e had done. It
was all her fault again! Oh, if he would only give her another chance!

She was in her room when she heard the buggy drive up again. She knew
it was Spencer and that he had brought Vivienne LeMar home. Acting on
a sudden wild impulse, the girl stepped out on the landing and
confronted her rival as she came up the stairs.

The latter paused at sight of the white face and anguished eyes. There
was a little mocking smile on her lovely face.

"Miss LeMar," said Estella in a quivering voice, "what do you mean by
all this? You know I'm engaged to Spencer Morgan!"

Miss LeMar laughed softly.

"Really? If you are engaged to the young man, my dear Miss Bowes, I
would advise you to look after him more sharply. He seems very willing
to flirt, I should say."

She passed on to her room with a malicious smile. Estella shrank back
against the wall, humiliated and baffled. When she found herself
alone, she crawled back to her room and threw herself face downward on
the bed, praying that she might die.

But she had to live through the horrible month that followed--a month
so full of agony that she seemed to draw every breath in pain. Spencer
never sought her again; he went everywhere with Miss LeMar. His
infatuation was the talk of the settlement. Estella knew that her
story was in everyone's mouth, and her pride smarted; but she carried
a brave front outwardly. No one should say she cared.

She believed that the actress was merely deluding Spencer for her own
amusement and would never dream of marrying him. But one day the idea
occurred to her that she might. Estella had always told herself that
even if Spencer wanted to come back to her she would never take him
back, but now, by the half-sick horror that came over her, she knew
how strong the hope had really been and despised herself more than
ever.

One evening she was alone in the parlour. She had lit the lamp and was
listlessly arranging the little room. She looked old and worn. Her
colour was gone and her eyes were dull. As she worked, the door opened
and Vivienne LeMar walked or, rather, reeled into the room.

Estella dropped the book she held and gazed at her as one in a dream.
The actress's face was flushed and her hair was wildly disordered. Her
eyes glittered with an unearthly light. She was talking incoherently.
The air was heavy with the fumes of brandy.

Estella laughed hysterically. Vivienne LeMar was grossly intoxicated.
This woman whom Spenc