mother; her father, student and aristocrat, so eagerly occupied
with life that he had scarcely found the time to die; and Mr. Sorell,
her mother's friend, and then her own. Together--all four--they had gone
to visit the Etruscan tombs about Viterbo, they had explored Norba and
Ninfa, and had spent a marvellous month at Syracuse.

"And I have never seen him since papa's death!--and I have only heard
from him twice. I wonder why?" She pondered it resentfully. And yet what
cause of offence had she? At Cannes, had she thought much about him? In
that scene, so troubled and feverish, compared with the old Roman days,
there had been for her, as she well knew, quite another
dominating figure.

"Just the same!" she thought angrily. "Just as domineering--and
provoking. Boggling about Uncle Ewen's name, as if it was not worth his
remembering! I shall compel him to be civil to my relations, just
because it will annoy him so much."

At lunch Constance declared prettily that she would be delighted to go
to the Vice-Chancellor's party. Nora sat silent through the meal.

After lunch, Connie went to talk to her aunt about the incoming
furniture. Mrs. Hooper made no difficulties at all. The house had long
wanted these additions, only there had been no money to buy them with.
Now Mrs. Hooper felt secretly certain that Constance, when she left
them, would not want to take the things with her, so that she looked on
Connie's purchases of the morning as her own prospective property.

A furniture van appeared early in the afternoon with the things. Nora
hovered about the hall, severely dumb, while they were being carried
upstairs. Annette gave all the directions.

But when later on Connie was sitting at her new writing-table
contemplating her transformed room with a childish satisfaction, Nora
knocked and came in.

She walked up to Connie, and stood looking down upon her. She was very
red, and her eyes sparkled.

"I want to tell you that I am disappointed in you--dreadfully
disappointed in you!" said the girl fiercely.

"What do you mean!" Constance rose in amazement.

"Why didn't you insist on my father's buying these things? You ought to
have insisted. You pay us a large sum, and you had a right. Instead, you
have humiliated us--because you are rich, and we are poor! It was
mean--and purse-proud."

"How dare you say such things?" cried Connie. "You mustn't come into my
room at all, if you are going to behave like this. You know