"She offered him money! Well, I thought the boy'd have a relapse on the spot. And I walked in and took her by the arm and led her out and I said to her: 'Madam, we on Cape Cod do not sell our bravery--we _give_ it!' I said just that. And she withered like a limp leaf. She sort of clung to me and cried like a baby. Yes, she'll know now what sort o' breed we Cape Coders are." Even that Sidney could not record in Dorothea. She began to pack because it was the occupation best suited to her mood and because from the window of her room she could see Trude and Mr. Dugald the moment they turned the corner by Mart's house. She spread her scant belongings over the bed and set the old satchel on the rush-bottomed chair. She was in the act of folding the precious cherry crêpe de chine when she spied approaching figures--Trude and Mr. Dugald, walking slowly. Her heart gave a quick bound only to grow cold at the sight of Trude's chin which was set stubbornly in a way that Sidney well knew! Nor did Mr. Dugald appear the happy lover; he walked with bent face and occasionally kicked at the flowers that edged the lane. Trude sought Sidney directly and nodded with approval when she saw the packing. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "Sid," she began in a queer voice that Sidney had never heard before. "I suppose I ought to tell you how I happened to know--Dugald Allan." Trude spoke so slowly and with such difficulty that Sidney hastened to make it easier for her. "I do know. You met him at the Whites three winters ago and he wrote something. I overheard you and Issy talking once but I didn't hear his name and I saw you crying over a letter--" Trude laughed shakily. "Sidney, you're simply the limit! Yes, I met him there that first winter I went to visit Aunt Edith. His father and Mr. White are old friends and he was staying at Aunt Edith's while he painted a portrait of one of Aunt Edith's friends. I was just a silly, countrified girl and--I didn't understand lots of things and thought--well, there's no use, now going into all that. I lost my head and let myself think things that weren't so--" Sidney interrupted, impatiently. "Trude, you talk to me as though I was a baby and couldn't hear the truth. I guess I know; you fell in love with Mr. Dugald and you thought he was in love with you--"