'll try."

"Well, then, this crystal atmosphere does not lend itself to the
obvious. If we were in London, I should catalogue your bewitchments
lest you imagined I was blind to them."

"That sounds nice, but----"

"It demands analysis, so I have failed doubly."

"I don't feel up to talking like a character in one of Henry James's
novels. And you were much more amusing last night. Have you seen Miss
Jaques this morning?"

"No. That is, I don't think so."

"Do you know her?"

"No."

"It would be a kind thing if someone told her that there are other
places in Switzerland where she will command the general admiration
she deserves."

"I am inclined to believe that there is a man in the hotel who can put
that notion before her delicately."

Spencer possessed the unchanging gravity of expression that the whole
American race seems to have borrowed from the Red Indian. Mrs. de la
Vere's eyes twinkled as she gazed at him.

"You didn't hear what was said last night," she murmured. "Where
Millicent Jaques is concerned, delicacy is absent from Mr. Bower's
make-up--is that good New York?"

"It would be understood."

This time he smiled. Mrs. de la Vere wished to be a friend to Helen.
Whatsoever her motive, the wish was excellent.

"You are severe," she pouted. "Of course I ought not to mimic you----"

"Pray do. I had no idea I spoke so nicely."

"Thank you. But I am serious. I have espoused Miss Wynton's cause, and
there will be nothing but unhappiness for her while that other girl
remains here."

"I hope you are mistaken," he said slowly, meeting her quizzing glance
without flinching.

"That is precisely where a woman's point of view differs from a
man's," she countered. "In our lives we are swayed by things that men
despise. We are conscious of sidelong looks and whisperings. We dread
the finger of scorn. When you have a wife, Mr. Spencer, you will begin
to realize the limitations of the feminine horizon."

"Are you asking me to take this demonstrative young lady in hand?"

"I believe you would succeed."

Spencer smiled again. He had not credited Mrs. de la Vere with such
fine perceptiveness. If her words meant anything, they implied an
alliance, offensive and defensive, for Helen's benefit and his own.

"Guess we'll leave it right there till I've had a few words with Miss
Wynton," he said, dropping suddenly into colloquial phrase.

"A heart to heart talk, in fact." She laughed pleasantly, and opened