back in their places. What shall I
do? I am willing to hold any number of skeins or rewind any quantity of
spools. I am even willing to forgive Ned for spending the whole day with
you, and only bringing me the wing of a hawk for supper."

"That was all my folly, Mr. Lee," said Kate, with swift mendacity; "he
was all the time looking after something for you, when I begged him to
shoot a bird to get a feather for my hat. And that wing is SO pretty."

"It is a pity that mere beauty is not edible," said Lee, gravely, "and
that if the worst comes to the worst here you would probably prefer me
to Ned and his moustachios, merely because I've been tied by the leg to
this sofa and slowly fattened like a Strasbourg goose."

Nevertheless, his badinage failed somehow to amuse Kate, and she
presently excused herself to rejoin her sister, who had already slipped
from the room. For the first time during their enforced seclusion a
sense of restraint and uneasiness affected Mrs. Hale, her sister, and
Falkner at dinner. The latter addressed himself to Mrs. Scott, almost
entirely. Mrs. Hale was fain to bestow an exceptional and marked
tenderness on her little daughter Minnie, who, however, by some
occult childish instinct, insisted upon sharing it with Lee--her great
friend--to Mrs. Hale's uneasy consciousness. Nor was Lee slow to profit
by the child's suggestion, but responded with certain vicarious caresses
that increased the mother's embarrassment. That evening they retired
early, but in the intervals of a restless night Kate was aware, from
the sound of voices in the opposite room, that the friends were equally
wakeful.

A morning of bright sunshine and soft warm air did not, however, bring
any change to their new and constrained relations. It only seemed to
offer a reason for Falkner to leave the house very early for his
daily rounds, and gave Lee that occasion for unaided exercise with an
extempore crutch on the veranda which allowed Mrs. Hale to pursue her
manifold duties without the necessity of keeping him company. Kate also,
as if to avoid an accidental meeting with Falkner, had remained at home
with her sister. With one exception, they did not make their guests the
subject of their usual playful comments, nor, after the fashion of their
sex, quote their ideas and opinions. That exception was made by Mrs.
Hale.

"You have had no difference with Mr. Falkner?" she said carelessly.

"No," said Kate quickly. "Why?"

"I only