"No, my physician would not allow me to travel; the summons came only a short time before the birth of my baby, and he said a sea voyage could not be thought of for me, so my husband was obliged to go without me."
"A sea voyage!" repeated Mrs. Farnum, with a start.
"Yes. My husband's home is in England," Virgie answered, flushing vividly.
A blank look came over Mrs. Farnum's face, then she assumed a grieved expression.
"In England! and you never told us that you were our countrywoman, Mrs. Heath!" she said, reproachfully.
"I am not. I am a native of California," Virgie explained with some confusion; but I seldom speak of myself to strangers."
"With good reason, my pert young woman!" mentally retorted Mrs, Farnum, for her companion's last words had been rather coldly uttered. Then she said aloud, in a pitying tone:
"It must have been very trying for you to let your husband go on such a journey without you?"
"Yes, indeed, it was," Virgie replied, with lips that quivered painfully; "but, of course, I could not keep him from his dying mother."
"Was her condition so critical as that?"