al Incandescence. Age, old age,--and this was
the part that chiefly attracted Mrs. Delarayne,--_was simply the fatigue
incurred by battling with darkness_. When Light prevailed, as it would
in the other world, Age would pass away, _and everybody would remain
eternally youthful_.

Thus, far from feeling selfish or unselfish, Mrs. Delarayne was
conscious only of a sensation of supreme elation, as she watched her
daughters leave the house on that afternoon in July. She was even able
to contemplate their unusual beauty, which would have made them a credit
to any family, with unmixed feelings of pride as they walked down the
square, and she smiled as she noticed the eagerness with which Leonetta
strode ahead, just about half a pace in front of her sister. When she
turned away from the window, therefore, and once again surveyed the
large stately dining-room, with its row upon row of chairs all ready for
the meeting, she was conscious only of feeling supremely happy and above
all secure.

Lord Henry was to come at last. For months, in fact ever since her first
initiation into the Order, she had implored him to attend a meeting, and
now that her will had prevailed she felt confident that once he saw with
his own eyes the large number of distinguished people gathered that day
under her roof--all followers and devotees of the Inner Light,--he would
be forced to acknowledge that there was a good deal in it.

Among the first arrivals was Sir Lionel Borridge, the inventor of the
most up-to-date calculating machine, and a mathematician of renown. He
had a conical brow like a beautifully polished knee, and very sad eyes
which seemed to proclaim to the world that the study of mathematics was,
on the whole, a most harrowing occupation. With him came his aged wife
and spinster daughter. Both appeared to be over fifty, and, like the
head of their household, also deeply depressed by mathematics. These
three, looking so learned, looking so miserable with learning, were
surely the best evidence that could be advanced in support of the truth
of the Inner Light; for they were all convinced adherents of the Order.
Sir Joseph arrived punctually at three, the hour appointed for the
meeting. With him came Malster, and one of the junior secretaries of
Bullion Ltd., a certain Guy Tyrrell. Lord Henry and St. Maur came a
minute after time, and were followed by a phalanx of ladies of uncertain
age, with their Poms, their Pekinese, their Yorkshire and