rked, carelessly.

"But it was such a wretched marriage for him. Who was she, Philippa? I
have never made many inquiries about her."

"I would really rather not discuss the question," said the duchess; "it
has no interest for me now. Norman and I have quarreled. In all
probability we shall never be friends again."

"All through this marriage?" interrogated the duke.

"All through this marriage," repeated his wife--"and I know no subject
that irritates me so much. Please say no more about it, Vere."

"I should like to know who the girl is," he urged. "You have never told
me."

"I shall be jealous of her in a few minutes!" exclaimed Philippa
"Already she has sundered an old friendship that I thought would last
forever; and now, directly you return, you can talk of no one else."

"I should like to see you jealous," said the duke, who was one of the
most unsuspicious of men.

She smiled; yet there came to her a sharp, bitter memory of the night on
the balcony when she had been jealous of the ideal woman, the unknown
love whom Norman had sketched for her.

The duke, however, was pertinacious; he could not give up the subject.

"You told me," he resumed, "that she was the daughter of an old friend
of yours named Dornham--and it seems to me, Philippa, that I have some
kind of remembrance of that name which is far from pleasant."

With an air of resignation the duchess rose from her seat.

"I am tired, Vere," she said, "quite tired of the subject. Yet I ought
not to be selfish. Of course, the incident is all new to you--you have
been away from all kinds of news; to us it is an old, worn-out story.
Lord Arleigh and I quarreled and parted because of his marriage, so you
may imagine it is not a very attractive subject to me."

"Well, I will say no more about it, but I am sincerely sorry, Philippa.
Of all our friends, I like Lord Arleigh best; and I shall decidedly
refuse to quarrel with him. His marriage is his own affair, not mine."

"Still, you cannot make a friend of the man whom I decline to know," she
rejoined, hurriedly.

"Certainly not, if you place the matter in such a light," he said,
gravely. "I shall always consider it my pleasure and duty to consult you
on such points. I will call no man my friend whom you dislike."

So, for the time, all danger was tided over; the duke saw that the
subject annoyed his wife, and did not voluntarily resume it. He was too
true a gentleman to think of discussing with ano