gainst the
resolution of the woman they both loved. Unfortunately for Lushington,
he had begun by withdrawing from Margaret's surroundings and had made
way for his adversary.

Meanwhile Logotheti made the running. He had offered Margaret his motor
car for coming in to her rehearsals, and a chauffeur appeared with it
in good time, masked, coated and gloved in the approved fashion.
Margaret supposed that Logotheti meant to ask her to luncheon again
with Madame De Rosa, and she made up her mind to refuse, for no
particular reason except that she did not wish to seem too willing to
do whatever he proposed. Mrs. Rushmore thought it bad enough that she
should accept the offer of the motor car, but was beginning to
understand that the machine had quite irresistible temptations for all
persons under fifty. She was even a little shocked that Margaret should
go alone to Paris under the sole protection of the chauffeur, though
she would have thought it infinitely worse if Logotheti himself had
appeared.

The man held the door open for Margaret to get in, when she came out
upon the step with Mrs. Rushmore, who seemed anxious to keep an eye on
her as long as possible; as if she could project an influence of
propriety, a sort of astral chaperonage, that would follow the girl to
the city. She detained her at the last minute, holding her by the
elbow. The chauffeur stood impassive with his hand on the door, while
she delivered herself of her final opinion in English, which of course
he could not understand.

'I must say that your sudden intimacy with this suspicious Greek is
most extraordinary,' she said.

'Don't you think there is just a little prejudice in your opinion of
him?' asked Margaret sweetly.

'No,' answered Mrs. Rushmore with firmness, 'I don't, and I think it
very strange that a clever girl like you should be so easily taken in
by a foreigner. Much worse than a foreigner, my dear! A Greek is almost
as bad as a Turk, and we all know what Turks are! Fancy a decent young
woman trusting herself alone with a Turk! I declare, it's not to be
believed! Your dear mother's daughter too! You'll end in a harem,
Margaret, mark my word.'

'And be sewn up in a sack and thrown into the Bosphorus,' laughed
Margaret, trying to get away.

'Such things have happened before now,' said Mrs. Rushmore gloomily.

'Greeks don't have harems,' Margaret objected.

'Don't catch cold,' said Mrs. Rushmore, by way of refuting Margaret's
argum