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time! You have had your fun, and the play is nearly over; ring down the green curtain, and let the audience go home. They have had quite enough amusement for their money!”

“Now you are talking riddles. You bewilder me. What do you expect me to do?”

“Just to say, ‘Not at home,’ the next time your friend comes, and let him fight it out with the other girl. All our dearest friends are talking you over and advising and remonstrating with you (to other people), but no one has the courage to speak to you straight. But believe me, Lizzie, it’s the best way—if you really have a friendship for him, it’s the best for him.”

“And best for you yourself, a thousand times,” she added under her breath; but Carrie was too experienced a campaigner to press that side of the question.

“Ah! they are going to have some music now,” she said aloud, leaning over the little carved balcony, where the yellow flutter of her ribbons and the feathery gold of her hair showed brightly beside the dead-white satin and the classic outline of her friend. Even at that moment Carrie noticed how much the touch of emotion added to Mrs. Austin’s beauty. The fine mask of her face was plainly meant for tragedy;