e Hubert is
himself musical."

"Oh, yes, but in quite a different way. His fetish is good taste, or
what he thinks such. Hadria's compositions set his teeth on edge. His
nature is conventional through and through. He fears adverse comment
more than any earthly thing. And yet the individual opinions that
compose the general 'talk' that he so dreads, are nothing to him. He
despises them heartily. But he would give his soul (and particularly
Hadria's) rather than incur a whisper from people collectively."

"That is a very common trait. If we feared only the opinions that we
respect, our fear would cover but a small area."

The music stole out again through the window. The thoughts of the
listeners were busy. It was not until quite lately that Professor
Fortescue had fully realised the nature of Hadria's present
surroundings. It had taken all his acuteness and his sympathy to enable
him to perceive the number and strength of the little threads that
hampered her spontaneity. As she said, they were made of heart-strings.
A vast spider's web seemed to spread its tender cordage round each
household, for the crippling of every winged creature within its radius.
Fragments of torn wings attested the struggles that had taken place
among the treacherous gossamer.

"And the maddening thing is," cried Algitha, "that there is nobody to
swear at. Swearing at systems and ideas, as Hadria says, is a Barmecide
feast to one's vindictiveness."

"It is the tyranny of affection that has done so much to ruin the lives
of women," the Professor observed, in a musing tone.

Then after a pause: "I fear your poor mother has never got over _your_
little revolt, Algitha."

"Never, I am sorry to say. If I had married and settled in Hongkong, she
would scarcely have minded, but as it is, she feels deserted. Of course
the boys are away from home more than I am, yet she is not grieved at
that. You see how vast these claims are. Nothing less than one's entire
life and personality will suffice."

"Your mother feels that you are throwing your life away, remember. But
truly it seems, sometimes, as if people were determined to turn
affection into a curse instead of a blessing!"

"I never think of it in any other light," Algitha announced serenely.

The Professor laughed. "Oh, there are exceptions, I hope," he said.
"Love, like everything else that is great, is very, very rare. We call
the disposition to usurp and absorb another person by that name,