and she had not forgotten his somewhat
inquiring glance as they stood together on the steps. With the
chivalry of his race in all things concerning womankind, he was eager
to render assistance, and under the circumstances he probably wondered
what sort of damsel in distress it was that needed help. It was
natural enough too that in engaging Stampa he should refer to the
carelessness that brought about the collapse of the wheel. Really,
when one came to analyze an incident seemingly inexplicable, it
resolved itself into quite commonplace constituents.

She found it awkward that he should be sitting between her and a
window commanding the best view of the lake. If Spencer had been at
any other table, she could have feasted her eyes on the whole expanse
of the Ober-Engadin Valley. Therefore she had every excuse for looking
that way, whereas he had none for gazing at her. Spencer appeared to
be aware of this disability. For lack of better occupation he
scrutinized the writing on the menu with a prolonged intentness worthy
of a gourmand or an expert graphologist.

Helen rose first, and that gave him an opportunity to note her
graceful carriage. Though born in the States, he was of British stock,
and he did not share the professed opinion of the American humorist
that the typical Englishwoman is angular, has large feet, and does not
know how to walk. Helen, at any rate, betrayed none of these elements
of caricature. Though there were several so-called "smart" women in
the hotel,--women who clung desperately to the fringe of Society on
both sides of the Atlantic,--his protegee was easily first among the
few who had any claim to good looks.

Helen was not only tall and lithe, but her movements were marked by a
quiet elegance. It was her custom, in nearly all weathers, to walk
from Bayswater to Professor von Eulenberg's study, which, needless to
say, was situated near the British Museum. She usually returned by a
longer route, unless pelting rain or the misery of London snow made
the streets intolerable. Thus there was hardly a day that she did not
cover eight miles at a rapid pace, a method of training that eclipsed
all the artifices of beauty doctors and schools of deportment. Her
sweetly pretty face, her abundance of shining brown hair, her slim,
well proportioned figure, and the almost athletic swing of her well
arched shoulders, would entitle her to notice in a gathering of
beauties far more noted than those who graced