But halfway up, Jacqueline paused and turned; and as his miserable gaze
met hers, she distinctly winked at him.

CHAPTER XXXII

More and more, as the days passed, Kate congratulated herself on having
taken Jacqueline's affairs in hand before any harm was done. Startled
out of her own preoccupation by Jemima's discovery of how matters stood
between Jacqueline and the author, she continued to watch the younger
girl narrowly; but she saw no signs of secret grief, nor even of wounded
pride. The girl had never been more radiant, her cheeks a-glow, her eyes
so soft and lustrous that sometimes her mother's grew dim at sight of
them. She remembered a time when her own mirror had shown her just such
a look of brooding revery.

"Channing has done nothing more than wake her womanhood," thought the
mother. "And now, now it is Philip's turn!"

Philip, since his return from the mountains, spent more time than ever
at Storm. Kate noted with satisfaction the added gentleness of his
manner with Jacqueline, and threw them together as much as possible.
Jemima, too, seemed to have a great deal of time to give her younger
sister in those days. Between them all, Jacqueline was rarely alone; but
she had no longer any wish to be alone. She avoided the Ruin now, and
took no more long rides about the country, except with Kate. She clung
to her mother with the persistency of a child who is recovering from an
illness.

Jemima had taken it upon herself to watch the mails, and reported that
there were no letters for Jacqueline. Channing evidently intended to
keep his word implicitly.

Jacqueline had received her mother's explanation of his conduct quite
calmly.

"Let's not discuss it, Mummy," she begged, flushing a little. "Of course
if Mr. Charming was already married, that way, he couldn't ask me to
marry him. I understand." She attempted one little apology for him.
"Geniuses aren't quite--quite like other men, and they ought to be
judged differently, Mummy."

Her sister, who was present at the interview, came over to her here, and
bestowed one of her rare kisses. Pride and dignity always had a strong
appeal for Jemima....

When she had first gone to her mother with her suspicions, Kate was
aghast. "In love with each other, child! Why, that's impossible. Where
have they seen each other? He is an intellectual, sophisticated young
man of the world,--and our Jacky--!"

"The attraction of opposites," Jemima reminded her.

For j