Will you be so kind as to leave me with my maids ?" Herennia was overborne by the calm, commanding attitude of the rival she had meant to annoy.

When Cornelia became not the radiant _debutante_, but the haughty patrician lady, there was that about her which made her wish a mandate.

Herennia, in some confusion, withdrew.
When she was gone, Cornelia ordered her maids out of the room, stripped off the golden tiara they had been plaiting into her hair, tore away the rings, bracelets, necklaces, and flung herself upon the pillows of the divan, quivering with sobs.

She did not know of a single friend who could help her.

All the knowledge that she had imbibed taught her that there was no God either to hear prayer, or succour the wronged.