ly perceptible start of surprise as his eyes fell upon
Diana, but he betrayed no pleasure at seeing her again. His face
showed nothing beyond the polite, impersonal interest which any
stranger might exhibit.

"I have just missed the pleasure of hearing you sing, I'm afraid," he
said, shaking hands. "Have you been back in town long, Miss Quentin?"

"No, only a few days," she answered. "I had my first lesson with
Signor Baroni the other day, and it was then that I met Miss de
Gervais."

"At Baroni's?" Diana intercepted a swift glance pass between him and
Adrienne.

"Yes," said the latter quickly. "I went to rehearse my song in 'The
Grey Gown' with him. He was rather crochety that day," she added,
smiling.

Diana smiled in sympathy.

"Well, if he was crochety with you, Miss de Gervais," she observed,
"you can perhaps imagine what he was like to me!"

"Was he so very bad?" asked Adrienne, laughing. "Every one says his
temper is diabolical."

"It is," replied Diana, with conviction.

"Still," broke in Errington's quiet voice, "I should have thought he
would have found it somewhat difficult to be very angry with Miss
Quentin."

Diana fancied she detected the familiar flavour of irony in the cool
tones.

"On the contrary, he apparently found it perfectly simple," she
retorted sharply.

"And yet," interposed Adrienne, "from the panegyrics he indulged in
upon the subject of your voice after you had gone, I'm sure he thinks
the world of you."

"Oh, I'm just a voice to him--nothing more," said Diana.

"To be 'just a voice' to Baroni means to be the most important thing on
earth," observed Errington. "I believe he would imperil his immortal
soul to give a supremely beautiful voice to the world."

"Nonsense, Max," protested Adrienne. "You talk as if he were perfectly
conscienceless."

"So he is, except in so far as art is concerned, and then his
conscience assumes the form of sheer idolatry. I believe he would
sacrifice anything and anybody for the sake of it."

"Well, it's to be hoped you're wrong," said Adrienne, smiling, and
again Diana thought she detected a glance of mutual understanding pass
between the actress and Max Errington.

A little uncomfortable sense as of being _de trop_ invaded her. She
felt that for some reason Errington would be glad when she had gone.
Possibly he had come to see Miss de Gervais about some business matter
in connection with the play he had written, and was only