of
that. You know what his kindness in helping papa has made people think,
don't you?"

But Mrs. Fane astonished her by throwing down her handful of silver with
unnecessary violence of clang and saying: "Look here, Olivia, I'd rather
not talk about it any more. I've reasons. I can't take a hand in your
affairs without being afraid that perhaps--perhaps--I--I--sha'n't play
the game."

Olivia was silent, but she had much to think of.

It was a few days later still that she found herself in Rodney Temple's
little office in the Gallery of Fine Arts. She had come ostensibly to
tell him that everything had been arranged for the sale.

"Lemon and Company think that early in December would be the best time,
as people are beginning then to spend money for Christmas. Mr. Lemon
seems to think we've got a good many things the smaller connoisseurs
will want. The servants are to go next Tuesday, so that if you and
Cousin Cherry could take papa then--I'm to stay with Lulu Sentner; and I
shall go from her house to be married--some day, when everything else is
settled. Did you know that before Mr. Davenant went away he left a small
bank account for papa?--two or three thousand dollars--so that we have
money to go on with. Rupert wants to spend a week or two in New York and
Washington, after which we shall come back here and pick up papa. He's
not very keen on coming with us, but I simply couldn't--"

He nodded at the various points in her recital, blinking at her
searchingly out of his kind old eyes.

"You look pale," he said, "and old. You look forty."

She surprised him by saying, with a sudden outburst: "Cousin Rodney, do
you think it's any harm for a woman to marry one man when she's in love
with another?" Before he had time to recover himself, she followed this
question with a second. "Do you think it's possible for a person to be
in love with two people at the same time?"

He understood now the real motive of her visit.

"I'm not a very good judge of love affairs," he said, after a minute's
reflection. "But one thing I know, and it's this--that when we do our
duty we don't have to bother with the question as to whether it's any
harm or not."

"We may do our duty, and still make people unhappy."

"No; not unless we do it in the wrong way."

"So that if I feel that to go on and keep my word is the right thing--or
rather the only thing--?"

"That settles it, dearie. The right thing _is_ the only thing--and it
makes f