iculous."

"The place is a hot-bed of scandal. I've told you that before," he
cried, angry enough now. "These dirty-minded MUSIKER think it outside
the bounds of possibility for two people to be friends." But his tone
was unsure, and he was conscious of it.

"Yes--when one of the two is Louise."

"Kindly leave Miss Dufrayer out of the question."

"Oh, Maurice, don't Miss Dufrayer me!--I knew Louise before you even
knew that she existed.--But answer me one question, and I'm done. Are
you engaged to Louise?"

"Most certainly not."

"Well, then, you ought to be.--For though you don't care what people
say about yourself, your conscience will surely prick you when you hear
that you're destroying the last shred of reputation Louise had left.--I
should be sorry to repeat to you what is being said of her."

But after he had gone, she reproached herself for having put such a
question to him. At the pass things had reached, it was surely best for
him to go through with his infatuation, and get over it. Whereas she,
in a spasm of conventionality, had pointed him out the sure road to
perdition; for the worst thing that could happen would be for him to
bind himself to Louise, in any fashion. As if her reputation mattered!
The more rapidly she got rid of what remained to her, the better it
would be for every one, and particularly for Maurice Guest.

Had Maurice been in doubt as to Madeleine's meaning, it would have been
removed within a few minutes of his leaving the house. As he turned a
corner of the Gewandhaus, he came face to face with Krafft. Though they
had not met for weeks, Heinrich passed with no greeting but a
disagreeable smile. Maurice was not half-way across the road, however,
when Krafft came running back, and, taking the lappel of his friend's
coat, allowed his wit to play round the talent Maurice displayed for
wearing dead men's shoes.

CARMEN was given that night in the theatre; Maurice had fetched tickets
from the box-office in the morning. An ardent liking for the theatre
had sprung up in Louise of late; and they were there sometimes two or
three evenings in succession. Besides this, CARMEN was her favourite
opera, which she never missed. They heard it from the second-top
gallery. Leaning back in his corner, Maurice could see little of the
stage; but the bossy waves of his companion's head were sharply
outlined for him against the opposite tier.

Louise was engrossed in what was happening on the stage;