the girl with a quickness which sounded abrupt, but
which, as could easily be seen, was born of shyness and not of
incivility. "You can get me an engagement if you like, Mr. Lepel; and I
wish you would."

Hubert laughed, not thinking that she was in earnest, and surveyed her
critically.

"You will not have much difficulty in getting one for yourself, I should
think," he said.

Miss West colored and drew back rather haughtily. It was evident that
she did not like remarks of a personal bearing, although Mr. Lepel had
spoken only as he would have thought himself licensed to speak to girls
of her profession, who are generally open to such compliments--and
indeed she was not very likely to escape compliments. As he looked at
her in the light of the gas-lamps before the theatre, Hubert Lepel
became gradually aware that there stood before him one of the most
beautiful women he had ever seen.

She was tall--nearly as tall as himself--but so finely proportioned that
she gave the impression of less height than she really possessed. Every
movement of her lithe limbs was full of grace; she was slender without
being thin, and lissom as an untrained beautiful creature of the woods.
In after-days, when Hubert knew her better, he used to compare her to a
young panther for grace and freedom of motion. It was a pleasure to
watch her walk, although her step was longer and freer than to Enid
Vane's teachers would have seemed desirable. Her features were perfectly
cut; the broad forehead, the straight nose, the curved lips and
slightly-puckered chin were of the type recognised as purely Greek, and
the complexion and eyes accompanying these features were rich in the
coloring that glows upon the canvases of Murillo and Velasquez. The skin
was of a creamy brown, heightened by a carmine tint in the oval cheeks;
the eyes were large, dark, and lustrous, with long black lashes and
well-defined black brows. It seemed somehow to Hubert as if those eyes
were familiar to him, but he could not recollect how or why. For the
rest, Miss Cynthia West was a very well-dressed, stylish-looking young
woman, neither fast nor shabby in her mode of attire; and the things
that she wore served--intentionally or not--to set off her good looks to
the best advantage. Hubert had seen her several times off and on the
stage during the past few weeks since his return to England; she took
none but minor parts, but was so remarkably handsome that she had begun
to attr