Bishop this
morning, and not you at all."

"I hope you will enjoy the drive."

"You take it well," said Mrs. Lorrington, laughing merrily. "But I will
not tease you, Crystal. Only tell me one thing--you are always truthful.
Has anything been said to you--anything that really _means_
anything--since you have been here?"

"By whom?" said Anne, almost in a whisper.

"The Bishop, of course. Who else should it be?"

"Oh, no, no," answered the girl, rising hurriedly, as if uncertain what
to do. "Why do you speak to me so constantly of Mr. Dexter? I have been
with--with others too."

"You have been with him more than with the 'others' you mention," said
Helen, mimicking her tone. "The note-book tells that. However, I will
say no more; merely observe. You are looking at my driving costume;
jealous already? But I tell you frankly, Crystal, that regarding dress
you must yield to me. With millions you could not rival me; on that
ground I am alone. Rachel looked positively black with envy when she saw
me this morning; she is ugly in a second, you know, if she loses that
soft Oriental expression which makes you think of the Nile. Imagine
Rachel in a Greek robe like this, loosely made, with a girdle! I shall
certainly look well this morning; but never fear, it shall be for your
sake. I shall talk of you, and make you doubly interesting by what I do
and do not say; I shall give thrilling glimpses only."

The maid entered, and Anne sat through the change of dress and the
rebraiding of the pale soft hair.

"I do not forbid your peeping through the hall window to see us start,"
said Mrs. Lorrington, gayly, as she drew on her gloves. "Good-by."

Anne went to her own room. "Are they all mad?" she thought. "Or am I?
Why do they all speak of Mr. Dexter so constantly, and not of--"

"You are late," said Miss Vanhorn's voice. "I told you not to keep me
waiting. Get your hat and gloves, and come immediately; the carriage is
there."

But it was not as strange in reality as it seemed to Anne that Helen,
Miss Vanhorn, and others spoke of Mr. Dexter in connection with herself.
Absorbed in a deeper current, she had forgotten that others judge by the
surface, and that Mr. Dexter had been with her openly, and even
conspicuously, during a portion of every day for several weeks. To her
the two hours or three with him had been but so many portions of time
before she could see, or after she had seen, Heathcote. But time is not
divided as you