ange into a little
bouquet.

"Are you still vexed with me?"

There! It was out. She looked at him coquettishly.

"Marjorie!" he exclaimed. "What ever caused you to say that?"

"I scarce know," she replied. "I suppose I just thought so, that was
all."

"Would I be here now?" He tried to assure her with a tone of sincerity.
"One need not hear a man speak to learn his mind."

"Yes. But I thought----"

He seized hold of her hand.

"Come," he said. "Won't you sit down while I tell you?"

She accepted his offer and allowed herself to be assisted.

"You thought that I was displeased with you on account of John
Anderson," he remarked as he took his place by her side. "Am I correct?"

She did not answer.

"And you thought, perhaps, that I scorned you?"

"Oh, no! Not that! I did not think that ... I ... I...."

"Well, then, that I lost all interest in you?"

She thought for a second. Then she smiled as if she dared not say what
was in her mind.

"Listen. I shall tell you. I did not reprove you with so much as a
fault. I know well that it is next to impossible to be in the frequent
presence of an individual without experiencing at some time some
emotion. He becomes continually repugnant, or else exceedingly
fascinating. The sentiments of the heart never stand still."

"Yes, I know,--but...."

"I did think that you had been fascinated. I concluded that you had been
charmed by John Anderson's manner. Because I had no desire of losing
your good will, I did ask you to avoid him, but at the same time, I did
not feel free enough to cast aspersions upon his character and so
change your good opinion of him. The outcome I never doubted, much as I
was disturbed over the whole affair. I felt that eventually you would
learn for yourself."

"But why did you not believe in me? I tried to give you every assurance
that I was loyal...."

"The fault lay in my enforced absence from you, and in the nature of the
circumstances which combined against you. I knew Anderson; but I was
unaware of your own thought or purpose. My business led me on one
occasion to your home where I found you ready to entertain him. The
several other times in which I found you together caused me to think
that you, too, had been impressed by him."

Marjorie sat silent. She was pondering deeply the while he spoke and
attempted to understand the emotions that had fought in his heart. She
knew very well that he was sincere in his confession, and that s