suddenly
conscious that he was not alone. He turned around at once and saw her
standing within a few feet of him. She held out her hand frankly.

"So you have come," she said; "I thought that you would. But then you
had very little choice, had you?" she added with a little laugh.

She passed him, and deliberately seated herself amongst a pile of
cushions on the divan nearest her reading stand. For the moment he
neglected her gestured invitation, and remained standing, looking at
her.

"I was very glad to come," he said simply.

She shook her head.

"You were afraid of my threat. You were afraid that I might come to
you. Well, it is probable, almost certain that I should have come. You
have saved yourself from that, at any rate."

Although the situation was a novel one to him, he was not in the least
embarrassed. He was altogether too sincere to be possessed of any
self-consciousness. He found himself at last actually in the presence
of the woman who, since first he had seen her, months ago, driving
in the Park, had been constantly in his thoughts, and he began to
wonder with perfect clearness of judgment wherein lay her peculiar
fascination! That she was handsome, of her type, went for nothing. The
world was full of more beautiful women whom he saw day by day without
the faintest thrill of interest. Besides, her face was too pale and
her form too thin for exceptional beauty. There must be something
else,--something about her personality which refused to lend itself to
any absolute analysis. She was perfectly dressed,--he realized that,
because he was never afterwards able to recall exactly what she wore.
Her eyes were soft and dark and luminous,--soft with a light the power
of which he was not slow to recognize.

But none of these things were of any important account in reckoning
with the woman. He became convinced, in those few moments of
deliberate observation, that there was nothing in her "personnel"
which could justify her reputation. On the whole he was glad of it.
Any other form of attraction was more welcome to him than a purely
physical one!

"First of all," she began, leaning forward and looking at him over
her interlaced fingers; "I want you to tell me this! You will answer
me faithfully, I know. What did you think of my writing to you, of my
persistence? Tell me exactly what you thought."

"I was surprised," he answered; "how could I help it? I was surprised,
too," he added, "to find that I want