Her laughter was irrepressible.

In a trice the precedents of years were gone.

Nora felt the empire of her dignity slipping away, but none the less could not repress her mirth.

And more than this; as she gazed into the honest, blue-eyed face before her she felt a lessening of her desire to retain her icy pedestal, and she struggled the less against her laughter.

Indeed, with a sudden fright, she found her laughter growing nervous.