er
was imperative. He had reached the point where that circumstance could
no longer be ignored. The avowal that the child had passed beyond his
control would have had more bitterness in it, were it not for the fact
that her naive self-sufficiency touched his sense of humor, while her
dainty beauty wakened his paternal pride.

Nevertheless, it was patent that Dorothea had been too much her own
mistress. Without admitting that he had been wrong in his methods
hitherto, he confessed that the time had come when the duenna system
must be introduced, as a matter not only of propriety, but of prudence.
He assured himself of his regret that no American lady who could take
the position chanced to be on the spot, but allayed his sorrow on the
ground that any fairly well-mannered, virtuous woman could fulfil the
functions of so mechanical a task, just as any decent, able-bodied man
is good enough to be a policeman.

It was somewhat annoying that the lady in question should be young and
pretty; for it was a sad proof of the crudity of human nature that the
mere residence of a free man and a free woman under the same roof could
not pass without comment among their friends. For himself it was a
matter of no importance; and as for her, a woman who has her living to
earn must often be placed in situations where she is exposed to remark.

To anticipate all possibility of mistake, it would be necessary that his
attitude toward Mrs. Eveleth should be strictly that of the employer
toward the employed. He must ignore the circumstance of their earlier
acquaintance, with its touch of something memorable which neither of
them had ever been able to explain, and confine himself as far as
possible, both in her interests and his own, to such relations as he
held with his stenographers and his clerks. What friendliness she
required she must receive from other hands; and, doubtless, she would
find sufficient.

Having intrenched himself behind his fortifications of reserve, he was
able to maintain just the right shade of dignity, when, in the
half-light of the midwinter afternoon, Diane glided into the big,
book-lined apartment, in which the comfortable air induced through long
occupancy by people of means did not banish a certain sombreness. She
entered with the subdued manner of one who has been sent for peremptorily,
but who acknowledges the right of summons. The perception of this called
an impulse to apologize to Derek's lips; but on reflect