ch an expression as he saw in it now. There was a
pregnant pause before the reply came.

"Very well, then. We will go to her to-night. No doubt the others will
now be glad to hear our views on tobacco smoke."

Morgan was conscious of a strange glow of pleasure, of a strange
satisfaction. All his sense of romance and mystery was astir. How
charming was the promise of the phantasy to come! The smiling, scented
serpent-woman was holding her arms to him! And again those lines of
Browning echoed through him, and his whole being seemed invaded as by
a "faint sweetness from some old Egyptian's fine, worm-eaten shroud."

He defended moderate smoking with vivacity.

Afterwards, the guests being disposed for conversation in the
drawing-room, Helen managed to sit with Morgan a little apart.

"What do you think of Mr. Ingram?" she asked. "Did you talk to him at
all?"

"He seems fairly intelligent," replied Morgan; "more intelligent, in
fact, than his work would lead one to suppose. You told me the other
day, did you not, that you have known him some little time?"

"It is only during the last few months that I have cultivated him or
rather he me."

"I see Mrs. Blackstone has possession of him now. She must be very
happy."

"She is his greatest confidante. That I am _her_ greatest confidante,
you know already, _ergo_--well, I'll leave you to make the deduction.
She is really a good soul, and a marked success as an ear trumpet."

"But is Mr. Ingram aware of that?"

"Quite. That is why he speaks into her such a deal. He finds me
perfectly deaf otherwise."

All this was a revelation to Morgan.

"You seem to be hinting at something," he could not help exclaiming.

"Of course. Mr. Ingram is anxious to marry a title, and, since he does
not object to having a good-looking person attached to it, he has done
me the honour to pretend to be in love with me. He has been proposing
for the last six weeks, and has offered to purify his books still
further to suit my virginal soul."

"And you professed to be telling me everything interesting," he
reproached her.

"Why, I left off telling you about my wooers and proposals at your own
request. You insisted they would never make you jealous, and they
rather bored you. So I did not say a word about this one. Of course
Laura is anxious to further his cause. She thinks me a good woman and
somewhat of a prude. Poor soul! She doesn't suspect the wedding ring
with the diamond in it you'v