him if she had not brought Farron into the family to rescue and protect?
The visiting boy, she noticed, was properly impressed. She saw him give
Farron quite a dog-like look as he took his departure. To Mathilde he
only bowed. No arrangements had been made for a future meeting. Mathilde
tried to convey to him in a prolonged look that if he would wait only
five minutes all would be well, that her grandfather never paid long
visits; but the door closed behind him. She became immediately
overwhelmed by the fear, which had an element of desire in it, too, that
her family would fall to discussing him, would question her as to how
long she had known him, and why she liked him, and what they talked
about, and whether she had been expecting a visit, sitting there in her
best dress. Then slowly she took in the fact that they were going to talk
about nothing but Mr. Lanley's arrest. She marveled at the obtuseness of
older people--to have stood at the red-hot center of youth and love and
not even to know it! She drew her shoulders together, feeling very
lonely and strong. As they talked, she allowed her eyes to rest first on
one speaker and then on the other, as if she were following each word of
the discussion. As a matter of fact she was rehearsing with an inner
voice the tone of Wayne's voice when he had said that he loved her.

Then suddenly she decided that she would be much happier alone in her own
room. She rose, patted her grandfather on the shoulder, and prepared to
escape. He, not wishing to be interrupted at the moment, patted her hand
in return.

"Hello!" he exclaimed. "Hands are cold, my dear."

She caught Farron's cool, black eyes, and surprised herself by answering:

"Yes; but, then, they always are." This was quite untrue, but every one