thout some feeling of jealousy.

"And young."

"Tell me all about him," drawing up a chair and facing her.

"He is a lucky chap," he summed up when she had done.

"That remains to be seen," lightly. "I may prove the worst wife
possible. Perhaps, when I have burned my bridges, I shall be mad for
the very publicity I'm trying to escape. Women are like extinct
volcanos; they are most to be dreaded when written perfectly
harmless."

Warrington shook his head and laughed. Here the coffee came in. He
dismissed his man, and poured the nectar himself.

"You are the one man I know who never asks to sweeten my coffee," she
observed.

"And yet I had to learn. You haven't taught this other fellow yet, I
see. Is he warranted house-broken, or will he have to be chained?"

"He will not have to be chained; and a man who is a recluse seldom has
to be broken in."

"A recluse? What's his hobby: butterflies, stones, stamps, or
coins?--No, girl; I don't mean that. I'm a little heavy to-night. Do
you recollect the night you donned a suit of mine, bundled your hair
under a felt hat, and visited the studios? What a romp! Not a soul
ever found out who you were; and if I hadn't been in the secret, I
shouldn't have known, either. I shall never forget how funny Dolman
looked when he started a certain popular story of his and you shut him
up. 'Gentlemen,' you said, 'neither listen to, nor repeat that kind of
story in the presence of ladies.' 'Ladies?' cried Dolman. 'I see no
ladies.' 'But there are gentlemen,' you added quickly. Later, Dolman
advised me not to bring any more of my Sunday-school friends to HIS
studio."

The woman smiled, but the smile was only on the lips. All those happy
frolics were to be no more. Heigh-ho! Over the mantel there were
several photographs of herself. Like all celebrities of her kind, the
camera was a constant source of amusement. It was not necessarily
vanity. The rose is not vain, yet it repeats its singular beauty as
often as the seasons permit it. Across these pictures she had scrawled
numerous signatures, "Kate" and "Kit" and "Kitty" and "Katherine
Challoner," with here and there a phrase in French and Italian.

"You wouldn't return those under any circumstances?"

"No, indeed! That's all I'll have. And besides, you wouldn't ask me to
give them up?"

Her answer remained unspoken. The valet appeared deferentially.

"Well?" said Warrington.

"A gentleman to see you, sir. He said he wouldn't nee