before the other
members of the party arrived. Philip was entertaining several of his
college chums, including Billy Huntington, but Mrs. Thatcher
particularly requested her daughter to have no guests during this visit,
holding herself free to assist in the entertainment.

Since her return home after the Class Day festivities Merry had shown
little interest in what went on around her. Had her mother noticed it
she would have passed it over lightly as "one of the child's moods," but
Mrs. Thatcher was too completely engrossed in her own great scheme to be
keenly sensitive to anything around her. In fact Merry's attitude
seemed peculiarly receptive, and encouraged her, a few days before
Hamlen was expected, to take her daughter into her confidence.

In answering Huntington's question Marian expressed greater confidence
in Merry's acquiescence than she really felt. To herself she admitted
that she did not understand her daughter. Since the elaborate plans for
Merry's social life fell through because of the girl's lack of interest
and failure to respond, Marian had almost given up in despair. Merry was
unlike the daughters of the Thatchers' friends, who might be counted on
at all times to do the expected thing when given the expected
conditions; with her it was always the unexpected which happened. She
loved athletics, not because of the companionship of boys, as other
girls did, but for the games themselves; she was fond of dancing, but
she would as soon dance with another girl as with a man,--it was the
rhythmic motion of the dance itself which fascinated her; she had no
interest nor ability in making "small talk," but was always eager to
discuss problems which her mother felt she might better leave alone; she
tolerated young people of her own age, but expressed her real self only
when thrown with older friends. Mrs. Thatcher worried more over her
daughter's future than over any other phase of the family life, and the
solution which now seemed to offer itself contained so much promise that
Marian believed it to be foreordained.

It was not easy to broach the subject, but when once accomplished Marian
talked on for some time without waiting for Merry to enter into the
discussion. It was important, she felt, that the girl should know the
whole story before being permitted to express an opinion. As the full
significance of her mother's words dawned upon Merry there was an
instinctive recoil, but she listened with outward ca