alone, when I can plead for
myself.

Half an hour later, Hagar tapped at his door. When he opened it, she
put in his hand a bit of paper, on which were these faintly-pencilled
lines:

If you desire my friendship, you must date our acquaintance
from this week. You never knew me in the past.

"And she is right," muttered he; "the Madeline Payne of last summer,
and the Madeline Payne of now, are to each other as the chrysalis to
the butterfly, in beauty; as the kitten to the panther, in spirit; as
the babe to the woman, in mind. That Madeline pleased me; this one, I
love."

So he accepted the position, and did not give up striving to draw from
her some special word, or look, or tone, that he need not feel
belonged as much to Percy as to himself.

Meantime Percy was revolving various things in his learned head.

He had been, as a matter of course, deeply impressed with her beauty,
and he had been much puzzled as well.

Having witnessed her arrival, he had fully expected rebellion from
Cora, for Cora was not the woman to be barred out from a prospective
fortune and make no sign. But there was no war, and no indications of
battle. Cora and the heiress were wonderfully friendly. Mr. Percy
could not understand it.

The manner of Davlin toward him had not changed in the least,
remaining as studiously polite as when he was so cordially invited to
take up his abode under the hospitable roof of Oakley.

That of Cora was decidedly different. While before she addressed him
with a sort of conciliating courtesy, and had seemed desirous of
furthering his plans and hastening on his marriage with Miss Arthur,
she now manifested an almost contemptuous indifference, not only to
himself, but to his _fiance_.

True to her nature, Cora was gathering up what gleams of satisfaction
she could. When she had become assured that it was not Percy who held
possession of her stolen papers, and that the girl in whose hands they
were was more his enemy than hers, she rejoiced in his discomfiture to
come. Seeing that it was no longer necessary to propitiate her enemy,
she indulged in the luxury of acting out her hatred, when she could
without betraying to Davlin this change, which might require an
explanation.

That some sort of understanding existed between Miss Payne and Cora,
Percy instantly surmised, and every day confirmed the belief. That
Miss Payne held the power, he also believed. So believing, he began to
wonder if