been ashamed of it. It's--it's the alcohol in it
that I like, isn't it? I never thought of it in that way till now."

Kathleen, on her knees by the bedside, was crying silently. The girl
slipped from her arms, turned partly over, and lying on her back, stared
upward through the darkness.

So this was the secret reason that, unsuspected, had long been stirring
her to instinctive uneasiness, which had made her half ashamed, half
impatient with this silly habit which already inconvenienced her. Yet
even now she could not feel any real alarm; she could not understand
that the fangs of a habit can poison when plucked out. Of course there
was now only one thing to do--keep aloof from everything. That would be
easy. The tingling warmth of the perfume was certainly agreeable, but
she must not risk even such a silly indulgence as that. Really, it was a
very simple matter. She sat up, supporting her weight on one arm.

"Kathleen, darling," she whispered, bending forward and drawing the
elder woman up onto the bed, "you mustn't be frightened about me. I've
learned some things I didn't know. Do you think Duane--" In the darkness
the blood scorched her face, the humiliation almost crushed her. But she
went on: "Do you think Duane suspects that--that----"

"I don't think Duane suspects anything," said Kathleen, striving to
steady her voice. "You came in here as soon as you felt--ill; didn't
you?"

"I--yes----"

She could say no more. How she came to be on her bed in her own room she
could not remember. It seemed to her as though she had fallen asleep on
the lounge. Somehow, after Duane had gone, she must have waked and gone
to her own room. But she could not recollect doing it.

Now she realised that she was tired, wretched, feverish. She suffered
Kathleen to undress her, comb her hair, bathe her, and dry the white,
slender body and limbs in which the veins still burned and throbbed.

When at length she lay between the cool sheets, silent, limp,
heavy-lidded, Kathleen turned out the electric brackets and lighted the
candle.

"Dear," she said, trying to speak cheerfully, "do you know what your
brother has done?"

"What?" asked Geraldine drowsily.

"He has bought Roya-Neh, if you please, and he invites you to draw a
check for half of it and to move there next week. As for me, I was
furious with him. What do you think?"

Her voice softened to a whisper; she bent over the girl, looking closely
at the closed lids. Under th