ame to her and said a lady
wanted to see her on very important business and had asked that they
might be undisturbed for a half hour. Cynthia, puzzled and half afraid,
bade the girl bring the caller to the sitting-room in which she then was.

What followed was so vital and impressive that all her life Cynthia was
to recall the setting of the scene. The whiteness of the sunlight
streaming into the east windows, the deep red of the wall paper, the tick
of the marble clock on the shelf, and the crackle of the cannel coal fire
on the hearth. While she waited for the visitor she was unconsciously
preparing for the part and the lines of what was to follow. By the time
the slow, light steps were at the room door, Cynthia seemed to know who
the stranger was. The maid closed the door after the guest and then
Cynthia said quietly to the tall, black-robed girl:

"You--are--Marian Spaulding!"

"He--he has told you?"

"No. Mrs. Treadwell--told me! Please sit down."

They faced each other with only a few feet between them. Cynthia was
obsessed with but one conscious thought--she must go on as she was led;
say what she would be told to say. She could not think for herself. But
the stranger--distracted and ill at ease, leaped at conclusions; hurried
to her goal and took no heed of the obstacles in her path.

"I did not know until last night that he--that Lans had a sister," she
said. "Our own affairs were so engrossing and--and exclusive--at that
time!"

Marian Spaulding had an odd habit of spacing her words as if the sharp
breaths in between were dashes to emphasize her thought. "I knew Mrs.
Treadwell was aware of--of our arrangement--I knew, from Lans, that she
was broad minded and generous but when I saw you two together last
night--I--I wanted to come to you instead of to her!"

An overpowering excitement in the speaker began to affect Cynthia. She
drew her chair closer and whispered:

"Please tell me--all about it!"

The significant words rushed Marian Spaulding breathlessly onward.

"I--I could not go to him--to Lans--until I made sure--as sure as
possible--that I would not be injuring him by--by my demands. I wanted
to tell some one who loved him and would think of him, first. He was
always so heavenly good to me--I would not harm him even--now!"

"No!" Cynthia's deep eyes were fastened on the white, strained face. "I
reckon no one would want to hurt Lans."

"I was so unhappy when--when he saved m