n! That is too bad, to stay
only one day, and not call on any of your old friends! Constance, I am
sure, would be delighted to see you."

Many women would have looked away under the circumstances, but Susan's
eyes were innocently fixed upon his. Half the pleasure of the
assurance was in the accompanying glance and the friendly smile that
went with it.

But a quiet question, "Miss Carew is living here?" was all the
satisfaction she received.

"Yes. Have you not heard? She has a lovely home and an embarrassment
of riches. Sweet embarrassment! Health and wealth! What more could one
ask? Although I forgot, she was taken ill shortly after you left."

"Ill," he said, starting.

"Quite! But soon recovered!" And Susan launched into a narration of
the events that had taken place while he was in Mexico, to which he
listened with the composure of a man who, having had his share of the
vagaries of fate, is not to be taken aback by new surprises, however
singular or tragic. Susan expected an expression of regret--by look or
word--over the loss of the marquis' fortune, but either he simulated
indifference or passed the matter by with philosophical fortitude.

"Poor Barnes!" was his sole comment.

"Yes; it was very lonely for Constance at first," rattled on Susan.
"But I fancy she will find a woman's solace for that ailment," she
added meaningly.

"Marriage?" he asked soberly.

"Well, the engagement is not yet announced," said Susan, hesitatingly.
"But you know how things get around? And the count has been so
attentive! You remember him surely--the Count de Propriac? But I must
be off. I have an appointment with my husband and am already half an
hour late."

"Don't let me detain you longer, then, I beg."

"Oh, I don't mind. He's so delightfully jealous when I fail to appear
on the stroke of the clock! Always imagines I am in some misch--but I
mustn't tell tales out of school! So glad to have met you! Come and
see me--do!"

And Susan with friendly hand-clasp and lingering look, tore herself
away, the carnival lightness in her feet and the carnival laughter in
her eyes.

"He is in love with her still," she thought, "or he wouldn't have
acted so indifferent!" Her mind reverted to a cold little message she
had received from Constance. "And to think he was innocent after all!"
she continued, mentally reviewing the contents of the letter in which
Constance had related the conversation with the lawyer. "I don't
believe he'