"I must have it look homey, Kate--for reasons."
"Do whatever it suits you to do, child."
"But can I tell you what it suits me to do, Kate?"
"How do I know? Are you referring to visible things or talking in parables? There's something very eerie about you to-night, Marna. Your eyes look phosphorescent. What's been happening to you? Is it the glory of last night that's over you yet?"
"No, not that. It's--it's a new glory, Kate."
"A new glory, is it? Since last night? Tell me, then."
Kate flung her long body into a Morris chair and prepared to listen. Marna looked about her as if seeking a chair to satisfy her whim, and, finding none, sank upon the floor before the blaze. She leaned back, resting on one slight arm, and turned her dream-haunted face glowing amid its dark maze of hair, till her eyes could hold those of her friend.
"Oh, Kate!" she breathed, and made her great confession in those two words.
"A man!" cried Kate, alarmed. "Now!"
"Now! Last night. And to-day. It was like lightning out of a clear sky. I've seen him often, and now I remember it always warmed me to see him, and made me feel that I wasn't alone. For a long time, I believe, I've been counting him in, and being happier because he was near. But I didn't realize it at all--till last night."