Charm she had unmistakably; but it was a charm that men would feel rather than women; and of all the feminine varieties that Corinna had known in the past, she disliked most heartily "the man's woman." Was her impulse to help only the need of a fresh interest, the craving for a new amusement?
The heart of life she had never reached.

Something was missing--the unfading light, the starry flower that she had never found in her search.

Now at last, in a golden middle age, she told herself that she would build her happiness not on perfection, but on the second best of experience.

She would accept the milder joys, the daily miracles, the fulfilled adventures.

And so, partly because she liked the girl, and partly because of a generous whim, she said presently: "You shall have a friend--a real friend--from this day." Patty who had been gazing into the fire turned on her a face that was as sparkling as a sunbeam.