"Marshs' company," said both voices at once.

"Oh!" Rosemary steadied herself for a moment against the back of her
chair and then sat down.

"Have you seen her?" asked Grandmother.

"Yes." Rosemary's answer was scarcely more than a whisper. In her
wretchedness, she told the truth, being unable to think sufficiently to
lie.

"When?" asked Aunt Matilda.

"Where?" demanded Grandmother.

"Yesterday, when I was out for a walk." It was not necessary to go back
of yesterday.

"Where was she?" insisted Grandmother.

"Up on the hill. I didn't know she was there when I went up. She was at
the top, resting."

"Did she speak to you?" asked Aunt Matilda.

"Yes." Rosemary's voice was very low and had in it all the weariness of
the world.

"What did she say?" inquired Grandmother, with the air of the attorney
for the defence. The spectacles were resting upon the wart now, and she
peered over them disconcertingly.

[Sidenote: What Does She Look Like?]

"I asked you what she said," Grandmother repeated distinctly, after a
pause.

"She said: 'How do you do, Miss Starr?'"

"How'd she know who you were?"

"There, there, Mother," put in Aunt Matilda. "I reckon everybody in
these parts knows the Starr family."

"Of course," returned the old lady, somewhat mollified. "What else did
she say?"

"Nothing much," stammered Rosemary. "That is, I can't remember. She said
it was a nice day, or something of that sort, and then she went back
home. She didn't stay but a minute." So much was true, even though that
minute had agonised Rosemary beyond words.

"What does she look like?" Grandmother continued, with deep interest.

"Not--like anybody we know. Aunt Matilda can tell you better than I can.
She saw her too."

Accepting modestly this tribute to her powers of observation, Aunt
Matilda took the conversation out of Rosemary's hands, greatly to her
relief. The remainder of breakfast was a spirited dialogue.
Grandmother's doubt on any one point was quickly silenced by the
sarcastic comment from Matilda: "Well, bein' as you've seen her and I
haven't, of course you know."

[Sidenote: Under the Ban]

Meanwhile Rosemary ate, not knowing what she ate, choking down her food
with glass after glass of water which by no means assuaged the inner
fires. While she was washing the breakfast dishes the other two were
discussing Mrs. Lee's hair. Grandmother insisted that it was a wig, as
play-actresses always wore them and Mrs. Lee w