ty; he was never on two occasions alike; today he
seemed to relax in a luxurious mood, due in part to the influence of
sound, and in part, as his eyes declared, to the sensuous pleasure of
sitting by Alma's side.

'What an excellent fellow Carnaby is!' he remarked unexpectedly. 'I
have been seeing a good deal of him lately--as you know, I think?'

'So I have heard.'

'I like him all the better because I am rather sorry for him.'

'Why?'

'Don't you feel that he is very much out of place? He doesn't belong to
our world at all. He ought to be founding a new civilisation in some
wild country. I can sympathise with him; I have something of the same
spirit.'

'I never observed it,' said Alma, allowing her glance to skim his
features.

'Perhaps because you yourself represent civilisation in its subtlest
phase, and when I am with you I naturally think only of that. I don't
say I should have thriven as a backwoodsman; but I admire the type in
Carnaby. That's one of _our_ privileges, don't you think? We live in
imagination quite as much as in everyday existence. You, I am sure, are
in sympathy with infinite forms of life--and,' he added, just above his
breath, 'you could realise so many of them.'

'I shall be content with one,' replied Alma.

'And that----?'

She nodded towards the concert platform, where, at the same moment, a
violinist stepped forward. Redgrave gazed inquiringly at her, but she
kept silence until the next interval. Then, in reply to his direct
question, she told him, with matter-of-fact brevity, what her purpose
was. He showed neither surprise nor excessive pleasure, but bent his
head with a grave approving smile.

'So you feel that the time has come. Of course I knew that it would.
Are any details arranged?--or perhaps I mustn't ask?'

'I wanted to talk it over with you,' she answered graciously.

After the concert they had tea together. Redgrave was very attentive to
Miss Leach, whom his talk amused and flattered. Alma's enterprise was
discussed with pleasant freedom, and Redgrave learnt that she had
decided to employ Mr. Felix Dymes as her agent. The trio set forth at
length on their homeward journey in a mood of delightful animation, and
travelled together as far as Victoria.

'I haven't said that you can rely on me for all possible assistance,'
Redgrave remarked, as he walked along the roaring platform by Alma's
side. 'That is a matter of course. We shall meet again before long?'

'No