at. Reggie used to say it in almost those very words. But then
Reggie," she caught her breath at the remembered ecstasy, "Reggie used
to think that the sun rose and set for me. He was different from all
other men. You advise me to reserve myself for the best. How can I do
that, Lord Taborley, when the best is in the past?"

She was very beautiful in the simplicity of her pathos--one of the most
beautiful women he had ever met. She had become a little child for the
moment and her littleness was baffling. He felt extraordinarily near to
her and alone with her. There was no longer any danger in their
aloneness. He realized why it was that she was able to give away so much
of herself; there was no value in the gift, for her heart was beyond the
capture of any man. She was the shuttered house of a vanished happiness,
inhabited by a restless ghost. The gold light from the lamp fell in a
pool about her. It revealed startlingly the whiteness of her arms and
throat, the blueness of her eyes and the primrose gleam of her polished
head. She seemed insubstantial as a dream, environed by shadows. And
what did she mean by saying that all her best lay in the past? Surely
she had misjudged! With her power of charm she could build her world to
any pattern.

"The best in the past! None of us know enough about the future to say
that. The best lies ahead--always. To believe that brings our best
within our grasp."

"For me it can't." She spoke hopelessly. "No believing can do that when
your best is dead."

The finality of her despair silenced him. He could feel it like fingers
tightening on his throat. He realized in a flash that this was how he,
too, would be tempted to speak were he to lose Terry--that, having lost
the best, any careless makeshift would suffice to comfort him. While he
considered, her hands snuggled closer in his clasp, establishing a new
sympathy.

"I think," he said at last, "even though my best were dead, I should
try to go on acting as if it lay still ahead. If I did that, round some
new turning I might find it waiting for me as a kind of recompense."

She leant forward, peering eagerly into his eyes. "Yes. You would do
that. I'm sure of it. I knew you had something to give me the moment we
met. That was why I wouldn't let you escape me. I've learnt the secret
at last--the secret of your air of conquest. It isn't that you get your
desires. It's not that. It's your belief that you will get them that
makes you st