brightly.

"To go or not to go, godmother mine! Which is it to be? The
decision rests with you! Yes, or no?"

"I think it must be 'yes'"--and Miss Leigh emphasised the word
with a little nod of her head. "It would be unwise to refuse--
especially just now when everyone is talking of you and wishing to
see you. And you are quite worth seeing!"

The girl gave a slight gesture of indifference and moved away
slowly and listlessly, as though fatigued by the mere effort of
speech. Miss Leigh noted this with some concern, watching her as
she went, and admiring the supple grace of her small figure, the
well-shaped little head so proudly poised on the slim throat, and
the burnished sheen of her bright hair.

"She grows prettier every day," she thought--"But not happier, I
fear!--not happier, poor child!"

Innocent meanwhile, upstairs in her own little study, was reading
and re-reading a brief letter which had come for her by the same
post that had delivered the Duchess's invitation.

"I hear you are among the guests invited to the Duchess of
Deanshire's party," it ran--"I hope you will go--for the purely
selfish reason that I want to meet you there. Hers is a great
house with plenty of room, and a fine garden--for London. People
crowd to her 'crushes', but one can always escape the mob. I have
seen so little of you lately, and you are now so famous that I