By the time Diana had finished her brief call this singular creature had
taken the measure of Louise Merrick in every detail, including her
assumption of lightness and her various frivolities. She understood that
in the girl were capabilities for good or for evil, as she might be led
by a stronger will. And, musingly, Diana wondered who would lead her.

As for Louise, she was enraptured by her distinguished visitor's
condescension and patronage, and her heart bounded at the thought of
being admitted to the envied social coterie in which Diana Von Taer
shone a bright, particular star.

The second name in the list of John Merrick's nieces was that of
Elizabeth De Graf. She lived at a good private hotel located in an
exclusive residence district.

It was true that Elizabeth--or "Beth," as she was more familiarly
called--was not a permanent guest at this hotel. When in New York she
was accustomed to live with one or the other of her cousins, who
welcomed her eagerly. But just now her mother had journeyed from the old
Ohio home to visit Beth, and the girl had no intention of inflicting
her parent upon the other girls. Therefore she had taken rooms at the
hotel temporarily, and the plan suited her mother excellently. For one
thing, Mrs. De Graf could go home and tell her Cloverton gossips that
she had stopped at the most "fashionable" hotel in New York; a second
point was that she loved to feast with epicurean avidity upon the
products of a clever _chef_, being one of those women who live to eat,
rather than eat to live.

Mrs. De Graf was John Merrick's only surviving sister, but she differed