"They were perfectly satisfactory. And even if they had not been so, it
was no just cause for his behavior. Did he find fault with any part of
your conduct previous to your arrival?"

"No, mamma; certainly not. I have told you so before."

"And this is true?"

"As true as Heaven, mamma."

"Then it is easy to fix upon the cause of his bad conduct. That girl. It
is a good thing she is dead," hissed the elder lady between her teeth.

She spoke in a tone too low to reach the ears of Berenice, who sat with
her weeping face buried in her handkerchief.

There was silence for a little while between the ladies. Berenice was
the first to break it, by asking:

"Mamma, can you imagine where he is?"

"No, my love! And if I do not feel so anxious about him as you feel, it
is because I know him better than you do. And I know that it is some
unjustifiable caprice that is keeping him from his home. When he comes
to his senses he will return. In the meanwhile, we must not, by any show
of anxiety, give the servants or the neighbors any cause to gossip of
his disappearance. And I must not have my plans upset by his whims. I
have already delayed my departure for Washington longer than I like; and
my daughters have missed the great ball of the season. I am not willing
to remain here any longer at all. And I think, also, that we shall be