below, a cat trotted silently,
swallowed up as she watched in an immense flickering shadow from the
tall street light. The girl stood a moment, looking down, a strange wish
in her heart.

She wished for a confidante, some one to tell her troubles to. Mamma, of
course, was impossible in this connection; you never told things to
mamma, and besides, they were barely on speaking terms most of the time
now. Mattie was hardly less out of the question: a girl with many
excellent merits and her best friend, but the last person you would ever
dream of giving yourself away to. But then you really could not trust
anybody as far as that. In all the world there was no one to whom she
could go and freely pour out her unhappiness and her heart.

A self-contained and self-sufficient girl, she now felt lonesomely that
it would be a great comfort to talk everything over with somebody.
Things seemed only to get worse by being kept locked up so tight in her
own bosom. Everything was changing so, just in a little while; you could
not go by the old landmarks any more. Only a few weeks ago life had been
more serene, more secure and halcyon than ever before. Now, as from the
clouds, one hard stroke fell after another; old established certainties
exploded with a bang all about. Nothing seemed to be fixed or to be
relied upon any more, nothing seemed to be settled. How had she fallen
only this afternoon, supposing herself high-born of great institutions,
to find herself in the turning of an eyelash merely the creature of an
ugly little rattletrap!... But no,--no! That was simply ridiculous.
Business was like that. No one had ever really supposed that a factory
could possibly be anything different....

Agitating such matters as these, Cally Heth got into bed and pulled up
the covers. She repelled the thought of the Works, as she had done, all
evening. Nevertheless the last thing she thought of as she dropped off
to sleep was Dr. Vivian, as he stood and looked up at her from the dingy
sidewalk. She wondered whether she would have agreed to speak to papa
about that girl, if only the Works hadn't looked so _awful_....

XIV

In which Catty tells a Certain Person that she isn't
Happy--very.

The question recurred next day. The strange ubiquity of the nephew
persisted. When Carlisle called about noon to "inquire" after her
respected neighbor, who had lain four weeks in mysterious coma, her ring
was answered and the door op