Liane was enchanted with the beautiful city, and Mrs. Brinkley, who felt a proud proprietorship in it, was delighted with her praises.

They went from one grand building to another, but the good woman soon noticed that Liane seemed best pleased walking along the crowded streets, and that instead of observing all that she pointed out, the girl\'s eyes wandered wistfully from one face to another, as if in search of some one.

"Are you looking for your grandmother?" she asked.

"Oh, no, ma\'am," and Liane blushed like a rose.

"Then it must be your beau, you look so bashful. Have you got a beau in Boston?"

Liane shook her pretty head, but she looked so conscious that the woman plied her with curious questions, until the young girl owned that she knew one person in Boston, a young man, who had spent several weeks at Stonecliff. Then the curious matron did not rest until she had learned his name.

[Pg 168]

"Jesse Devereaux! Was he handsome as a picture, with big, rolling, black eyes? Yes? Why, my pretty dear, you must not set your heart on him. He is one of the young millionaires up on Commonwealth Avenue, the swellest young man in Boston. He would never stoop to a poor working girl."

She saw the beautiful color fade from the girl\'s rosy cheek, and her bosom heaved with emotion as she faltered:

"He was very kind to me at Stonecliff!"

Mrs. Brinkley knew the world so well that she took instant alarm, exclaiming warningly:

"Don\'t you set any store by his kindness, child. No good comes of rich young men showing attentions to pretty working girls. If you have followed him here through a fancy for his handsome face, then you had better go home to-night."

Eagerly, blushingly, Liane disclaimed such a purpose, saying granny had brought her to see a relative.

"I—I only thought I might see his face in some of the crowded streets," she faltered.

"It is better for you never to see his face again, for it\'s plain to be seen he has stolen your heart,"[Pg 169] chided the widow. "Come, I\'ll show you his grand home, and then you may understand better how much he is above you, and how useless it is to hope to catch him."

Liane\'s cheeks burned at the chidings of the good woman, and tears leaped to her eyes, but she did not refuse the proffer of seeing Devereaux\'s home. She thought eagerly:

"I might see him at the window, or perhaps coming down the steps into the street. Then, if he should come and speak to me joyfully, as he did that night at the beauty contest, I believe even this good, anxious woman could see that he loves me."

She walked along happily by Mrs. Brinkley\'s side, carrying the jaunty brown jacket on her arm, as Lizzie had advised, for the sun\'s rays were warm, and she was weary from her sightseeing. The scarlet silk waist looked very gay, but if she had dreamed of the dreadful letter that had told Devereaux she was coming to Boston to buy a red silk gown, she would have torn it off and trampled it beneath her feet.

Her beautiful eyes sparkled with pleasure at sight of the splendid homes of Boston\'s wealthy class, and she could not help exclaiming:

[Pg 170]

"I am not envious, but I would like to be rich and live in one of these palaces."

"That you can never do, child, so don\'t think about it any more, as I tell Lizzie, when she gets to sighing for riches," rejoined the prudent matron. "Look, now, at that grand house we\'re coming to; Mr. Devereaux lives there with his old father and his young married sister, the proudest beauty in Boston. You see, I read all about them in the society columns, and—oh!"

She paused with a stifled shriek, for the great front door of the grand mansion had indeed opened, as Liane secretly prayed it would, and a man came down the steps—Jesse Devereaux himself!

Leaving Lyde beside his father\'s bed, he was going out for a walk to try to shake off the benumbing influences of the letter that had shattered his air castles into hopeless ruins.

It seemed to him as if his thoughts had taken bodily shape, as he beheld Liane there in reach of his hand, her timid, eager glance lifted almost appealingly to his face.

He hesitated, he almost stopped to speak to her, so thrilled was he by the sight of her lovely face[Pg 171] again, but his eyes fell on the gay red silk waist, and the words of her letter recurred to his mind:

"I\'m coming down to Bostin to see the sites, and buy a red silk gown. I\'ve always been crazy for one."

She was here, she had the red silk gown she craved, and idle curiosity had led her to pass his house, perhaps boasting to her companion, meanwhile, that she had flirted with the owner and refused his hand.

A deep crimson rose to his brow, and his heart almost stopped its beating with wounded love and pride. Just glancing at Liane with cold, indifferent eyes, he lifted his hat, bowed stiffly, and passed her by in scorn.

The girl, who had almost stopped to speak to him, gave a sigh that was almost a sob, and dropped her eyes, moving on by Mrs. Brinkley\'s side with a sinking heart.

"That was he, Jesse Devereaux himself," whispered the latter excitedly. "My, what a cold, haughty stare and bow; enough to freeze you. You see how \'tis, my dear? When city folks visit the country they\'re mighty gracious, but when country folks come to the city, they don\'t hardly recognize \'em."

[Pg 172]

Liane\'s pale smile at Mrs. Brinkley\'s observation was sadder than the wildest outburst of tears.

"I see that you are right," she answered, ............