she is."

Sprague was silent.

"Is it a dinner-party which Mr. Castlemaine is giving, or is Leicester
invited in a friendly way, I wonder?" he said presently.

"Evidently a friendly invitation, seeing Mr. Castlemaine has written the
letter with his own hand."

"Was it true that you told Mr. Castlemaine the truth about him?"

Purvis looked uncomfortable.

"Evidently he did not believe it," he replied, after hesitating a few
seconds. "You know Leicester's way. When you look into those wonderful
eyes of his you cannot tell whether he's joking or whether he's in
earnest. Besides, he's such a handsome, fascinating chap, and I saw that
Mr. Castlemaine took to him. Then, although it is perfectly true that he
talked in his usual mocking way during a part of the evening, he altered
his tone before he left. Evidently he found Miss Castlemaine to be a
congenial companion, for he grew quite earnest in his conversation, and
you know that when he is earnest, he is nothing short of brilliant. In
fact, he showed us two Radford Leicesters that night: we had Leicester
the cynic, but we had also Leicester the scholar, the brilliant
conversationalist, the man who has read everything worth reading, and
seen everything worth the seeing. No one could help noticing how Miss
Castlemaine admired him."

"And you believe he'll carry this thing through now?"

"I'm sure he'll propose to her. Didn't you see his eyes? And you know
what a fellow he is. When once he sets his mind upon a thing he'll go
straight on. Ordinary considerations do not daunt him. Refusals will
only make him more determined. Besides, you wounded his pride to-night,
and--well, I wish we had not been such fools. For my own part, I am
ashamed of the whole business."

"I tell you we need not fear. We know what Miss Castlemaine is. She is
not the kind of woman to be carried away by a handsome presence and
clever speeches. It isn't as though this would be her first offer."

"No, but she admires strength. Do you know her favourite characters in
history?"

"No."

"Well, just think. The men she admires most are Luther, Richelieu,
Cromwell, and Napoleon."

"A curious combination."

"Yes, but each one of them had the same characteristics. All of them
were strong men, men who dared great things, played for great stakes."

"Well, Leicester has not dared great things."

"But he's capable of great things. Why, you know as well as I, that when
he's in a room, every one else