Miss Stuart looked from one to the other and laughed unpleasantly.
"Mr. Appleton should be proud of such an ardent champion."
Jean made no answer. She finished her tea in silence and then left the room, followed by a sneering glance from Miss Stuart's eyes.
That evening Mrs. Andrews and her sister, Mrs. Archer, called at the manor. The young people had taken advantage of the first clear evening since Miss Stuart's arrival and had gone for a walk, so Mrs. Dennis asked her guests up to her room. During the conversation Mrs. Andrews said:
"How badly Helen is looking lately."
Aunt Helen agreed with her and related to Mrs. Archer the facts of Gladys' accident, and dilated upon Helen's untiring devotion to her little sister.
"She is worn out," she sighed in conclusion, "and it is so hard for her to have Miss Stuart here just at present."
"You don't mean Lillian Stuart, that beautiful girl about whom everyone is raving?" exclaimed Mrs. Archer, roused to a degree of interest she rarely felt when in Hetherford.
"I suppose it is the same. She is certainly very beautiful, but somehow," and Aunt Helen's face grew puzzled, "she doesn't seem at all the kind of girl my Helen should care for. However, they are close friends, so I——"
"Oh, she is a great belle," Mrs. Archer interrupted brusquely. "Poor girl! What in the world does she do with herself in this out-of-the-way place?"