"Tell me, Kathie dear, has she drifted away from me?" For an instant the eyes were hidden under the curling lashes; then they lifted as she replied, with an enigmatical smile,-- "Not so far but that you may follow, if you choose." Darrell bowed his head and his lips touched the golden-brown hair. "Sweetheart," he said, in low tones, scarcely above a whisper, "I follow; if I overtake her, what then? Will I find her the same as in the past?" Her heart was beating wildly with a new, strange joy; she longed to get away by herself and taste its sweetness to the full. "The same, and yet not the same," she answered, slowly; then, before he could say more, she added, lightly, as a wave of laughter was borne upward from the parlors. "But I came to see if you were ready to go downstairs; ought we not to join the others?" "As you please," he replied, stooping to pick up the programme she had dropped; "are the guests arriving yet?" "No; it is still early, but I want to introduce you to my friends. Oh, yes, my programme; thanks! That reminds me, I am going to ask you to put your name down for two or three waltzes; you know," she added, smiling, "I promised you two weeks ago some waltzes for this evening, so take your choice." For an instant Darrell hesitated, and the old troubled look returned to his face. "You are very kind," he said, slowly, "and I appreciate the honor; but it has just occurred to me that really I am not at all certain regarding my proficiency in that line." Kate understood his dilemma. They had reached the hall; some one was at the piano below and the strains of a dreamy waltz floated through the rooms. "I haven't a doubt of your proficiency myself," she replied, with a confident smile, "but if you would like a test, here is a good opportunity," and she glanced up and down the vacant but brightly lighted corridor. Darrell needed no second hint, and almost before she was aware they were gliding over the floor. To Kate, intoxicated with her new-found joy, it seemed as though she were borne along on the waves of the music without effort or volition of her own. She dared not trust herself to speak. Once or twice she raised her eyes to meet the dark ones whose gaze she felt upon her face, but the love-light shining in their depths overpowered her glance and she turned her eyes away. She knew that he had seen and recognized the woman, and that as such--and not as a child--he loved her, and for the present this knowledge was happiness enough. And Darrell was silent, still bewildered by the twofold revelation which had so suddenly come to him; the revelation of the lovely womanhood at his side, to which he had, until now, been blind, and of the love within his own heart, of which, till now, he had been unconscious. Before they had completed two turns up and down the corridor the music ceased as suddenly as it had begun. "Oh, that was heavenly! It seemed like a dream!" Kate exclaimed, with a sigh.