e man's mind.

"This is the thing which most men experience several times during their
lives. It would be reason enough for all the great deeds and all the
crimes one hears of. It is an enormous kind of anguish and a fearful
kind of joy. It is scarcely to be borne, and yet, at this moment, I
could kill myself and her, at the thought of losing it. If I had begun
earlier, would it have been easier? No, it would not. With me it is
bound to go hard. At twenty I should probably not have been able to keep
myself from shouting it aloud, and I should not have known that it was
only the working of the Law. 'Only!' Good God, what a fool I am! It is
because it is only the Law that I cannot escape, and must go on to the
end, grinding my teeth together because I cannot speak. Oh, her smooth
young cheek! Oh, the deep shadows of her lashes! And while we sway round
and round together, I hold her slim strong body in the hollow of my
arm."

It was, quite possibly, as he thought this that Nigel Anstruthers,
following him with his eyes as he passed, began to frown. He had been
watching the pair as others had, he had seen what others saw, and now he
had an idea that he saw something more, and it was something which did
not please him. The instinct of the male bestirred itself--the curious
instinct of resentment against another man--any other man. And, in
this case, Mount Dunstan was not any other man, but one for whom his
antipathy was personal.

"I won't have that," he said to himself. "I won't have it."

. . . . .

The music rose and swelled, and then sank into soft breathing, as they
moved in harmony together, gliding and swirling as they threaded their
way among other couples who swirled and glided also, some of them light
and smiling, some exchanging low-toned speech--perhaps saying words
which, unheard by others, touched on deep things. The exalted guest fell
into momentary silence as he looked on, being a man much attracted by
physical fineness and temperamental power and charm. A girl like that
would bring a great deal to a man and to the country he belonged to. A
great race might be founded on such superbness of physique and health
and beauty. Combined with abnormal resources, certainly no more could
be asked. He expressed something of the kind to Lord Dunholm, who stood
near him in attendance.

To herself Betty was saying: "That was a strange thing he asked me. It
is curious that we say so little. I should never know much a