It seemed to be a parody on himself, and in the laughter which some of the most thrilling points produced in certain of the audience, she heard an echo of her own doubts.

But even this she could have borne if Jim's confidence had not been given to the general public; it was no longer HERS alone, she shared it with them.

And this strange, bold girl, who acted with him,--the "Blanche Belville" of the bills,--how often he must have told HER the story, and yet how badly she had learned it! It was not her own idea of it, nor of HIM.

In the last extravagant scene she turned her weary and half-shamed eyes from the stage and looked around the theatre.

Among a group of loungers by the wall a face that seemed familiar was turned towards her own with a look of kindly and sympathetic recognition.