corners that gave it a
singularly sweet expression.

The girl faltered.

"Thank you so much," she murmured at last.

The man's deep-set blue eyes swept her from head to foot in a single
comprehensive glance.

"I am very glad to have been of service," he said briefly.

With a slight bow he raised his hat and passed on, moving swiftly down
the street, leaving her staring surprisedly after him and vaguely feeling
that she had been snubbed.

To Diana Quentin this sensation was something of a novelty. As a rule,
the men who were brought into contact with her quite obviously
acknowledged her distinctly charming personality, but this one had
marched away with uncompromising haste and as unconcernedly as though she
had been merely the greengrocer's boy, and he had been assisting him in
the recovery of some errant Brussels sprouts.

For a moment an amused smile hovered about her lips; then the
recollection of her business in Grellingham Place came back to her with a
suddenly sobering effect and she hastened on her way up the street,
pausing at last at No. 57. She mounted the steps reluctantly, and with a
nervous, spasmodic intake of the breath pressed the bell-button.

No one came to answer the door--for the good and sufficient reason that
Diana's timid pressure had failed to elicit even the faintest sound--and
its four blank brown panels seemed to stare at her forbiddingly. She
stared back at them, her heart sinking ever lower and lower the while,
for behind those repellent portals dwelt the great man whose "Yea" or
"Nay" meant so much to her--Carlo Baroni, the famous teacher of singing,
whose verdict upon any voice was one from which there could be no appeal.

Diana wondered how many other aspirants to fame had lingered like herself
upon that doorstep, their hearts beating high with hope, only to descend
the white-washed steps a brief hour later with the knowledge that from
the standpoint of the musical profession their voices were useless for
all practical purposes, and with their pockets lighter by two guineas,
the _maestro's_ fee for an opinion.

The wind swept up the street again and Diana shivered, her teeth
chattering partly with cold but even more with nervousness. This was a
bad preparation for the coming interview, and with an irritation born of
despair she pressed the bell-button to such good purpose that she could
hear footsteps approaching, almost before the trill of the bell had
vibrated into silen