The relief of this was so great that she could almost forget her humiliation; she gave herself up to thinking what she herself must do to keep Maurice in ignorance. "Auntie will be sure to say something. But he knows how silly she is. She thought we'd quarreled, and that I had tried ... I might tell Maurice that? And he'll make fun of her, and won't believe anything she says! I might say that I went out to--to see our river, and slipped and got wet, and that Auntie thought we'd quarreled, and that I had ... had tried to ... to--And he'll say, 'What a joke!' But maybe he'll say, 'Why did you go out to Medfield so late?' And I'll say, 'Oh, well, I got delayed.' ... Yes, that's the thing to do." So, around and around, her poor, frantic thoughts raced and trampled one another. When Mrs. Newbolt interrupted them with a tray and some supper, Eleanor, with eyes closed, motioned her away: "My head aches. I can't eat anything. I'm going to try and get a little sleep." By and by, through sheer fatigue, she did drowse, and when the wheels of Maurice's cab grated against the curb, she was asleep. Edith, upstairs in her own room, heard the front door close sharply. "I _can't_ see him!" she said; "I mustn't see him." But she wanted to see him; she wanted to say to him: "Maurice, you can make it all up to Eleanor! You can make her happy. _Don't_ despair about it--we'll all help you make it up to her!" She wanted to say: " Oh,Maurice, you _will_ conquer. I know you will!" If she could only see him and tell him these things! "If I didn't love him, I could," she thought.... Maurice came hurrying into the parlor, with the anxious, "How is she?" on his lips; and Mrs. Newbolt and Mrs. Houghton were full of reassurances, and suggestions of food, which he negatived promptly. "Tell me about Eleanor! What happened?" "She's asleep," Mrs. Newbolt said. "You must have something to eat--" She was in such a panic of uncertainty as to what must and must not be said to Maurice that she clutched at supper as a perfectly safe topic. "I--I--I'll go and see about your supper," said Mrs. Newbolt, and trundled off to hide herself in the dining room. Mary Houghton could not hide, but she would have been glad to! "Eleanor is sleepy, now, Maurice," she said; "but she'll want to have just a glimpse of you--" "I'll go right up!" "Maurice, wait one minute. If I were you, I wouldn't get Eleanor to talking, to-night; she's a little feverish--" "Mrs. Houghton!" he broke in, "Eleanor's all right, isn't she?" His face was furrowed with alarm. (If that wicked rhythm of the wheels should begin again!) "Oh yes; I--I think so. She hasn't quite got over the shock yet, but--" "What shock? Nobody's told me yet what it was! Your dispatch only said she'd slipped into the water. What water?"