Between the filmy white curtains at these windows she could see the rosy vestiges of the orchard bloom. The furniture of the room was apparently ivory, the bathroom silver and porcelain. Azure and white coloring were in all the decorations. The maid was unpacking her boxes. Geraldine was ashamed of her own mortification in allowing her to see the contents. "I think I'd rather do that myself," she said hastily. "Some ladies do," returned the girl. "Especially," rejoined Geraldine, "when they are not used to being waited upon!" She accompanied this with a look of such frank sweetness that she counted one more victim to her charms. "She isn't one bit stuck-up," the maid reported downstairs, "and I never saw such hair and eyes in all my life." "They've done for Mr. Ben all right," remarked the chauffeur. "I guess Madam thought it was about time to get acquainted." When Geraldine came downstairs an hour later, she was arrayed in the cheap little green-and-white house dress which had been one of her purchases with Miss Upton, and was intended for summer use in the shop. As she wandered into the living-room, Mrs. Barry walking on the piazza perceived her through the long, open windows and came to join her. "Did you find everything quite comfortable?" she asked solicitously. "Perfectly," replied Geraldine. "It is quite wonderful after one has been leading a camping-out life." Mrs. Barry continued to approve her intonation and manner. "You certainly have passed through strange vicissitudes," she replied. "Sometime you must tell me your story-book adventures." "They are not very pleasant reminiscences," said Geraldine. "Very well, then, you shall not be made to rehearse them." A maid appeared and announced dinner. Geraldine's repressed excitement took away her appetite for the perfectly served repast. Mrs. Barry's regal personality seemed to pervade the whole establishment. One could not imagine any detail venturing to go wrong; any food to be underdone or overdone; any servant to venture to make trouble. The machinery of the household moved on oiled wheels. A delicate cleanliness, quietness, order, pervaded the home and all its surroundings. Mrs. Barry made no comment on her guest's lack of appetite. When they had finished, she led her out to the porch where their coffee was served. "Now, isn't this an improvement on Rockcrest?" she asked as they sat listening to the sleepy, closing evening songs of the thrushes. "Imagine trying to drink our coffee on that piazza where we were this afternoon. There is a more sheltered portion, a part that I have enclosed in glass; but my son likes the front to be all open to the elements." "It is very beautiful here," said Geraldine. "It must be hard for you to tear yourself away even later in the season."