"I must see your pretty Mollie," returned Althea, thoughtfully; "but we must go in now."
"I think I must tell Moritz that," she said to herself, with a smile. "'The angel still laughs out of your eyes, mavourneen.' How very like an Irishwoman!"
CHAPTER XIII.
CONCERNING GUARDIAN ANGELS AND ITHURIEL'S SPEAR.
"Though many a year has o'er us roll'd
Since life's bright morningtide,
I'm dreaming still the dream of old
We once dreamt side by side."
Helen Marion Burnside.
It had been a long, trying day to Waveney, and it was a great relief when she found herself again in the Pansy Room. It was still early in the evening; but as soon as the door had closed upon the girl Althea rose from her chair.
"I have had a tiring afternoon, Dorrie," she said, in rather a weary voice. "A well-dressed crush always flattens me—so many smart bonnets, and so few brains! Somehow society always reminds me of a trifle, all sweetness and froth."
"Aren't you a little mixed, Althea?" returned her sister, good-humouredly. "There is froth certainly, but in my experience there is plenty of richness and sweetness underneath, if you only dig deep enough."