Strong in the back seat. Ten days
afterward Marian's head of beautiful dark hair was muslin white.
Now it framed a face of youth and beauty with peculiar pathos.
"Striking" was perhaps the one adjective which would best
describe her.
John Gilman came hastily to greet them. Linda, after a swift
glance at Eileen, turned astonished eyes on their guests. For
one second she looked at the elder of them, then at the younger.
There was no recognition in her eyes, and there was a decided
negative in a swift movement of her head. Both men understood
that she did not wish them to mention that they ever had seen her
previously. For an instant there was a strained situation.
Eileen was white with anger. John Gilman was looking straight at
Marian, and in his soul he must have wondered if he had been wise
in neglecting her for Eileen. Peter Morrison and his architect,
Henry Anderson, had two things to think about. One was the
stunning beauty of Marian Thorne as she paused in the doorway,
the light misting her white hair and deepening the tints of her
red waist The other was why the young girl facing them had
forbidden them to reveal that two hours before they had seen her
in the canyon. Katy, the efficient life-saver of the Strong
family, announced dinner, and Linda drew back the curtains and
led the way to the dining room, saying when they had arrived: "I
didn't have time in my hour's notice to make elaborate place
cards as I should have liked to do, so these little pen sketches
will have to serve.
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