r
acquaintances rapidly increased. She was too independent and
unconventional to ask many questions about the people that amused her;
she took them as they came--"

"Sir James!--dear Sir James." Lady Lucy raised a pair of imploring
hands. "What good can it do that you should tell me all this? It shows
that this poor creature had a wild, undisciplined character. Could any
one ever doubt it?"

"Wild? undisciplined?" repeated Sir James. "Well, if you think that you
have disposed of the mystery of it by those adjectives! For me--looking
back--she was what life and temperament and heredity had made her. Up
to this point it was an innocent wildness. She could lose herself in art
or music; she did often the most romantic and generous things; she
adored her child; and but for some strange kink in the tie that bound
them, she would have adored her husband. Well!"--he shrugged his
shoulders mournfully--"there it is: she was alone--she was
beautiful--she had no doubt a sense of being neglected--she was
thirsting for some deeper draught of life than had yet been hers--and by
the hideous irony of fate she found it--in gambling!--and in the
friendship which ruined her!"

Sir James paused. Rising from his chair, he began to pace the large
room. The immaculate butler came in, made up the fire, and placed the
tea: domestic and comfortable rites, in grim contrast with the story
that held the minds of Lady Lucy and her guest. She sat motionless
meanwhile; the butler withdrew, and the tea remained untouched.

"Sir Francis and Lady Wing--the two fiends who got possession of
her--had been settled at Brighton for about a year. Their debts had
obliged them to leave London, and they had not yet piled up a sufficient
mountain of fresh ones to drive them out of Brighton. The man was the
disreputable son of a rich and hard-working father who, in the usual
way, had damned his son by removing all incentives to work, and turning
him loose with a pile of money. He had married an adventuress--a girl
with a music-hall history, some beauty, plenty of vicious ability, and
no more conscience than a stone. They were the centre of a gambling and
racing set; but Lady Wing was also a very fine musician, and it was
through this talent of hers that she and Juliet Sparling became
acquainted. They met, first, at a charity concert! Mrs. Sparling had a
fine voice, Lady Wing accompanied her. The Wings flattered her, and
professed to adore her. Her absent whimsic