theme of conversation under the light of the chandelier, a telltale
face and manner would betray her, in spite of all effort at control. A
fragrant blossom from the shrubbery bordering the walk brushed against
Graham's face, and he plucked it, saying, "Beyond that it is fragrant
I don't know what this flower is. Will you take it from me?"

"Yes," she said, hesitatingly, for at that moment her absent lover had
been brought so vividly to her consciousness that her heart recoiled
from even the slightest hint of gallantry from another. A moment later
the thought occurred, "Mr. Graham is _his_ dearest friend; therefore
he is my friend, although I cannot yet be as frank with him as I would
like to be."

She paused a few moments on the piazza, to cool her hot face and quiet
her fluttering nerves, and Graham saw with much pleasure that she
fastened the flower to her breastpin. When at last she entered she
puzzled him a little by leaving him rather abruptly at the parlor door
and hastening up the stairs.

She found that his words had stirred such deep, full fountains that
she could not yet trust herself under his observant eyes. It is a
woman's delight to hear her lover praised by other men, and Graham's
words had been so hearty that they had set her pulses bounding, for
they assured her that she had not been deceived by love's partial
eyes.

"It's true, it's true," she murmured, softly, standing with dewy eyes
before her mirror. "He is the best fellow in the world, and I was
blind that I did not see it from the first. But all will yet be well;"
and she drew a letter from her bosom and kissed it.