She talked freely, and was most friendly toward Graydon, but there was a slight constraint in his manner.

The beautiful and self-possessed girl who sat opposite him was not little Madge whom it had been his pleasure to pet and humor.

She evidently no longer regarded herself as his sister, but rather as a charming young woman abundantly able to take care of herself.

She had indeed changed marvellously in more respects than one, and he felt aggrieved that he had been kept in ignorance of her progress.

He believed that she had grown away from him and the past, as well as grown up, according to her declaration.