ng him about herself.

In the middle of dinner she paused, aghast at her own loquacity.

"But what a horrible egotist you must think me!" she exclaimed. "I've
been talking about my own affairs all the time."

"Not at all. I'm interested. This Signor Baroni who is training your
voice--he is the finest teacher in the world. You must have a very
beautiful voice for him to have accepted you as a pupil." There was a
hint of surprise in his tones.

"Oh, no," she hastened to assure him modestly. "I expect it was more
that I had the luck to catch him in a good mood that afternoon."

"And his moods vary considerably, don't they?" he said, smiling as though
at some personal recollection.

"Oh, do you know him?" asked Diana eagerly.

In an instant his face became a blank mask; it was as though a shutter
had descended, blotting out all its vivacious interest.

"I have met him," he responded briefly. Then, turning the subject
adroitly, he went on: "So now you are on your way home for a well-earned
holiday? Your people must be looking forward to seeing you after so long
a time--you have been away a year, didn't you say?"

"Yes, I spent the other two vacations abroad, in Italy, for the sake of
acquiring the language. Signor Baroni"--laughingly--"was horror-stricken
at my Italian, so he insisted. But I have no people--not really, you
know," she continued. "I live with my guardian and his daughter. Both
my parents died when I was quite young."

"You are not very old now," he interjected.

"I'm eighteen," she answered seriously.

"It's a great age," he acknowledged, with equal gravity.

Just then a waiter sped forward and with praiseworthy agility deposited
their coffee on the table without spilling a drop, despite the swaying of
the train, and Diana's fellow-traveller produced his cigarette-case.

"Will you smoke?" he asked.

She looked at the cigarettes longingly.

"Baroni's forbidden me to smoke," she said, hesitating a little. "Do you
think--just one--would hurt my voice?"

The short black lashes flew up, and the light-grey eyes, like a couple of
stars between black clouds, met his in irresistible appeal.

"I'm sure it wouldn't," he replied promptly. "After all, this is just an
hour's playtime that we have snatched out of life. Let's enjoy every
minute of it--we may never meet again."

Diana felt her heart contract in a most unexpected fashion.

"Oh, I hope we shall!" she exclaimed, with ingenuou