"I don't see how you could," wailed the old lady.
"Neither did I. 'Did any one come in?' I echoed, when Mrs. Sands put the question. 'Wouldn't I have mentioned it to you the first thing, if any one had?' Was that a falsehood, or wasn't it?"
"It was a prevarication," answered Mrs. Blackburne, "and I think I should have done the same thing."
"Thank goodness!" sighed Ellen. "That's what I wanted to know. You don't blame me, then?"
"I feel you acted for the best. And it's done now!"
"Yes, it's done, and can't be undone," the pearl-stringer echoed.
XXIV
ROGER'S APPOINTMENT AT THE CLUB
Roger Sands dined alone at his club that night. Many men hailed him as he came in, very late, and in sixty seconds he received six invitations to dine. He refused them all, however.