exclaimedtheniecewithsuppressedexcitement。\'Hewouldscarcelysayanythingbutyesandno，andgavemenochanceatallofintroducingthesubject。Iwantedtoexplain——Icameallthewayonpurpose——IwouldhavebeggedGeorge\'spardononmytwokneesiftherehadbeenanywayofbeginning；buttherewasnot，andIcouldnotdoit!\'
Thoughshesleptbadlythatnight，Paulapromptlyappearedinthepublicroomtobreakfast，andthatnotfrommotivesofvanity；for，whilenotunconsciousofheraccessiontotheunstablethroneofqueen-beautyintheestablishment，sheseemedtoopreoccupiedtocareforthehonourjustthen，andwouldreadilyhavechangedplaceswithherunhappypredecessor，wholingeredoninthebackgroundlikeacandleaftersunrise。
Mrs。GoodmanwasdeterminedtotrustnolongertoPaulaforputtinganendtowhatmadehersorestlessandself-
reproachful。SeeingoldMr。Somersetentertoalittleside-
tablebehindforlackofroomatthecrowdedcentretables，againwithouthisson，sheturnedherheadandaskedpoint-