"Why, yes, she could I suppose," said she, "but why ?" "What has hindered her before now ?" "Oh, her mother was a helpless invalid, and Alice was the only child, and she had been in college just a year when her father died, then she came home and lived with her mother, but her mother has been dead two years now, and Alice has plenty of money.

Her father left a good deal, and her cousin and aunt live with her.

Oh, yes, she could, but why should she want to leave Fairbridge, and--" Then some new arrivals approached, and the discussion concerning Alice Mendon ceased.

The ladies came rapidly now.

Soon Mrs.Slade's hall, reception-room, and dining-room, in which a gaily-decked table was set, were thronged with women whose very skirts seemed full of important anticipatory stirs and rustles.