at Mr. Leighton;
who, feeling that he had virtually been repulsed a second time by
Anna, answered her, "On the contrary, I am very glad you came, and so,
I am sure, is Miss Anna. I am ready to join you at the table. Come,
Anna, they are waiting," and he offered his arm to the bewildered
girl, who replied, "Not just now, please. Leave me for a moment. I
won't be long."

Very curiously Lucy looked at Anna and then at Mr. Leighton, who,
fully appreciating the feelings of the latter, said, by way of
explanation: "You see, she has not quite finished that chaplet, which,
I suspect, is intended for you. I think we had better leave her," and,
drawing Lucy's hand under his own, he walked away, leaving Anna more
stunned and pained than she had ever been before. Surely if love had
ever spoken in tone and voice and manner, it had spoken when Mr.
Leighton was kneeling on the grass, holding her hands in his. "Anna,
oh, Anna!" How she had thrilled at the sound of those words and waited
for what might follow next. Why had his manner changed so suddenly,
and why had he been so glad to be interrupted? Had he really no
intention of making love to her, and if he had, why did he rouse her
hopes so suddenly and then cruelly dash them to the ground? Was it
that he loved Lucy best, and that the sight of her froze the words
upon his lips?

"Let him take her, then. He is welcome, for all of me," she thought;
and then, as a keen pang of shame and disappointment swept over her,
she laid her head for a moment upon the grass and wept bitterly. "He
must have seen what I expected and I care most for that," she sobbed,
resolving henceforth to guard herself at every point and do all that
lay in her power to further Lucy's interests, "He will thus see how
little I really care," she thought, and, lifting up her head, she tore
in fragments the wreath she had been making, but which she could not
now place on the head of her rival.

Mr. Leighton was flirting terribly with her when she joined the party
assembled around the table, and he never once looked at Anna, though
he saw that her plate was well supplied with the best of everything,
and when at one draught she drained her glass of ice-water, he quietly
placed another within her reach, standing a little before her and
trying evidently to shield her from too critical observation. There
were two at least who were glad when the picnic was over, and various
were the private opinions of the company with re