othy. She seemed to have been left entirely out of the
calculation.

For the first time since Iris Vincent had come to Gray Gables, Dorothy
regretted her presence there.

What would be the ball to her? Surely they ought to know that she could
take no part in it, for she was blind.

When she found herself alone with Iris she spoke of this, but the girl
turned it off with a little laugh.

"Even so," she declared, "Gray Gables ought not to be shut up and
barricaded. You need to have a little life to keep your spirits up. You
are just dying for some kind of liveliness. And poor Harry! every one
is feeling sorry for him. They say he is growing so dull."

"Do they say that?" cried Dorothy, the color deepening in her cheeks.

"Yes--and more," assented Iris. "And for that reason I would advise you
to study appearances, so that every one may know that he is happy--at
least, let them think he is."

The words struck Dorothy with a cold chill, as her companion had
intended that they should.

"Then let the ball be given, by all means," returned Dorothy, with a
little quiver in her voice.

And so the matter was arranged.

For the next week Iris and Harry were busy with the invitations. They
sat side by side, comparing them as they made them out, and never once
seemed to note Dorothy's presence.

If any one on the list did not quite suit their fancy, they were quickly
rejected; but Dorothy noticed that he never once turned to her, his
betrothed bride, and asked her opinion.

There was one young girl to whom Dorothy had been quite attached, who
lived very near Gray Gables, and who had run over to see her almost
every day, up to the time Iris had come. Since then her visits had been
less and less frequent; within the last fortnight they had ceased
altogether.

Dorothy was very anxious, of course, that this young girl should be
invited; but Iris put in a demurrer at once.

"Of all the girls I ever met, I dislike her the most," declared Iris.

She was very careful not to tell the real reason why.

This same young girl had been the first to notice her flirtation with
Harry Kendal. They had had quite a stormy little scene over it, for the
girl had attempted to rebuke Iris, in her modest way, and she had
retorted by flashing out that it was none of her business, anyway,
saying that she would flirt with Harry Kendal just as much as she
pleased, and that it was a shame for such a handsome young fellow to
marry a girl stone