a
charming man. And how very good-looking!"

"Yes, he's a handsome fellow. And so you liked him?"

"No one has ever been so charming to me as he was--that I can remember.
He must have a most sympathetic make-up. Who is he?"

"A friend of Dick Garstin, the painter. And so he attracted you?"

"I think him certainly most attractive. I should imagine he must have
a very kind heart. There is something almost childlike about him, so
simple!"

"So--so you find nothing repellent in him?"

"Repellent!" said Miss Cronin, almost with fear. "Do you mean to
say--then don't you like him?"

"I like him well enough. But, as you ought to know, I'm not given to
raving about men."

"Well," said Miss Cronin almost severely, "Mr. Arabian--Is that his true
name?"

"Yes. I told you so."

"It's such an odd name! Mr. Arabian is a most kind and warm-hearted man.
I am certain of that. And he is not above being charming and thoughtful
to an ordinary old woman like me. He understand me, and that shows he
has sympathy. I am sure Suzanne would like him too."

"Really, you quite rave about him!" said Miss Van Tuyn, with a light
touch of sarcasm.

But her eyes looked pleased, and that evening she was exceptionally kind
to old Fanny.

She had not yet brought Arabian and Alick Craven together. Somehow she
shrank from that far more than she had shrunk from the test with Fanny.
Craven was very English, and Englishmen are apt to be intolerant about
men of other nations. And Craven was a man, and apparently was beginning
to like her very much. He would not be a fair judge. Undoubtedly he
would be prejudiced.

And at this point in her mental communings Miss Van Tuyn realized that
she was losing her independence of mind. What did it matter if Fanny
thought this and Alick Craven that? What did it matter what anyone
thought but herself?

But she was surely confused, was walking in the clouds. Dick Garstin
had given her a lead that night of the meeting of the Georgians. She had
certainly been affected by his words. Perhaps he had even infected her
with his thought. Thought can infect, and Garstin had a powerful mind.
And now she was seeking to oppose to Garstin's thought the opinion of
others. How terribly weak that was! And she had always prided herself on
her strength. She was startled, even angered, by the change in herself.

Her connexion with Craven was peculiar.

Ever since Lady Sellingworth's abrupt departure from England he had
pe