"Oh, no, I am not, mamma. Leslie was with me at the jeweler's. He has been here and begged my pardon for everything. He does not believe now that Lady Fairvale is his wife. I am going to live with him again."
"Where? At Darnley House?" Mrs. Cleveland asks, almost stupefied at this unexpected news.
"No, for Darnley House is sold, and he cannot get it back. But he means to take another just as fine for me, and I am to choose all the furniture. Oh, mamma, he is so sorry for the bad way in which he treated me. He loves me still. There is nothing strange about that, is there, that you look so incredulous? I was his first love, you know. And he thinks me beautiful still. He is ready to do anything to prove his repentance."
"Did you put him to the test?" Mrs. Cleveland inquires, ironically.
"Yes, indeed! You know how often he has refused to have my jewels reset for me. So I said, 'if you really mean that, Leslie, let me have my pearls and diamonds put into a more elegant setting.'"
"Oh!" groans Mrs. Cleveland, wringing her hands.
"He was delighted at the idea," pursues Ivy, triumphantly, "and proposed that we should see about it at once. We drove down to the jeweler's, taking the pearls and diamonds with us. I selected the design for the settings at a terrible outlay, but Leslie did not murmur. He was glad to be forgiven on any terms."
"Oh!" Mrs. Cleveland groans again.
"Mother, I never saw you act so much like a simpleton!" Ivy exclaims. "Leslie is coming again to-morrow. He wants you to forgive him, too."
"Oh, Ivy, you blind, credulous, silly little fool!" exclaims Mrs. Cleveland, in a towering passion.