Dora looked
with a charming demureness at her lover, and said, "She had to be
obedient to some one wiser than herself," and so slipped her hand
into Basil's hand. And he understood the promise, and with a look of
passionate affection raised the little jeweled pledge and kissed it.

Perhaps no one was more affected by this chill, critical after-hour
than Miss Bayard and Ethel. Mostyn accompanied them home, but he was
depressed, and his courtesy had the air of an obligation. He said he
had a sudden headache, and was not sorry when the ladies bid him "good
night" on the threshold. Indeed, he felt that he must have refused any
invitation to lengthen out the hours with them or anybody. He wanted
one thing, and he wanted that with all his soul--solitude, that he might
fill it with images of Dora, and with passionate promises that either by
fair means or by foul, by right or by wrong, he would win the bewitching
woman for his wife.

CHAPTER IV

"WHAT do you think of the evening, Aunt Ruth?" Ethel was in her
aunt's room, comfortably wrapped in a pink kimono, when she asked this
question.

"What do you think of it, Ethel?"

"I am not sure."

"The dinner was well served."

"Yes. Who was the little dark man you talked with, aunt?"

"He was a Mr. Marriot, a banker, and a friend of Bryce Denning's. He is
a fresh addition to society, I think. He had the word 'gold' always on
his lips; and he believes in it as good men believe in God. The general
conversation annoyed him; he could not understand men being entertained
by it."

"They were, though, for once Jamie Sayer forgot to talk about his
pictures."

"Is that the name of your escort?"

"Yes."

"And is he an artist?"

"A second-rate one. He is painting Dora's picture, and is a great
favorite of Mrs. Denning's."

"A strange, wild-looking man. When I saw him first he was lying,
dislocated, over his ottoman rather than sitting on it."

"Oh, that is a part of his affectations. He is really a childish,
self-conscious creature, with a very decided dash of vulgarity. He only
tries to look strange and wild, and he would be delighted if he knew you
had thought him so."

"I was glad to see Claudine Jeffrys. How slim and graceful she is! And,
pray, who is that Miss Ullman?"

"A very rich woman. She has Bryce under consideration. Many other men
have been in the same position, for she is sure they all want her money
and not her. Perhaps she is right. I saw you talking