e had indeed no
theories in her mind about being a good wife; but she would not be a bad
one. She would keep her part of the compact; there should be nothing to
complain of, nothing to object to. She would do her best to amuse the
man she had to live with and make his life agreeable to him, which is a
thing not always taken into consideration in marriage-contracts much
more ideal in character. He should not be allowed to be dull, that was
one thing certain. Regarding the matter in this reasonable point of
view, Bice prepared for the great event of Thursday with just excitement
enough to make it amusing. It might be that she should fail. Few
succeed at the very first effort without difficulty, she said to
herself; but if she failed there would be nothing tragical in the
failure, and the season was all before her. It could scarcely be hoped
that she would bring down her antagonist the first time she set lance in
rest.

She was carefully kept out of sight during the intervening days; no one
saw her; no one had any acquaintance with the fact of her existence. The
precautions taken were such that Bice was never even encountered on the
staircase, never seen to flit in or out of a room, and indeed did not
exist at all for the party in the house. Notwithstanding these
precautions she had the needful exercise to keep her in health and good
looks, and still romped with the baby and held conversations with the
sympathetic Lucy, who did not know what to say to express her feeling of
anxious disapproval and desire to succour, without, at the same time,
injuring in Bice's mind her nearest friend and protectress. She might,
indeed, have spared herself the trouble of any such anxiety, for Bice
neither felt injured by the Contessa's scheme nor degraded by her
precautions. It amused the girl highly to be made a secret of, to run
all the risks of discovery and baffle the curious. The fun of it was
delightful to her. Sometimes she would amuse herself by hanging till the
last practicable moment in the gallery at the top of the staircase, on
the balcony at the window, or at the door of the Contessa's room which
was commanded by various other doors; but always vanished within in time
to avoid all inquisitive eyes, with the laughter and delight of a child
at the danger escaped, and the fun of the situation. In these cases the
Contessa would sometimes take fright, but never, so light was the
temper of this scheming woman, this deep plotter and