A further surprise awaited her; there was a marked change in the attitude of Mrs. Atterbury and her guests. The former was again her well-poised self, serene and calmly detached. Madame Cimmino exhibited a volatile gayety of temperament bordering on hysteria and Wolvert was in his most reckless, brilliant vein.
Sheer amazement held the girl dumb before his raillery, but she made a supreme effort to flog her failing spirit into a response to the general lightness of mood, forced though she instinctively knew it to be. The hour passed more easily than Betty could have dared to hope and at its conclusion as she paused in the doorway, uncertain whether to return to her task or await other instructions, Mrs. Atterbury came and slipped her arm in the girl's in a rare gesture that was almost a caress.
"Come up to my sitting-room, my dear. I have a suggestion to make to you which I think will please you very much, and we will have an opportunity to talk privately there."
Betty turned obediently and side by side they went up the stair. In spite of the indulgent tone, the girl was filled with foreboding, but Mrs. Atterbury was still smiling as she closed the door and motioned Betty to a low chair near the window.
"I want to speak to you, Betty, about the birthmark on your cheek." She began without preface. "I am afraid that you must have thought me needlessly tyrannical in ordering you to go unveiled, but it was the only way to put a stop to the self-consciousness which was growing upon you and would only have increased until your life became a burden. When I engaged you, you assured me that you did not mind the mark, and scarcely ever thought of it, but you were unaccustomed to the city and did not realize that strangers will stare at anything unusual in your appearance. Have you ever made an attempt to have the blemish removed?"
Betty gazed at her in wordless astonishment for a moment before she found her voice.
"Oh, yes, but it could not be done, and the doctors tell me that only a worse disfigurement would result from tampering with it. I did try once, but I hurt myself dreadfully. I really don't mind going unveiled now, Mrs. Atterbury."
"But you would be glad if the blemish did not exist?" Her tone was beguilingly insinuating. "It cannot be wholly eradicated, of course, but I have learned of a method of treatment by which it could be rendered almost invisible. I was interested on your account, child, and procured the necessary materials. I have them here."
"Oh, please, no!" Betty cried in genuine alarm. "I would not dare use acids or anything of that sort! When I attempted it before, it nearly caused blood-poisoning. Nothing could induce me to expose myself to such danger a second time."
"But, my dear, this is absolutely harmless. Do you think I would suggest or even permit you to run any risk of injury?" She opened a drawer of her dressing-table and took from it several small jars and a camel's hair brush. "It does not act upon the birthmark itself and would not irritate the most sensitive skin. It is merely a covering which almost defies detection. This solution of wax forms a sort of enamel and the other jars contain merely paint to produce a natural effect. I do not approve of cosmetics for young girls on general principles, but this is a different matter, and you will marvel at the result. The birthmark will seem to have disappeared absolutely."