Wholly unselfish, Katy thought nothing of herself or the effort it cost her thus to care for Helen, but when it was over and Esther had gone, she seemed so utterly exhausted that Mrs. Cameron did not leave her, but stayed at her bedside, ministering to her until the extreme paleness was gone, and her eyes were more natural. Meanwhile the supper, which as Katy feared had made Phillips cross, had been arranged by Esther, who conducted Helen to the dining-room, herself standing by and waiting upon her because the one whose duty it was had gone out for the evening, and Phillips had declined the "honor," as she styled it.
There was a homesick feeling tugging at Helen's heart, while she tried to eat, and only the certainty that Katy was not far away kept her tears back. To her the very grandeur of the house made it desolate, and she was so glad it was Katy who lived there and not herself as she went up the soft carpeted stairway, which gave back no sound, and through the marble hall to the parlor, where by the table on which her cloak and furs were still lying, a lady stood, as dignified and unconscious as if she had not been inspecting the self-same fur which Mark Ray had observed, but not like him thinking it did not matter, for it did matter very materially with her, and a smile of contempt had curled her lip as she turned over the tippet which even Phillips would not have worn.
"I wonder how long she means to stay, and if Wilford will have to take her out," she was thinking, just as Helen appeared in the door and advanced into the room.
By herself, it was easy to slight Helen Lennox, but in her presence Mrs. Cameron found it very hard to appear as cold and distant as she had meant to do, for there was something about Helen which commanded her respect, and she went forward to meet her, offering her hand, and saying, cordially:
"Miss Lennox, I presume—my daughter Katy's sister?"
Helen had not expected this, and the warm flush which came to her cheeks made her very handsome, as she returned Mrs. Cameron's greeting, and then asked more particularly for Katy than she had yet done. For a while they talked together, Mrs. Cameron noting carefully every item of Helen's attire, as well as the purity of her language and her perfect repose of manner after the first stiffness had passed away.
"Naturally a lady as well as Katy; there must be good blood somewhere, probably on the Lennox side," was Mrs. Cameron's private opinion, while Helen, after a few moments, began to feel far more at ease with Mrs. Cameron than she had done in the dining-room with Esther, waiting on her, and the cross Phillips stalking once through the room for no ostensible purpose except to get a sight of her.
Helen wondered at herself as much as Mrs. Cameron wondered at her, trying to decide whether it were ignorance, conceit, obtuseness, or what, which made her so self-possessed when she was expected to appear so different.
"Strong-minded," was her final decision, as she said at last: "We promised Katy she should see you to-night. Will you go now?"
Then the color left Helen's face and lips, and her limbs shook perceptibly, for the knowing she was soon to meet her sister unnerved her; but by the time the door of Katy's room was reached she was herself again, and there was no need for Mrs. Cameron to whisper: "Pray do not excite her."