and devotion in his face--"I knew you'd need me."

She laid an arm about his neck, sighed deeply, but continued to
stare distractedly beyond him.

"Warren, what shall we do?" she said with a certain vagueness and
brokenness in her manner that he found very disquieting.

"Do, sweetheart?" he echoed at a loss.

"With all those people coming to-night," she added, mildly
impatient.

"Why, what CAN we do, dear?"

"You don't mean," Rachael said incredulously, "that we shall have
to GO ON with it?"

"Think a minute, dearest. Why shouldn't we?"

"But"--her color, better since his entrance, was waning again--
"with Clarence Breckenridge dying while we dance!" she shuddered.

"Could anything be more preposterous than your letting anything
that concerns Clarence Breckenridge affect what you do now?" he
asked with kindly patience.

"No, it's not that!" she answered feverishly. "But--but for any
old friend one would--would make a difference, and surely--surely
he was more than that!"