ine's sisterly heart to feel
for her in her difficulty, and implied that--as her conduct had already
proved--she would always be ready to render her friend a like service.
It was at this point that Undine checked her by a decided word. "I
understand your position, and I'm very sorry for you, of course," she
began (the Princess stared at the "sorry"). "Your secret's perfectly
safe with me, and I'll do anything I can for you...but if I go to Nice
with you again you must promise not to ask your cousin to meet us."

The Princess's face expressed the most genuine astonishment. "Oh, my
dear, do forgive me if I've been stupid! He admires you so tremendously;
and I thought--"

"You'll do as I ask, please--won't you?" Undine went on, ignoring the
interruption and looking straight at her under level brows; and the
Princess, with a shrug, merely murmured: "What a pity! I fancied you
liked him."

XXIX

The early spring found Undine once more in Paris.

She had every reason to be satisfied with the result of the course she
had pursued since she had pronounced her ultimatum on the subject of
Raymond de Chelles. She had continued to remain on the best of terms
with the Princess, to rise in the estimation of the old Duchess, and
to measure the rapidity of her ascent in the upward gaze of Madame de
Trezac; and she had given Chelles to understand that, if he wished to
renew their acquaintance, he must do so in the shelter of his venerable
aunt's protection.

To the Princess she was careful to make her attitude equally clear. "I
like your cousin very much--he's delightful, and if I'm in Paris this
spring I hope I shall see a great deal of him. But I know how easy it is
for a woman in my position to get talked about--and I have my little boy
to consider."

Nevertheless, whenever Chelles came over from Beaulieu to spend a
day with his aunt and cousin--an excursion he not infrequently
repeated--Undine was at no pains to conceal her pleasure. Nor was there
anything calculated in her attitude. Chelles seemed to her more charming
than ever, and the warmth of his wooing was in flattering contrast to
the cool reserve of his manners. At last she felt herself alive and
young again, and it became a joy to look in her glass and to try on her
new hats and dresses...

The only menace ahead was the usual one of the want of money. While she
had travelled with her parents she had been at relatively small expense,
and since their return to A