or
the present, in the hands of this extraordinarily good-looking girl.

He had begun by merely thinking of her in this manner--as "this
extraordinarily good-looking girl," and had not, for a moment, hesitated
before the edifying idea of its not being impossible to arrange a lively
flirtation with her. She was at an age when, in his opinion, girlhood
was poised for flight with adventure, and his tastes had not led him
in the direction of youth which was fastidious. His Riviera episode had
left his vanity blistered and requiring some soothing application. His
life had worked evil with him, and he had fallen ill on the hands of a
woman who had treated him as a shattered, useless thing whose day was
done and with whom strength and bloom could not be burdened. He had kept
his illness a hidden secret, on his return to Stornham, his one desire
having been to forget--even to disbelieve in it, but dreams of its
suggestion sometimes awakened him at night with shudders and cold sweat.
He was hideously afraid of death and pain, and he had had monstrous
pain--and while he had lain battling with it, upon his bed in the villa
on the Mediterranean, he had been able to hear, in the garden outside,
the low voices and laughter of the Spanish dancer and the healthy,
strong young fool who was her new adorer.

When he had found himself face to face with Betty in the avenue,
after the first leap of annoyance, which had suddenly died down into
perversely interested curiosity, he could have laughed outright at
the novelty and odd unexpectedness of the situation. The ill-mannered,
impudently-staring, little New York beast had developed into THIS! Hang
it! No man could guess what the embryo female creature might result
in. His mere shakiness of physical condition added strength to her
attraction. She was like a young goddess of health and life and
fire; the very spring of her firm foot upon the moss beneath it was a
stimulating thing to a man whose nerves sprung secret fears upon him.
There were sparks between the sweep of her lashes, but she managed to
carry herself with the air of being as cool as a cucumber, which gave
spice to the effort to "upset" her. If she did not prove suitably
amenable, there would be piquancy in getting the better of her--in
stirring up unpleasant little things, which would make it easier for her
to go away than remain on the spot--if one should end by choosing to get
rid of her. But, for the moment, he had no desire