ily."

As McGregor closed the carriage door, Winifred was conscious of a
certain satisfaction that she was not to spend the evening at home
with the family. Her restlessness craved a vent, and she wanted to
postpone =all= opportunity for reflection.

There was something about the Grahams which always appealed
to the girl. Their environment suited her aesthetically. For
themselves,--why, one could not have everything--and then they were
never alone.

The carriage stopped before Mrs. Graham's house, and the door opened
almost before she had mounted the steps.

As she passed along the hall, a wave of fragrance from lavishly
disposed flowers floated out to her through the drawn portieres, and
she caught a glimpse of the softened light of many lamps-shaded to the
eye but festive to the fancy. "Decidedly," thought Winifred, "it is
agreeable to be rich, and next to being rich one's self, the best
thing is to associate with rich people. Money is such a smoother of
rough ways! and then the vast opportunities of being nice to other
people that come of a purse at leisure from itself to soothe and
sympathize." She smiled to herself at her bold adaptation of the
poet's sentiments, and mounted the stairs with a quickened step,
reflecting suddenly that she had not marked the time accurately and
might be late. Her glance in at the door of the dressing-room
reassured her. At least she was not the last, for in front of the
mirror stood a portly, bediamonded dame, gazing intently into the
glass and putting the last touches to her toilet with stolid
equanimity.

"Want to come here?" she asked, pausing in her elaboration of her
water-waves, and nodding affably to Winifred.

"No, =I= thank you," Winifred answered, seating herself in the low
easy-chair, while the maid pulled off her velvet overshoes.

"Chilly to-night, isn't it?" the lady continued pleasantly, desirous
of putting the new-comer at her ease.

Winifred acquiesced in the views of the weather expressed, and a hint
of the chilliness seemed to have crept into the interior. Her
agreeable anticipations of the evening were vaguely dampened, and she
could not quite forgive the innocent cause. "Why will women with red
necks wear light blue and diamonds!" she wondered, "and what can
reconcile her to looking in the glass?"

With a little shake of the head to make sure that her hairpins were
firmly anchored, and a futile effort to smooth the rebellious curls at
her neck, Winifr