In her eyes no disgrace whatever attached to him as a result of the notoriety he had suffered.  On the contrary, she considered him a martyr, a hero, the object of a deep conspiracy, and his wrongs smarted her.  He was, in short, a romantic figure.  Moreover, she had recently begun to believe that this entire situation was contrived purely for the purpose of bringing them together, of acquainting them with each other, and of testing the strength of their mutual regard.  These other women, whom she saw to-day for the first time, she considered merely extra figures in the drama of which she and Pierce played the leads—­witnesses in the case deserving no attention.  She would be grateful to them, of course, if they succeeded in helping him, but, at best, they were minor characters, supers in the cast.  Once Pierce himself strode into the scene, she forgot them entirely.

What a picture her lover made, she reflected; how he filled her eye!  What importance he possessed!  Surely the world must see and feel how dominant, how splendid he was.  It must recognize how impossible it would be for him to do wrong.  The mere sight of him had set her to vibrating, and now inspired in her a certain reckless abandon; guilty or innocent, he was her mate and she would have followed him at a word.  But—­he was innocent; it was her part to wait here as patiently as she could until the fact was proved and until he could ask that question which forever trembled between them.

Such thoughts as these were impossible to conceal; they were mirrored upon the face of the colonel’s daughter as she stood raptly gazing at the door through which Pierce Phillips had disappeared.  Her lips were parted; the shadow of the smile his coming had evoked still lingered upon them; her soul was in her shining eyes.  Unknown to her, at least one of the other women present had read her sudden emotions and now watched her curiously, with an intent and growing astonishment.

Rouletta Kirby had been as quick as the Countess to correctly interpret Laure’s chagrin, and she, too, had experienced a tremendous relief.  Oddly enough, however, she had felt no such fierce and jealous exultation as she had anticipated; there had been no selfish thrill such as she had expected.  What ailed her? she wondered.  While groping for an answer, her attention had been challenged by the expression upon Miss Cavendish’s face, and vaguely she began to comprehend the truth.  Breathlessly now she watched the girl; slowly conviction grew into certainty.

So!  That was why the colonel’s daughter was here.  That was why, at sound of a certain step, she had become glorified.  That was why Pierce had been blind to her own and Hilda’s presence in the room.

It would be untrue to say that Rouletta was not shocked by this discovery.  It came like a thunderclap, and its very unexpectedness jolted her mind out of the ruts it had been following these many days.  But, astonishing to relate, it caused her no anguish.  After the first moment or two of dizzy bewilderment had passed she found that her whole being was galvanized into new life and that the eyes of her soul were opened to a new light.  With understanding came a peculiar emotional let-down, a sudden, welcome relaxation—­ almost a sensation of relief.