,
and you see this would mean a great deal to me. You must pardon her
until the truth comes out."

"Oh, thank you a thousand times," cried Lilian in broken tones, her eyes
suffused with tears.

"You need not come down to the study this evening. How is your mother?"

"She is having a lovely sleep."

"Do not say anything to her, and the girls will be going away before
there is any real fright. I do not anticipate any danger with us. Be
comforted. We shall hear all tomorrow."

Lilian was almost happy. She had not lost her dear friend. Under any
other circumstances Lilian would have given Mrs. Barrington an
unreasoning adoration. She could not define it to herself. She liked
Miss Arran, but this was beyond a mere kindly liking.

"She believes in me, she believes in me," and the girl poured the
fragrant balm on her wounded heart. But there seemed an awful undefined
fear.

CHAPTER VII

A SUPREME MOMENT

The girls in the study were looking furtively at one another. Was this a
sort of surprise to be sprung upon them?

"Oh, Miss Marsh, do you know what this means? I can't make beginning or
middle out of it. Why doesn't Miss Boyd come?"

"Yes, where is airy fairy Lilian? I think some other life she must have
been a soundless ghost. You look up and she is there. Then she
disappears."

"I'm glad some of the girls will have to stay through vacation," said
Alice Nevins. "It will be awful poky, I wish I could go to New York and
the theatre every night."

"Every other night would do for me," said Phillipa, "and here I've two
French exercises to go over. One has five errors--blunders, and the
other three. Madame Eustice wants to go at twelve tomorrow. Miss Vincent
do take pity on me when you go to Paris. I've heard it said you can't
talk it until you've studied it all over again. Oh, what's the use of so
much weariness of heart and brain!"

No one came. Then in girl fashion they stirred up a sort of gale, saying
funny things and making droll misquotations, or putting the wrong name
to others and wondering what would be in the Christmas stockings.

"I must leave a pack behind to be darned up. I hope I'll get two boxes
of new ones. Girls, you wouldn't dare offer your old ones to Miss Boyd,
would you? I have some pretty ones and those plai