and hastened out to join Peggy and her aunt when they left the
dining-room. But the kind intention was arrested for the moment by
Dora's voice calling out,--

"Tilly, Tilly, wait a minute."

The next thing Dora had her hand over Tilly's arm. Amy and Agnes were
just behind, and there was nothing to do but to follow the general
movement with them to the piazza. That it was a planned movement to
separate her from Peggy, Tilly did not doubt; for once out on the
piazza, Agnes, with a whispered word to Amy, turned sharply about in the
opposite direction to that where Mrs. Smith and her niece were sitting.

A color like a red rose sprang to Tilly's cheeks as she glanced across
at Peggy, and bowed to her with a swift little smile. Then, "How pretty
Peggy Smith looks!" and "What a lovely gown she has on!" she said,
turning a brave and half-defiant glance upon Agnes.

"Yes, it is pretty. It's made of that South American embroidered
muslin,--convent work, you know," answered Agnes, casting a fleeting
look at Tilly.

"No, I didn't know," answered Tilly, trying to seem calm and
indifferent, but failing miserably.

"Yes," went on Agnes, "I know, because my cousins have had several of
those dresses, and I'm quite familiar with them."

Peggy, sitting there in her odd pretty dress, saw with pity the distress
in her friend Tilly's face.