will come down."

"But she isn't a bother. It is very pleasant to have something alive
to bear me company."

The moment that his remark was made he was afraid that she might
interpret it as a plea for companionship. And he had no right----
What earthly right had he to expect to enter this charmed circle?

Susan Jenks came in with her arms full of wraps. "Mr. Porter's
coming," she said, "and it's eight o'clock now."

"We are going out----" Mary was interested to note that her lodger had
taken Aunt Isabelle's wrap, and was putting her into it without
self-consciousness.

Her own wrap was of a shimmering gray-green velvet which matched her
eyes, and there was a collar of dark fur.

"It's a pretty thing," Roger said, as he held it for her. "It's like
the sea in a mist."

She flashed a quick glance at him. "I like that," she said in her
straightforward way. "It is lovely. Aunt Frances brought it to me
last year from Paris. Whenever you see me wear anything that is
particularly nice, you'll know that it came from Aunt Frances--Aunt
Isabelle's sister. She's the rich member of the family. And all the
rest of us are as poor as poverty."

Outside a motor horn brayed. Then Porter Bigelow came in--a perfectly