s like along Piccadilly
after nightfall, looking in at the Empire, and returning via Regent
Street; and in Paris, like a visit to the _Rat Mort_ and the _Bal
Tabarin_. It is the local version of an old theme."

"But is that a nice sight for a lady?"

"It is what every lady wants to see."

"Reggie, what rot! Any clean-minded girl--"

"Geoffrey, old man, would _you_ like to see the place?"

"Yes, but for a man it's different."

"Why do you want to see it? You're not going there for business, I
presume?"

"Why? for curiosity, I suppose. One hears such a lot of people talk
about the Yoshiwara--"

"For curiosity, that's right: and do you really think that women, even
clean-minded women, have less curiosity than men?"

Geoffrey Barrington started to laugh at his own discomfiture.

"Reggie, you were always a devil for arguing!" he said. "At home one
would never talk about things like that."

"There must be a slight difference then between Home and Abroad.
Certain bonds are relaxed. Abroad, one is a sight-seer. One is out to
watch the appearance and habits of the natives in a semi-scientific
mood, just as one looks at animals in the Zoo. Besides, nobody knows
or cares who one is. One has no awkward responsibilities towards one's
neighbours; and there is little or no danger of finding an intimate
acquaintance in an embarrassing position. In London one lives in
constant dread of finding people out."

"But my wife," Geoffrey continued, troubled once more, "I can't
imagine--"

"Mrs. Barrington may be an exception; but take my word for it, every
woman, however good and holy, is intensely interested in the lives
of her fallen sisters. They know less about them than we do. They are
therefore more mysterious and interesting to them. And yet they are
much nearer to them by the whole difference of sex. There is always
a personal query arising, 'I, too, might have chosen that life--what
would it have brought me?' There is a certain compassion, too;
and above all there is the intense interest of rivalry. Who is not
interested in his arch-enemy? and what woman does not want to know by
what unholy magic her unfair competitor holds her power over men?"

The tennis courts were filling with youths released from offices. In
the court facing them, two young fellows had begun a single. One of
them was a Japanese; the other, though his hair and eyes were of the
native breed, was too fair of skin and too tall of stature. He was
a