ay these things to Lettice herself."

"Exactly. That is what I knew you were going to say."

"If it weren't that I am certain you do not mean half you say----"

"I mean all that I say: every word of it. But I'll tell you what, Clara:
I believe that Lettice Campion is a woman of great talent--possibly even
of genius--and that she has never yet been able to give her talents full
play. She has the chance now, and I hope she'll use it."

"Oh, Jim, dear, do you think she is so sure to succeed?"

"If she doesn't, it will be pure cussedness on her part, and nothing
else," said Jim.

Clara reflected that she would tell Lettice what her husband said. She
moved to the window and looked out. She was waiting for her guests,
Lettice and Mrs. Campion, in the soft dusk of a sweet May evening, and
she was a little impatient for their arrival. She had had a comfortable,
nondescript meal, which she called dinner-tea, set ready for them in the
dining-room, and as this room was near the hall-door, she had installed
herself therein, so that she could the more easily watch for her
visitors. Mr. Graham, a tall, thin man, with coal-black beard, deep-set
dark eyes, and marked features, had thrown himself into a great
arm-chair, where he sat buried in the current number of a monthly
magazine. His wife was universally declared to be a very pretty woman,
and she was even more "stylish," as women say, than pretty; for she had
one of those light, graceful figures that give an air of beauty to
everything they wear. For the rest, she had well-cut features, bright
dark eyes, and a very winning smile. A brightly impulsive and
affectionate nature had especially endeared her to Lettice, and this had
never been soured or darkened by her experiences of the outer world,
although, like most people, she had known reverses of fortune and was
not altogether free from care. But her husband loved her, and her three
babies were the most charming children ever seen, and everybody admired
the decorations of her bright little house in Edwardes Square; and what
more could the heart of womankind desire?

"I wonder," she said presently, "whether Sydney will come with them. He
was to meet them at Liverpool Street; and of course I asked him to come
on."

"I would have gone out if you had told me that before," said Mr. Graham,
tersely.

"Why do you dislike Sydney Campion so much, Jim?"

"Dislike? I admire him. I think he is the coming man. He's one of the
most s