could not help wondering how all the world had become possessed of the
knowledge that she had said good-by to her lover. She considered if
it were possible that Mr. Holland had spread abroad the account of her
ill-treatment of him--he would naturally allude to it as ill-treatment.
The quick judgment of Ella Linton had enabled her to perceive how
valuable to Mr. Holland was the incident of his rejection by Phyllis.
As a beginning of his persecution, its importance could scarcely be
overestimated. But it did not take Phyllis long to reassure herself
on this matter. It was, of course, Ella who had given the incident
publicity. She had done so for two reasons: first, in order that her
little afternoon At Home might have additional luster attached to it
by the presence of a young woman who had, in these days of a marriage
market overstocked with young women (and old women, for that matter),
thrown over an eligible man for conscience' sake; and secondly, in order
that her At Home might have additional luster attached to it from
the presence of the man who allowed himself to be thrown over by a
delightful girl rather than refrain from publishing what he believed to
be the truth.

Mrs. Linton achieved both the objects which, as a good hostess, she had
in view. Mr. Holland put in an appearance in one of Mrs. Linton's big
drawing rooms, and so did Phyllis Ayrton.

Everyone admitted that only a woman of the social capacity--some people
called it genius--of Mrs. Linton could accomplish such a feat as the
bringing into the same room two persons who had given unmistakable
evidence of possessing a conscience apiece--the woman who had sacrificed
the man for conscience' sake, and the man who had sacrificed the woman
under the same influence. It was a social triumph, beyond doubt.