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 again; she arraigned me before the past, and, worst of all, she loves me."

"What a strange woman you are, Louise! Didn't you want her to love you?"

"I wanted her to be fond of me; but love—there are such terrible obligations in being loved!"

"I've come to talk to you about love, myself."

"Don't—I can't bear anything more to-night. You are to stay to dinner, Tony, and protect me. You must keep that child's unblinking eyes off me, you must be the safety-valve, or I shall do something insane."

"Very well," he said quietly, "my case can wait, and to-night we'll attend to the case of Priscilla—that's her name, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's her name—Priscilla. And to think that we counted on the chance that her coming would make no difference!"

"Possibly you exaggerate your problem just now."