"No, she has never met him," Hallie promptly took the response out of
my mouth; "but she saw him once--don't you remember, Ellie, at my
sister Adelaide's coming-out ball?"

I said, yes, I remembered it.

"He danced most of that evening with Laura Burnet," Hallie pursued,
"and she was perfectly wild about him. My brother Tom saw him kiss her
in the conservatory," Hallie chuckled at that memory, "and for a while
it was said that they were engaged, though she was three years older
than he was. But he was terribly in debt then, and of course she had
lots of money." Hallie sighed, and added, "Isn't it awful he should
have ended in this way? Adelaide always said there was no one who
could put your shawl around you so beautifully as he."

It seemed terrible to me that they could sit there talking of how badly
he had been thought of by society, and how beautifully he had put
women's shawls around them, when he was in prison waiting to be tried
for his life. I was glad when the girls went and I could think about
it by myself.

I felt sick and bruised. All suggestions that Hallie had innocently
let fall put such an ugly face upon his actions. I didn't want to
believe that hateful gossip. His smile had been so charming and kind.
There was something about him that made him seem of so much greater
importance than any one else I had known; that made every little look
and motion of his memorable and eloquent. And when he had looked
straight into my eyes I had felt the warm flowing of the blood in my
veins. Had it been these strange qualities of his that had made nice
girls fall in love with him? I peeped into my mirror to see if my face
looked as queer as my feelings felt. I whispered the words again, "To
fall in love." What could that be like? To make Laura Burnet faint
away at just the news of his arrest--what a great and terrible feeling
it must be! When I thought of him as a person who could inspire such
emotions he gathered a halo of mystery and power; but when I remembered
Hallie's saying how he had been engaged to Laura for the sake of her
money, he seemed to me the merest wretch. I told myself there was no
need of my worrying about it, as he was in prison and my part was done.
It couldn't possibly interest me any further. All the same I couldn't
get it out of my head.

Father came home to luncheon that day, bringing Senora Mendez with him.
He looked worried and tired, but I had never seen her so sweet