f she was laboring under any such delusion he cured
her. He said--Are you really strong enough to stand a shock?"

"Twenty shocks. I can't think how I could have been so silly----"

"Nerves, my dear. We all have 'em. Sometimes, if I didn't smoke I
should scream. No woman really likes to see her husband flirting
openly with her friends. I'm no saint; but my wickedness is defensive.
Now, are you ready?"

"Quite ready."

"Mr. Bower told us, _tout le monde_, you know, that he meant to marry
you."

"Oh!" said Helen.

During an appreciable pause neither woman spoke. Helen was not sure
whether she wanted to laugh or be angry. Mrs. de la Vere eyed her
curiously. The girl's face was yet white and drawn. It was impossible
to guess how the great news affected her. The de la Veres were poor on
two thousand a year. What did it feel like to be the prospective bride
of a millionaire, especially when you were--what was it?--secretary to
a man who collected beetles!

"Did Mr. Bower assign any reason for making that remarkable
statement?" said Helen at last.

"He explained that the fact--I suppose it is a fact--would safeguard
you from the malice of an ex-coryphee. Indeed, he put it more
brutally. He spoke of the 'slanderous malice of an ex-chorus girl.'
The English term sounds a trifle harsher than the French, don't you
think?"

It began to dawn on Helen that Mrs. de la Vere's friendliness might
have a somewhat sordid foundation. Was she tending her merely to
secure the freshest details of an affair that must be causing many
tongues to wag?

"I am acquiring new theories of life since I came to Maloja," she said
slowly. "One would have thought that I might be the first person to be
made aware of Mr. Bower's intentions."

"Oh, this is really too funny. May I light a cigarette?"

"Please do. And now it is my turn to ask you to point out the
exquisite humor of the situation."

"Don't be vexed with me, child. You needn't say another word if you
don't wish it; but surely you are not annoyed because I have given you
the tip as to what took place in the hall?"

"You have been exceedingly good----"

"No. I haven't. I was just as nasty as the others, and I sneered like
the rest when Bower showed up a fortnight since. I was wrong, and I
apologize for it. Regard me as in sackcloth and ashes. But my heart
went out to you when you dropped like a log among all those staring
people. I've--I've done it myself, and my case was worse