ss; finally she went
slowly over to her little desk, and took up the envelope, at last
sealing it hurriedly, lest her courage should utterly fail. She would
slip out to the letter-box, and have the miserable business done with
as soon as possible.

She had reached the door, her hand on the knob, when she heard a step
in the corridor--her mother's step. She halted guiltily, with quick
intuition thrusting the letter behind her.

"Polly! are you here? May I come in?"

Hesitantly Polly opened the door.

"Hurry off your dress, dear! Mrs. Jocelyn has sent for us to come up
to dinner. She says she has been trying to get us by telephone for the
last hour."

"Chris is over at the hospital," volunteered Polly, slyly slipping
her letter, face down, under her glove-box before running to fetch a
fresh white frock.

"No, he has just come home with me," Mrs. Dudley replied. "He said he
couldn't persuade you to go out this afternoon. Don't you feel well?
Your cheeks are flushed,--and your pulse is a little quick," her
fingers on the small wrist.

"Oh, I'm all right!" insisted Polly, forcing a smile, and pulling
away, to guard against further questioning.

Why should this invitation have come just now--to make it harder, oh,
so much harder, for her to leave them all!

CHAPTER XX

MRS. JOCELYN'S DINNER-PARTY

Leonora met Polly at the door, slipping ahead of the maid to catch her
in an ecstatic embrace, and to let go a joyful whisper in her ear.

"Come right up to my room! I've got something lovely to tell you!"

Leonora's face was so radiant that Polly was all at once reminded of
that morning at the hospital when she had first heard of her friend's
adoption. What could have happened now to make her look like that?

"Say," began Leonora, bubbling with news, "Colonel Gresham and David
and his mother are here!"

Polly's eyes grew big, and her lips puckered into a "Why!" of
astonishment.

"And, oh, there's lots more!" went on Leonora mysteriously. "But I'm
not to tell! I promised mother I wouldn't--only just that. You'd know
it anyway when you go down. Oh, Polly Dudley, I'm so tickled--there!
mother told me not to say that word again!--well, happy, I mean, only
it doesn't sound so perfectly splendid as I feel. It seems as if I
couldn't stand it!"

"I can't imagine what it is," mused Polly wonderingly.

At which Leonora whirled her round and round in a rapturous hug,
stopping suddenly to say they must go downs