There was a dead silence. Each of "The Merry Hearts" thought instantly of Eleanor Watson, the only one of the Chapin House crowd who was not a member of the club. Though few of them knew the whole story of her sophomore year, they all understood the opposition of the B's and Nita, and wondered why Madeline should care to defy it. Katherine Kittredge went a step further than the rest in her conjectures. Remembering how Betty had stood by Eleanor and how eager she was for the rest of the clan to know and like her too, she decided instantly that Betty, having won Madeline to her view, had persuaded her to suggest Eleanor for membership. She looked at Betty and utterly misinterpreted her distressed expression. For Betty, like the rest, thought that Madeline meant to propose Eleanor and was sure that her doing so just then was mistaken kindness. Katherine's championship of Eleanor hitherto had been on Betty's account, and now it was for Betty's sake that she broke the hostile silence.