Something in Jane's steady glance caused Alicia's eyes to waver. "You told Ethel Lacey that you wished you didn't have to invite me to go with you girls to the Inn the other night, but you felt that you could hardly get out of it. That I expected you to do it. You know that's not true. I'd never intrude where I wasn't wanted." "Did Ethel tell you this?" Jane asked composedly. "No. Someone else overheard you say it," retorted Alicia. "And that 'someone else'?" "I won't tell you. I promised I wouldn't." "You don't need to tell me, because I _know_." Jane emphasized the _know_. "It's not true. I didn't say that. This is what I said." As well as she could recall it, she repeated the conversation that had taken place between herself and Ethel. "I asked Ethel to invite you because I didn't want you to go to your room," she explained. "Miss Noble and I are not on speaking terms. Did you know that?" "Yes, I knew it," Alicia admitted. "I was told it was your fault. I didn't believe it until----" She paused, uncertainty written large on every feature. She had begun to glimpse the unworthiness of her doubts. "Until Miss Noble came to you with this untruthful tale about me," finished Jane. Alicia was silent. She could not truthfully contradict this pertinent statement. "Which of us do you believe, Alicia?" Jane put the question with business-like directness. Alicia mutely studied Jane's resolute face. Honesty of purpose looked out from the long-lashed, gray eyes. She mentally contrasted it with another face; dark, spiteful and furtive. "I believe you. Forgive me, Jane." Her lips quivering, Alicia stretched forth a penitent hand. "There's nothing to forgive." Jane was quick to grasp the hand Alicia proffered. "I ought to have come straight to you," quavered the penitent. "I wish you had. Thank goodness, it's all right now. Let's sit down in the porch swing, Alicia. There are several things yet to be said and this is the time to say them." Her hand still in Alicia's, Jane gently pulled her toward the swing. When they had seated themselves, she continued: "I don't like to say things behind anyone's back, but in this case it's necessary. Miss Noble has started her freshman year as a trouble maker. She is very bitter against me for several reasons. When I came back to college, I found that Mrs. Weatherbee had given her my room. She understood that I was not coming to Madison Hall this year. I'm telling you this because I suspect that it is news to you." "It certainly _is_." Alicia showed evident surprise. "I supposed Elsie Noble had been assigned to room with me from the start. She never said a word about it to me."