I will gladly do," he replied. Indeed he was so relieved so
pleased, so thankful to be freed from the load of self-reproach that he
would have promised anything.

Her face grew earnest. She held out her hand to him.

"Promise me this, Norman," she said--"that, whether I remain Philippa
L'Estrange or become Duchess of Hazlewood--no matter what I am, or may
be--you will always be the same to me as you are now--my brother, my
truest, dearest, best friend. Promise me."

"I do promise, Philippa, with all my heart," he responded. "And I will
never break my promise."

"If I marry, you will come to see me--you-will trust in me--you will be
just what you are now--you will make my house your home, as you do
this?"

"Yes--that is, if your husband consents," replied Lord Arleigh.

"Rely upon it, my husband--if I ever have one--will not dispute my
wishes," she said. "I am not the model woman you dream of. She, of
course, will be submissive in everything; I intend to have my own way."

"We are friends for life, Philippa," he declared; "and I do not think
that any one who really understands me will ever cavil at our
friendship."

"Then, that being settled, we will go at once for our ride. How those
who know me best would laugh, Norman, if they heard of the incident of
the Puritan maiden! If I go to another fancy ball this season, I shall
go as _Priscilla_ of Plymouth and you had better go as _John Alden_."

He held up his hands imploringly.

"Do not tease me about it any more, Philippa," he remarked, "I cannot
quite tell why, but you make me feel both insignificant and vain; yet
nothing would have been further from my mind than the ideas you have
filled it with."

"Own you were mistaken, and then I will be generous and forgive you,"
she said, laughingly.

"I was mistaken--cruelly so--weakly so--happily so," he replied. "Now
you will be generous and spare me."

He did not see the bitter smile with which she turned away, nor the
pallor that crept even to her lips. Once again in his life Lord Arleigh
was completely deceived.

A week afterward he received "a note in Philippa's handwriting it said,
simply:

"Dear Norman: You were good enough to plead the duke's cause. When
you meet him next, ask him if he has anything to tell you.

Philippa L'Estrange."

What the Duke of Hazlewood had to tell was that Miss L'Estrange had
promised to be his wife, and that the marriage was to take place in
August. He pr