She was just the same. He could see it in an instant; there was the
same joyfulness, the same eagerness; there was the same beauty,
which had made men's hearts leap up. There was not a line of care
upon her features--she was like a perfect flower come to its
fulness.

She came to him with both her hands outstretched. "Allan!" she
cried, "Allan! I am so glad to see you!" And she caught his hands in
hers and stood and gazed at him. "My, how big you have grown, and
how serious! Isn't he splendid, Ollie?"

Oliver stood by, watching. He smiled drily. "He is a trifle too epic
for me," he said.

"Oh, my, how wonderful it seems to see you!" she exclaimed. "It
makes me think of fifty things at once. We must sit down and have a
long talk. It will take me all night to ask you all the questions I
have to."

Lucy was in mourning for her father, but she had contrived to make
her costume serve as a frame for her beauty. She seemed like a
flaming ruby against a background of black velvet. "Tell me how you
have been," she rushed on. "And what has happened to you up here?
How is your mother?"

"Just the same," said Montague; "she wants you to come around
to-morrow morning."

"I will," said Lucy,--"the first thing, before I go anywhere. And