sir," replied St. Maur, "very wonderful."

The young man rose again. He was a little above medium height, with dark
crisp hair and a sallow complexion. His figure and features gave the
impression of metallic virility: they were at once hard, supple,
clean-cut, and finely moulded. His mouth was a little full, and his jaw
perhaps a trifle heavy, but the deep thoughtful eyes gave a balance to
his face which saved it from appearing unduly sensual.

"That is a pleasant young man," Sir Joseph declared, when St. Maur had
gone.

"Yes," Denis replied half-heartedly. He, too, had been impressed by St.
Maur, but not favourably. For Denis Malster, cultivated, sleek, and
refined though he was, just lacked that exuberance and vitality which he
had observed in St. Maur, and which made the latter so conspicuously his
superior. Denis had nothing to compensate him for his tame, careful,
Kensington breeding. St. Maur, on the other hand, had that fire and
warmth of blood, without which even the highest breeding is little more
than the extirpation of the animal at the expense of the man. Denis was
an easy winner with the women of his class, precisely because of the
parade which, in his face, nature made of his gentle antecedents; but he
had sufficient intelligence to realise that when women are confronted
by a man possessing all he possessed, besides that something more that
was noticeable in St. Maur the best of them do not hesitate a second in
selecting the St. Maur type.

"I wonder if that is all true about Charles I.?" Sir Joseph demanded
with a little irritation.

Denis leant back in his chair and his eyes twinkled. "I doubt whether it
is true of Charles I.," he said; "but it certainly isn't true of his son
and heir, for Charles II. used the peerage more or less as a sort of
foundling hospital for his various illegitimate offspring."

Sir Joseph smiled, as he frequently did, at his secretary's odd way of
summing up a case, and then quickly resuming his gravity, glanced
searchingly at Denis as if pondering whether the word of such a man
could confidently be taken against that of an Aubrey St. Maur. For some
minutes he paced the rug in front of the fire-place, his hands behind
his back, and his head bowed. At last he raised his eyes and looked more
affably than usual at his assistant.

"You know, Malster," he began, "I've been thinking for some time that
although you appear to take to this work less quickly than some men I
have h