"Mrs. Craig," said Ailsa.

"I don't believe it," he said. "You haven't grown-up children!"

"Don't you really believe it, Mr. Berkley? Or is it just the

flattering Irish in you that natters us poor women to our

destruction?"

He had sense and wit enough to pay her a quick and really graceful

compliment; to which she responded, still laughing:

"Oh, it is the Ormond in you! I am truly ve'y glad you came. You

are Constance Berkley's son--Connie Berkley! The sweetest girl

that ever lived."

Advertisement..

There was a silence. Then Mrs. Craig said gently:

"I was her maid of honour, Mr. Berkley."

Ailsa raised her eyes to his altered face, startled at the change

in it. He looked at her absently, then his gaze reverted to Ailsa

Paige.

"I loved her dearly," said Mrs. Craig, dropping a light, impulsive

hand on his. "I want her son to know it."

Her eyes were soft and compassionate; her hand still lingered

lightly on his, and she let it rest so.

"Mrs. Craig," he said, "you are the most real person I have known

in many years among the phantoms. I thought your sister-in-law

was. But you are still more real."

"Am I?" she laid her other hand over his, considering him

earnestly. Ailsa looking on, astonished, noticed a singular

radiance on his face--the pale transfiguration from some quick

inward illumination.

Then Celia Craig's voice sounded almost caressingly:

"I think you should have come to see us long ago." A pause. "You

are as welcome in this house as your mother would be if she were

living. I love and honour her memory."

"I have honoured little else in the world," he said. They looked

at one another for a moment; then her quick smile broke out. "I

have an album. There are some Paiges, Ormonds, and Berkleys in

it----"

Ailsa came forward slowly.

"Shall I look for it, Celia?"

"No, Honey-bell." She turned lightly and went into the back

parlour, smiling mysteriously to herself, her vast, pale-blue

crinoline rustling against the furniture.

"My sister-in-law," said Ailsa, after an interval of silent

constraint, "is very Southern. Any sort of kinship means a great

deal to her. I, of course, am Northern, and regard such matters as

unimportant."

"It is very gracious of Mrs. Craig to remember it," he said. "I

know nothing finer than confidence in one's own kin."




Most Popular