fingers together, wearing an expression of such absorbed
contemplation that Mount Dunstan laughed again.

"You look quite dreamy over it," he said.

"It allures me. Unknown quantities in character always allure me.
I should like to know her. A community like this is made up of the
absolutely known quantity--of types repeating themselves through
centuries. A new one is almost a startling thing. Gossip over teacups is
not usually entertaining to me, but I found myself listening to little
Miss Laura Brunel this afternoon with rather marked attention. I confess
to having gone so far as to make an inquiry or so. Sir Nigel Anstruthers
is not often at Stornham. He is away now. It is plainly not he who is
interested in repairs."

"He is on the Riviera, in retreat, in a place he is fond of," Mount
Dunstan said drily. "He took a companion with him. A new infatuation. He
will not return soon."

CHAPTER XIX

SPRING IN BOND STREET

The visit to London was part of an evolution of both body and mind to
Rosalie Anstruthers. In one of the wonderful modern hotels a suite of
rooms was engaged for them. The luxury which surrounded them was not of
the order Rosalie had vaguely connected with hotels. Hotel-keepers had
apparently learned many things during the years of her seclusion.

Vanderpoels, at least, could so establish themselves as not to greatly
feel the hotel atmosphere. Carefully chosen colours textures, and
appointments formed the background of their days, the food they ate
was a thing produced by art, the servants who attended them were
completely-trained mechanisms. To sit by a window and watch the
kaleidoscopic human tide passing by on its way to its pleasure, to reach
its work, to spend its money in unending shops, to show itself and its
equipage in the park, was a wonderful thing to Lady Anstruthers. It all
seemed to be a part of the life and quality of Betty, little Betty,
whom she had remembered only as a child, and who had come to her a tall,
strong young beauty, who had--it was resplendently clear--never known
a fear in her life, and whose mere personality had the effect of making
fears seem unreal.

She was taken out in a luxurious little brougham to shops whose varied
allurements were placed eagerly at her disposal. Respectful persons,
obedient to her most faintly-expressed desire, displayed garments as
wonderful as those the New York trunks had revealed. She was besought
to consider the fitness of article