point, as the robber did to Queen Margaret in
the lonely wood. We are conscious of treading on ground where stronger,
and wiser, and better men have knelt before us; and own that the altar
on which things so rare and precious have been laid has a right to be
fastidious as to the quality of incense.

Not the less did such glory of past royalty surround the Tresilyan
because she had abdicated, and never been dethroned.

CHAPTER VI.

There is something singularly refreshing in the enthusiasm that one
pretty and fascinating woman will display when speaking of another
highly gifted as herself--perhaps even more so. It seems to me there is
more honesty here, and less stage-trick and conventionality, than is to
be found in most manifestations of sentiment that take place in polite
society. A perfectly plain and unattractive female may, of course, be
sincerely attached to her beautiful friend, but her partisanship must be
somewhat theoretical; it has not the _esprit de corps_ which
characterizes the other class. These last can count victories enough of
their own to be able to sympathize heartily with the triumphs of their
fellows without envying or grudging them one. What does it matter if
Rose has slain her thousands and Lilian her tens of thousands? It is
always "so much scored up to our side."

Would you like to assist, invisibly, at one of those two-handed
"free-and-easies," where notes are compared and confidences exchanged,
where the fair warriors "shoulder their _fans_, and show how fields were
won?" Perhaps our vanity would suffer though our curiosity were
gratified. The proverb about listeners has come in since the time of
Gyges, it is true; but his luck was exceptional, and would not often
follow his Ring. Campaspe _en deshabille_ is not invariably kind. It is
a popular superstition that men are apt, at certain seasons, to speak
rather lightly, if not superciliously, of the beings whom they ought to
delight to honor. If so, be sure the medal has its reverse. When you
secured that gardenia from Amy's bouquet, or that ribbon from Helen's
glove trimming, you went home with a placid sense of self-gratulation,
flattering yourself you had done it rather diplomatically, without
compromising your boasted freedom by word or sign. Perhaps, two hours
later, you figured conspicuously in a train of shadowy captives adorning
the conqueror's ideal ovation. A change of color of which you were
unconscious, a tremulous pre