, and it is sweet to be so dear to
him, that he really wants her, that he would like to be at home with
her.

"Papa sends you a dozen kisses," she says, as Cecil comes flying
towards her.

She is so gay and vivacious through dinner, and afterwards they go out
on the river, rowed by Briggs, for Eugene is much too careful of his
hands and his exertion to undertake such work this delicious evening.
He and Violet sing duets as the purple film displaces the glories of
azure and gold, and the twilight shadows the dusky bits of wood, the
frowning rocks, and the indentations of shore that might be nereid
haunts. The sky turns from its vivid tints to a dreamy gray, then a
translucent blue, and a few stars steal slowly out. How lovely it all
is! How kind Eugene is proving himself, and she wonders that she never
remarked his pleasant traits before! Was it being so much in love with
madame that made him captious and irritable, or was it Marcia's little
ways of remarking upon every word or act that did not quite please her?

"We must go back," she says, presently. "Cecil has fallen asleep, and
it will not do to keep her out in the night air. How utterly lovely it
is!" and she gives a deep inspiration of content.

"It is because you enjoy everything in that keen, ardent sort of way,"
says Eugene. "You are very different from what I thought you at first."

"What did you think me?" she asks, in spite of Briggs sitting calmly
there.

"Well, you seemed such a little girl," answers Eugene, "and you were
always so shy, except with the professor. Did you really like him so
much? I should have been bored to death with all that prosy writing.
Briggs," turning to the rower, as Violet covers Cecil more closely, "we
will steer our barque homeward. It is a shame not to stay out this
magnificent night."

"We ought to be on the river a great deal more," returns Violet. "It is
so tranquil and soothing, and there is a suggestive weirdness in it, as
if you were going on to some mystery."

Her voice drops to such a soft key as she utters the last word. The
very air seems full of mystery to her, of messages carried back and
forth. Will hers go to the one she is thinking of?

When they land, Eugene takes Cecil in his arms and carries her up the
terrace with a strange emotion of tenderness. He is fond of teasing her
and hearing saucy replies, but ordinarily he does not care much for
children.

Violet helps to undress the sleepy girl and gives