Dirk grinned at this and openly winked at Beth, calling upon her to share his glee over Alys’s conversion to him. But Beth’s smile in return was full of unmixed joy; she did not think it was funny that Alys discovered that her one brother was a precious possession, after all. Mr. Cortlandt watched Dirk in a hidden way and his face was full of emotion. Aunt Alida toyed with her dinner and did not try to hide the tears that choked her. No one could forget what a different household theirs might have been that night but for Bob Leonard’s quickness of mind and hand. After dinner Beth saw her aunt fold Dirk in her arms and hold him close while the lad dropped his head on her breast like a little child. “My son, my one little, little son!” murmured Aunt Alida. “If I had lost you I could not have lived!” “I know it, mummy. I was glad right away Bob Leonard caught me, for your sake,” returned Dirk. “I’d have hated like everything to have had you come home if--if he hadn’t.” Beth heard with surprise. She had fancied that Aunt Alida loved her girls better, if there were a difference, than she loved her boy. She treated Dirk with a playful carelessness and he rarely showed feeling when he was with her, whereas the girls openly worshiped her beauty and her charm. Evidently this son and mother understood each other without demonstrations. Beth wondered, feeling that she was learning a great deal. She went to bed a tired little girl, worn out by excitement and emotion. Her last thought on the borderland of sleep was a grateful one that all her dear people were happy that night. CHAPTER XV CHRYSALIS AND THE COUNTESS Beth had a slight cold so could not go out. Her birthday was Valentine’s Day and her cousins hinted at some delightfully mysterious way in which it was to be celebrated and for which she must be perfectly well, so Beth was nursing her cold in the house, St. Valentine’s feast--and hers--being but a week distant. Liebchen and Annunciata had been sent for to spend the afternoon. Both these children regarded Beth as a sort of distinct order of being, compounded of equal parts of a good fairy, a dear little girl, an almost-big girl--for they were both younger than Beth--a grand lady to admire, a warm-hearted friend to love, and they proceeded to love her in the combined ways and to the degree all these sides demanded. When there was a chance amid her whirl of pleasures, Beth was allowed to ask her worshipers to visit her. They had come to-day and Beth was romping with them as she never could romp with Natalie and Alys. When they went home there would be gifts for them, pretty ribbons, some candy, a toy or two and perhaps a simple, pretty little frock. The consciousness of this possibility, based on past experiences, added no little to Liebchen’s and Annunciata’s enjoyment of the frolic while they were with Beth.