Behind A Mask
Originally published under the pseudonym ''A. M. Barnard''
Approx. 41,137 words.
y anxiously.
"None, I assure you. I have been well for some time, but did not leave because I preferred to stay there, than to return to Lady Sydney."
"No quarrel, I hope? No trouble of any kind?"
"No quarrel, but--well, why not? You have a right to know, and I will not make a foolish mystery out of a very simple thing. As your family, only, is present, I may tell the truth. I did not go back on the young gentleman's account. Please ask no more."
"Ah, I see. Quite prudent and proper, Miss Muir. I shall never allude to it again. Thank you for your frankness. Bella, you will be careful not to mention this to young friends; girls gossip sadly, and it would annoy Lady Sydney beyond everything to have this talked of."
"Very neighborly of Lady S. to send the dangerous young lady here, where there are two young gentlemen to be captivated. I wonder why she didn't keep Sydney after she had caught him," murmured Coventry to his cousin.
"Because she had the utmost conte
