rse not. The springs of art are in the old world. Among the
vines and the olives one hears a voice. I must really try to give you
some idea of my little place at Riva.'

He began a playful description--long, but never tedious; alluring, yet
without enthusiasm--a dreamy suggestion of refined delights and
luxuries.

'I have another place in the Pyrenees, to suit another mood; and not
long ago I was sorely tempted by the offer of a house not far from
Antioch, in the valley of the Orontes--a house built by an Englishman.
Charming place, and so entirely off the beaten track. Isn't there a
fascination in the thought of living near Antioch? Well away from bores
and philistines. No Mrs. Grundy with her clinking tea-cups. I dare say
the house is still to be had.--Oh, do tell me something about your
friend, Fraulein Steinfeld. Is she in earnest? Will she do anything?'

His eloquence was at an end. Thenceforward he talked of common things
in unemotional language; and when Alma parted from him, it was with a
sense of being tired and disappointed.

On the following day she did not see him at all. He could not have left
Bregenz, for, of course, he would have let her know. She thought of him
incessantly, reviewing all his talk, turning over this and that
ambiguous phrase, asking herself whether he meant much or little. It
was natural that she should compare and contrast his behaviour with
that of Felix Dymes. If his motive were not the same, why did he seek
her society? And if it were? If at length he spoke out, summing his
hints in the plain offer of all those opportunities she lacked?

A brilliant temptation. To leave the world as Alma Frothingham, and to
return to it as Mrs. Cyrus Redgrave!

But, in that event, what of her musical ambitions? He spoke of her art
as the supreme concern, to which all else must be subordinate. And
surely that was his meaning when he threw scorn upon 'bores and
philistines'. Why should the fact of his wealth interfere with her
progress as an artist? Possibly, on the other hand, he did not intend
that she should follow a professional career. Cannot one be a great
artist without standing on public platforms? Was it his lordly thought
to foster her talents for his own delectation and that of the few
privileged?

Her brain grew confused with interpreting and picturing. But once more
she had made an advance in self-esteem. She could await the next
meeting with a confidence and pride very unlike her s