.

"And you,"--Diana spoke impulsively--"you are the dearest thing
imaginable. I wish you were coming with me."

"I should like to hear you sing in those big rooms," acknowledged
Bunty, a little wistfully.

"When I give my recital you shall have a seat in the front row," Diana
promised, as she picked up her gloves and music-case.

A tap sounded at the door.

"Are you ready?" inquired Olga Lermontof a voice from outside.

Bunty opened the door.

"Oh, come in, Miss Lermontof. Yes, Miss Quentin is quite ready, and I
must run away now."

Olga came in and stood for a moment looking at Diana. Then she
deliberately stepped close to her, so that their reflections showed
side by side in the big mirror.

"Black and white angels--quite symbolical," she observed, with a short
laugh.

She was dressed entirely in black, and her sable figure made a
startling foil to Diana's slender whiteness.

"Nervous?" she asked laconically, noticing the restless tapping of the
other's foot.

"I believe I am," replied Diana, smiling a little.

"You needn't be."

"I should be terrified if anyone else were accompanying me. But,
somehow, I think you always give me confidence when I'm singing."

"Probably because I'm always firmly convinced of your ultimate success."

"No, no. It isn't that. It's because you're the most perfect
accompanist any one could have."

Miss Lermontof swept her a mocking curtsey.

"_Mille remerciments_!" Then she laughed rather oddly. "I believe you
still have no conception of the glory of your voice, you queer child."

"Is it really so good?" asked Diana, with the genuine artist's craving
to be reassured.

Olga Lermontof looked at her speculatively.

"I suppose you can't understand it at present," she said, after a
pause. "You will, though, when you've given a few concerts and seen
its effect upon the audience. Now, come along; it's time we started."

They found Adrienne's rooms fairly full, but not in the least
overcrowded. The big double doors between the two drawing-rooms had
been thrown open, and the tide of people flowed back and forth from one
room to the other. A small platform had been erected at one end, and
as Diana and Miss Lermontof entered, a French _diseuse_ was just
ascending it preparatory to reciting in her native tongue.

The recitation--vivid, accompanied by the direct, expressive gesture
for which Mademoiselle de Bonvouloir was so famous--was followed at
appropriate