companion and
friend of a motherless girl, her object being to postpone the ceremony.

The manager listened with sympathy, and promised his help. As a matter
of fact, a gentleman had arrived, driving his own motor, that very
afternoon. He had put the machine in the garage, and taken a room, but
had not registered. Their season having scarcely begun, and the hotel
being empty, they were somewhat careless about such formalities. He
could only say that the young man was tall, fair, and slender, and
seemed to be a person of means. He believed, too, that at this very
minute he was smoking on the terrace before the door. If Diane had not
come up by another way she must have met him. She could step out on the
terrace and see for herself whether it was the person she was looking
for or not.

Being tolerably sure of that already, Diane preferred to complete her
arrangements first. She would ask for a room as near as possible to the
main door of the hotel, so that when the young lady arrived she could be
ushered directly into it. Fortunately the establishment was able to
offer her exactly what she required, one of the invalids' suites which
were a special feature of the house--a little sitting-room and bedroom
for the use of persons whose infirmities made a long walk between their
own apartments and the sun-parlor inadvisable. Having inspected and
accepted it, Diane bathed her face and smoothed her hair, after which
she stepped out to confront Mr. Wappinger.

XX

She saw him at the end of the terrace, peering through the moonlight,
down the driveway. She did not go forward to meet him, but waited until
he turned in her direction. She knew that at a distance, and especially
at night, her own figure might seem not unlike Dorothea's, and
calculated on that effect. She divined his start of astonishment on
catching sight of her by the abrupt jerk of his head and the way in
which he half threw up his hands. When he began coming forward, it was
with a slow, interrogative movement, as though he were asking how she
had come there, in disregard of their preconcerted signals. Some
exclamation was already on his lips, when, by the light streaming from
the windows of the hotel, he saw his mistake, and paused.

"Good-evening, Mr. Wappinger. What an extraordinary meeting!"

Priding himself on his worldly wisdom, Carli Wappinger never allowed
himself to be caught by any trick of feminine finesse. On the present
occasion he stood s