ou do the same thing when your door is
locked--now don't you?"

"Of course."

"You can't help being a little vain, Jim, any more than I can. You know
you're a stunning-looking fellow. These Yankee girls all love you at
first sight--the tall, straight, sinewy figure, strong and swift in
every movement, the finely chiselled face, the deep-set, dark brown
eyes under their heavy brows, that big masterful jaw and firm
mouth----"

Stuart suddenly took her in his arms and kissed her into silence.

"Hush, Nan. I don't like the way you say that!"

"Why? Am I too modest?"

"No, too deliberate and coldly mistress of yourself. I wish you loved
me a little more tumultuously, as I do you."

"Well, let me whisper then that your return to-night has made a perfect
ending to a perfect day. Oh, Jim, I've been so happy to-night! Seated
in that big stage box, I felt that I was somebody. This is the first
really decent dress I've ever had in my life."

"You were just as beautiful in that blue cotton one, the day I first
kissed you, Nan."

"I know you thought so, Jim. But the world wouldn't have said it----"

"And to-night?"

"They agreed with you. I could see it in the craning necks, the
glances, the whispered comments, and the stare of mannerless men."

"And you were proud and happy!"

"Proud for your sake, Jim,--yes--and happy in your love."

Stuart's face clouded and he turned away, startled for the first time
by a strange similarity in the tone of Nan's voice to her mother's.

The painful impression was suddenly broken by a quick touch of Nan's
hand on his arm.

"Oh, Jim, I'm glad you came a day earlier. I've something to tell you,
something wonderful--something that will bring our happiness near----"
Her voice sank to the tenderest accents.

"What on earth----"

"You know Mr. Bivens--John C. Calhoun Bivens?"

"Yes," Stuart answered evenly, controlling himself with an effort.

"Well, he has taken our second floor, I had a long talk with him last
week."

"Indeed!"

"But of course, goosie, it was business--all business. By the merest
accident I learned that his big Trust, the American Chemical Company,
needs another lawyer. They pay an enormous salary with all sorts of
chances to get rich. They are making millions on millions. I told him
that you were the very man for the place and that you were going to be
the greatest lawyer in New York. Imagine my joy--when he not only
agreed with me, but said he would doub