e between the two is that one is pink. I put it in
myself. Your health and long life to Marian," said Sylvia.

"I'm going to take this chance to thank you for your kind interest in
Marian's party. We all appreciate it. Even if you didn't do it for us
but for Mrs. Owen, we're just as grateful. There's a lot of work in
carrying off an affair like this."

He seemed in no hurry and apparently wished to prolong the talk. They
withdrew out of the current of people passing up and down the stairway.

"You are not dancing?" he asked.

"No; I'm not here socially, so to speak. I'm not going out, you know; I
only wanted to help Mrs. Owen a little."

"Pardon me; I hadn't really forgotten. You are a busy person; Marian
tells me you have begun your teaching. You don't show any evidences of
wear."

"Oh, I never was so well in my life!"

"You will pardon me for mentioning it here, but--but I was sorry to hear
from Mr. Harwood that the teaching is necessary."

He was quite right, she thought, in saying that the time and place were
ill-suited to such a remark. He leaned against the wall and she noticed
that his lids drooped wearily. He seemed content to linger there, where
they caught fitfully glimpses of Marian's bright, happy face in the
dance. Mrs. Owen and Mrs. Bassett were sitting in a group of dowagers at
the other end of the ballroom, identifying and commenting upon the
season's debutantes.

"I suppose you are very busy now," Sylvia remarked.

Yes; this will be a busy session."

"And I suppose you have more to do than the others; it's the penalty of
leadership."

He flushed at the compliment, changed his position slightly, and avoided
her eyes for a moment. She detected in him to-night something that had
escaped her before. It might not be weariness after all that prompted
him to lean against the wall with one hand carelessly thrust into his
pocket; he was not a man to show physical weariness. It seemed, rather,
a stolid indifference either to the immediate scene or to more serious
matters. Their meeting had seemed accidental; she could not believe he
had contrived it. If the dance bored him she was by no means his only
refuge; many present would have thought themselves highly favored by a
word from him. A messenger brought Sylvia a question from Mrs. Owen. In
turning away to answer she gave him a chance to escape, but he waited,
and when she was free again she felt that he had been watching her.

He smiled, and sto