Again she bowed her head and suffered. But what did I care? I was no heroine, and I never laid any claim to gentleness of disposition or great unselfishness. I was simply an ordinary human being, confronted with a great humiliation. My heart was closed to hers. The wrong to myself seemed to loom above everything else. The interruption that was at hand was perhaps merciful. I might have said things which afterwards I should have blushed to have remembered. But at that moment there came a sound of voices in the hall. Bruce Deville was there and Miss Berdenstein. We both rose up. Her coming was a surprise to us. She entered by his side in some embarrassment. Mr. Deville proceeded to explain her presence. “I met Miss Berdenstein here, and persuaded her to come in with me,” he said, in a brusque, matter of fact tone. “I took the liberty of assuring her that you would be glad to see her.” “You did quite right,” Adelaide Fortress said, calmly. “I am very glad to see her.” She greeted the girl kindly, but in a subdued manner. As for me, I shook hands with her coldly and under protest. I was very much surprised that she should have come here, even at the instigation of Bruce Deville. “I hope we are not too late for tea,” he remarked, glancing around the room. Adelaide Fortress rang the bell. I smiled faintly at a certain irony in the thought called up by his question. I had shaken hands with the girl unwillingly. We were to be enemies. I was sure of that, and I preferred open warfare. Tea was brought in, and a little general conversation was started, in which I took no part. Presently he came over to my side. The other two were talking, the girl was relating some of her South American experiences to Adelaide Fortress, who was leaning back amongst the shadows. “What made you bring her here,” I asked, softly. He shrugged his shoulders. “Why not? It is better to be on friendly terms with her. We know then what she is going to do.” “So you appear to think,” I remarked, with some emphasis. “You seem to be progressing wonderfully. I congratulate you.” He laughed in my face. “Oh, she is not at all uninteresting,” he declared. “If you had seen as much of her as I have the last few days you would find her enchanting.”