d Ingram coolly. "But I confess I think you
are right; and I told Mrs. Lorraine that was what you would doubtless
say. In any case, she can do no harm in trying to find out where Sheila
is."

"And how does she propose to succeed? Pollaky, the 'Agony' column,
placards, or a bellman? I tell you, Ingram, I won't have that woman
meddle in my affairs--coming forward as a Sister of Mercy to heal the
wounded, bestowing mock compassion, and laughing all the time."

"Lavender, you are beside yourself. That woman is one of the most
good-natured, shrewd, clever and amiable women I have ever met. What has
enraged you?"

"Bah! She has got hold of you too, has she? I tell you she is a rank
impostor."

"An impostor!" said Ingram slowly. "I have heard a good many people
called impostors. Did it ever occur to you that the blame of the
imposture might possibly lie with the person imposed on? I have heard of
people falling into the delusion that a certain modest and
simple-minded man was a great politician or a great wit, although he had
never claimed to be anything of the kind; and then, when they found out
that in truth he was just what he had pretended to be, they called out
against him as an impostor. I have heard, too, of young gentlemen
accusing women of imposture whose only crime was that they did not
possess qualities which they had never pretended to possess, but which
the young gentlemen fancied they ought to possess. Mrs. Lorraine may be
an impostor to you. I think she is a thoroughly good woman, and I know
she is a very delightful companion. And if you want to know how she
means to find Sheila out, I can tell you. She thinks that Sheila would
probably go to a hotel, but that afterward she would try to find
lodgings with some of the people whom she had got to know through her
giving them assistance. Mrs. Lorraine would like to ask your servants
about the women who used to come for this help. Then, she thinks, Sheila
would probably get some one of these humble friends to call for her
letters, for she would like to hear from her father, and she would not
care to tell him that she had left your house. There is a great deal of
supposition in all this, but Mrs. Lorraine is a shrewd woman, and I
would trust her instinct in such matters a long way. She is quite sure
that Sheila would be too proud to tell her father, and very much averse,
also, to inflicting so severe a blow on him."

"But surely," Lavender said hastily, "if Shei