Phillipa Rosewald turned scarlet. "No," she answered, "it's two of them and I can't decide. One is rich and homely as a hedge fence and always says 'drawring' and 'reel,' but has lots of money and a fair enough family back of him. The other is handsome and oh, my! gay as a lark, but he had about run through with a fortune, and I'm afraid he will flirt now that the restraint of my serious and imposing presence is removed." "Serious, that's good. Why didn't you say severe?" Phil's love affairs were the entertainment of her coterie. "Oh, girls, did you notice--well, I have a new name for them. 'Beauty and the Beast.' How devoted they were this evening!" broke in Louie Howe. "Oh, you mean that Nevins girl? But _do_ you call Miss Boyd handsome?" "Well--she has a fine complexion--" Louie wrinkled up her nose. --"and lots of beautiful hair, a good figure and regular features. Maybe she lacks a certain style to make her noticeable--or something--" "Money and position. I don't just see why a common sort of girl who has to earn her living should be above the average, and that Nevins girl's father is one of the firm of bankers in New York and London, and she's horrid!" "Oh, girls," exclaimed May Gedney, "they kissed each other last night in the hall, a regular smack; I heard it. Fancy that pimply cheek being pressed against yours! and that lap-over tooth that sticks her lips out, and those pale gray-green eyes. Yes, Miss Boyd does look handsome by contrast." There was a great giggle. "We must watch the course of this ardent love. Perhaps _she_ understands the worth of contrast." They went back to Zay Crawford, who was a general favorite. She and a brother nine years older than herself, a passed midshipman had gone to Germany in the summer, where her mother had been taking treatment. The Major had accompanied her. Miss Crawford had taken over the young people. It was true, to Lilian's surprise, that Alice Nevins had clasped both arms around her and kissed her rapturously, exclaiming--"You are so sweet! Oh, I wish mother and father would adopt you! I'd just like to have you for a sister. I've never seen a girl before that I wanted." Lilian freed herself and went to her room. She was not an effusive girl. At Laconia she had made some friends, but she was too proud to aspire to the higher ranks or accept overtures from them. She felt _sorry_ for Alice Nevins but there was no real companionship. Yet was there not a duty? She seemed to occupy a peculiar position, and loved to listen to the fascinating bits of talk, places one and another had seen, music, operas, paintings, lectures, a knowledge of real things, not merely those gleamed from books.