the struggle he makes, of his eagerness to do better, of the fight
that he is constantly making with himself?"

His words fell on deaf ears.

"Then you choose Mr. Harris?"

"Lucy, this is madness; it is not like you in the least!"

The girl was cold with anger and excitement. "It is bad enough," she
said, "to know that my defense of you last night was worse than
useless, but to have you persist in a friendship with a man who is
beneath you in every way is more than I can stand." She slipped a
ring from her finger, and held it toward him. "I could never marry a
man of whom I was ashamed."

The shot went home; there was a white line about Redding's mouth as
he turned away.

"I would not ask you to," he said, with simple dignity, as he opened
the door.

"Please, ma'am, is this Miss Olcott's?" asked a trembling voice on
the piazza. A shabby woman stood looking at them with wild eyes; her
gray hair had escaped from the torn shawl that was pinned over her
head, and stray locks blew across her face.

Lucy did not recognize her. "I will speak to you in a moment," she
said.