"Hardly at such a party," said Phillipa, dryly. "And the maid of the evening who did not come. Do you suppose she was asked?" inquired Louie Howe. "Oh, she would have come quick enough if she'd had anything to wear," subjoined Miss Gedney. "Well, I'm glad she didn't or wasn't. It would have been rather embarrassing." "When I meet her abroad in the capacity of attendant to some charming young lady I should not know her, of course." There was a laugh at that. Then began the mouth of real study though there were a few heart burnings that Miss Boyd should come up to the best in some of the classes. November was unusually beautiful and the week of Indian summer a dream for a poet. Lilian's afternoon hour out of doors was the concentration of delight. The handsome town, the picturesque houses, where late blooming flowers were a delight on many a lawn, the peaceful winding river whose shadows seemed to depict a fascinating underworld, the rising ground beyond with its magnificent trees, its tangled nooks of shrubbery with scarlet berries, so stirred Lilian's fine nature that she felt as if she must burst into poesy. No, she would never give up the splendid, inspiriting dreams of youth. Ambitious and noble natures are often haunted by romantic ideals and glimpses of the future reaching up to unharmful standards that did seem possible. These dreams were better than the feverish, vitiating novels some of the girls poured over in private. She was making a warm friend of Edith Trenham, who was often puzzled by her. How did she get this wonderful insight into such a beautiful world full of possible endeavor. The simple prettiness of the Trenham home was very charming to her. This was what she would make for her mother, only there would be a little more. Portfolios of engravings, a vase from Japan, a curious Indian ornament with ages back of it. Already Barrington House was shaping her taste in many matters. Then it was a pleasure to talk to the imaginative Claire who reveled in the Knights of Arthur's time, the tastes of Mythology which she twisted about to suit her fancy. "I like Miss Lilian so much," she would say. "She has traveled in so many countries. She knows all about Eskimo babies and little Chinese girls who can't go anywhere because they have such crooked feet. And we play at going to see them, and they give us such curious things to eat. And there are real little Greek children, who lived in Bible times. Oh, it's just lovely!" "You make Claire very happy," Edith would say in a fond tone. "I like to make her happy, and I want to make my mother happy. She has had such a hard life." "You are a dear daughter."