ee you?" was his first question, but the
answer was a mournful shake of her head.

The blossoming plants were his own gift and so was the fading nosegay;
the other, fresher one had not come from him, so he enquired who was the
giver, and was not a little astonished to see his favorite's confusion
and agitation at the question. There must be something special connected
with the posey, that was very evident, and the young man, who did not
wish to excite her sensitive nerves unnecessarily, but could not recall
his words, was wishing he had never spoken them, when the discovery of
a feather fan cut the knot of his difficulty; he took it up, exclaiming:
"Hey--what have we here?"

A deeper flush dyed Mary's cheek, and raising her large eyes imploringly
to his face, she laid a finger on her lips. He nodded, as understanding
her, and said in a low voice:

"Katharina has been here? Susannah's gardener ties up flowers like that.
The fan--when I knocked--she is here still perhaps?"

He had guessed rightly; Mary pointed dumbly to the door of the adjoining
room.

"But, in Heaven's name, child," Orion went on, in an undertone, "what
does she want here?"

"She came by stealth, in the boat," whispered the child. "She sent
Anubis from the treasurer's office to ask me if she might not come, she
could not do without me any longer, and she never did me any harm and so
I said yes--and then, when I knew it was your knock, whisk--off she went
into the bedroom."

"And if your grandmother were to come across her?"

"Then--well, then I do not know what would become of me! But oh! Orion,
if you only knew how--how...." Two big tears rolled down her cheeks
and Orion understood her; he stroked her hair lovingly and said in a
whisper, glancing now and again at the door of the next room.

"But I came up on purpose to tell you something more about Paula. She
sends you her love, and she invites you to go to her and stay with her,
always. But you must keep it quite a secret and tell no one, not even
Eudoxia and Katharina; for I do not know myself how we can contrive to
get your grandmother's consent. At any rate we must set to work very
prudently and cautiously, do you understand? I have only taken you into
our confidence that you may look forward to it and have something to be
glad of at night, when you are such a silly little thing as to keep
your eyes open like the hares, instead of sleeping like a good child. If
things go well, you may be