“Fever drove away the chill which had almost overcome me. No, no! I could not do it! It was just as impossible for me to turn Lannie away then as it is now to bring him back. With a bound, I was in the hall; the next leap put me alongside the stately, marching figure in livery; a dash and I was pulling and tugging at the great door, then I looked into those honest eyes of blue. “‘I thought I would call on you, Ailene,’ said Lannie, as we entered the drawing room. “‘Yes, Lannie, it was so good of you to come; and now, Lannie, you must be hungry. It is high noon, as you used to say,’ and without further ado I rang and ordered dinner served at once, for I knew that the people at home always had twelve o’clock dinner. That dinner was the best I ever tasted in my life. How I changed in a few moments from a dull, heavy hearted creature of nervous misery, back to the old happy stage of girlhood. We had dinner, and I did not send my baggage away. “When Lannie explained to me that he was stopping at a hotel, I said: ‘Lannie, you cannot stay at a hotel in Chicago; you must make this your home.’ “‘No, Ailene, I will be busy, and could not think of putting you to any inconvenience.’ “‘But, Lannie, please do stay here. I am⸺’ I did not finish my sentence. I don’t think Lannie knew what I was about to utter. If he did know that I was on the point of telling him that I was alone, he paid no attention to it. Again that nightmare overcame me; I was speechless. Lannie thought I was hurt or offended because he refused my hospitality. “‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Ailene,’ he said. ‘We will go to some theater tonight. I will spend tomorrow evening here with you and then we will plan for the other days that I am to remain in the city.’ “In spite of the fact that some of my dearest friends and members of the same social circle in which I moved attended the play that night and indulged in not a little whispering and smiling as they turned their eyes on us, I was proud. If Lannie did appear a little out of place, he was dear, true Lannie, just the same. The spirit which I knew to be encased in that noble character made up for all deficiencies in dress and manners. Each act was well received by the vast audience. As for me, the most interesting time of the performance was between acts, for it was then I could talk to Lannie and hear his voice. I saw little of the actors, for I was busy feasting my eyes on my companion. I studied his eyes, his face, and his feelings as he drank in the scenes which were enacted to the strains of music. That night my dreams were fraught with visions of strong men, happy children and contented women.