of view."

"You're rather coarse, but I agree," Mrs. Foster answered. "Jimmy's
too young and hasn't much beside his pay. His admiration's
respectfully platonic, but it's largely on his account I thought of
asking her to remain. I'm grateful to her for amusing the poor fellow,
because, as he can't get about with the others, he'd have been left a
good deal to himself if she hadn't taken him up. She's excellent
company when she exerts herself, and she talks and reads to him with
great good-nature."

"Do what you wish. Perhaps I shouldn't have spoken so freely about a
friend of yours."

"I don't know whether I quite consider her a friend or not," Mrs.
Foster thoughtfully replied. "She was staying at Mabel's when I was
there, but we didn't become intimate. In fact, I think I asked her
down because she made me feel she wanted to come."

"A delicate hint sometimes goes a long way. Still, there's no doubt
she has brightened Jimmy up, and one feels sorry for him."

Mrs. Foster went out, and, finding her guest, asked her to stay on,
which, after a few demurs, Mrs. Chudleigh agreed to do, and on being
left alone smiled in a satisfied manner. She had played her cards
cleverly in obtaining a footing at Hazlehurst, which was a pleasant
house to stay at, and thought that with good luck she might win the
game she had begun. She was a hard and somewhat unscrupulous woman,
but a tender look crept into her eyes as she thought of the man whose
prospects she meant to improve.

Left a widow at an early age by the death of an elderly Anglo-Indian
whom she had married under pressure from her parents, she had spent
some years in social enjoyments before she met Sedgwick, with whom she
fell in love. She was clever enough to recognize his faults, but she
liked his bold, ambitious nature. Though he had no private means and
she was rich, she knew her money would not count for much against the
prospects of a brilliant career. The man had real ability and meant to
make his mark, and in this she was anxious to assist him. She was even
willing to defer their marriage until he had had an opportunity of
displaying his talents in the administration of the West African
territory he had lately returned to, and her object was to secure his
appointment to the post left vacant by the retirement of his superior.

During the evening she sat with Lieutenant Walters in the conservatory.
There were other guests at Hazlehurst, and Mrs. Foster h