of the _bizarre_ would happen upon such a scene with the keenest of
pleasure.

"Here are some drawings we can be looking over," she suggests, and he
nods eagerly, inwardly blessing her ready sagacity.

Thus they look harmless enough.

"Now I will play the lady confessor. What is it all about? Have you
fallen into debt like a bad boy, and don't dare write the _pater_?"

He looks at her and laughs.

"You see the comical side of everything, Lady Ruth. This I fear bids
fair to be a tragedy."

"A tragedy! Dear me, didn't we have quite enough of that this afternoon?
What can it be? Surely, you and the colonel--" and she colors furiously
upon realizing how near she has come to betraying her thoughts.

"The colonel and I have had no words, as yet, Lady Ruth. This affair
is something that concerns my past. Let me briefly tell you a few facts
that are of especial interest to me, and may claim your attention.

"I told you I had not seen my mother since I was a child, yet she is not
dead. An unfortunate affair happened, and she was exiled from home.
Heaven knows I have ever believed her innocent.

"On several occasions, unbeknown to my stern father, I have received a
line without a signature, a line that called down Heaven's blessings on