“This is the first time he has been here since⁠—since that night,” Mrs. Cressler hastened to whisper in Laura’s ear. “He told me about⁠—well, he told me what occurred, you know. He came to dinner tonight, and afterwards the poor boy nearly wept in my arms. You never saw such penitence.”

Laura put her chin in the air with a little movement of incredulity. But her anger had long since been a thing of the past. Good-tempered, she could not cherish resentment very long. But as yet she had greeted Landry only by the briefest of nods.

“Such a warm night!” she murmured, fanning herself with part of Mr. Cressler’s evening paper. “And I never was so thirsty.”