"I don't much like hearing him called obtuse and superficial, but I suppose I should like still less to hear Sybell praise him.

I have never heard her praise anything but mediocrity yet." If Rachel had been at all introspective she might have found a clew as to her feeling for Hugh in the unusual care with which she arranged her hair, and her decision at the last moment to discard the pale-green gown lying in state on the bed for a white satin one embroidered at long intervals with rose-colored carnations.

The gown was a masterpiece, designed especially for her by a great French milliner.

Rachel often wondered whose eyesight had been strained over those marvellous carnations, but to-night she did not give them a thought.

She looked with grave dissatisfaction at her pale, nondescript face and nondescript hair and eyes.