ce, pale, with its large
dark eyes rimmed by the close-clipped hair. Was she then awful? First
her father, then her aunts, then the Warlocks, now Grace and Paul--not
only dislike but fright, terror, alarm!

Her loneliness crushed her in that half-hour as it had never crushed
her since that day at Borhedden. She broke down altogether, kneeling by
the bed and her head in her pillow sobbing: "Oh, Martin, I want you!
Martin, I want you so!"

When she was calmer she thought of going down to Paul and making
another appeal to him, but she knew that such an appeal could only end
in his asking her to change herself, begging her to be more polite to
Grace, more careful and less forgetful, and of course to give up such
people as the Toms and Caroline, and then there would come, after it
all, the question as to whether she intended to behave better to
himself, whether she would be more loving, more ... Oh no! she could
not, she could not, she could not!

She saw the impossibility of it so plainly that it was a relief to her
and she washed her face and brushed her hair and plucked up courage to
regard herself normally once more. "I'm not different," she said to the
looking-glass. "There's no reason for Grace to make faces." She saw
that the breach between herself and Grace had become irreparable, and
that whatever else happened in the future at least it was certain that
they would never be friends again.

She went downstairs prepared to do battle ...

Next morning she paid her visit to Caroline. It was a strange affair.
The girl was sitting alone in her over-gorgeous house, her hands on her
lap, looking out of the window, an unusual position for her to be in.

Caroline was at first very stiff and haughty, expecting that Maggie had
come to scold her. "I just looked in to sec how you were," said Maggie.

"You might have come before," answered Caroline. "It's years since
you've been near me."

"I didn't like all those people you had in your house," said Maggie. "I
like it better now there's no one in it."

That was not, perhaps, very tactful of her. Caroline flushed.

"I could have them all here now if I wanted to ask them," she answered
angrily.

"Well, I'm very glad you'd rather be without them," said Maggie. "They
weren't worthy of you, Caroline."

"Oh! What's the use going on talking like this!" Caroline broke out.
"Of course you've heard all about everything. Every one has. I can't
put my nose outside the door witho