ng vague splendours for the
future--success unbounded, honours, the esteem of all good men; this,
for her boy. And--if it must be--love, in its season--with the
inevitable separation and a slow dissolution of an intimacy which had
held for her all she desired in life--his companionship, his happiness,
his fortune; this also she dreamed for his sake. Yes--knowing she could
not always keep him, and that it must come inexorably, she dreamed of
love for him--and marriage.

And, as she stood now by the sunny window, idly intent on her vision,
without warning the face of Shiela Cardross glimmered through the dream,
growing clearer, distinct in every curve and tint of its exquisite
perfection; and she stared at the mental vision, evoking it with all
the imagination of her inner consciousness, unquiet yet curious,
striving to look into the phantom's eyes--clear, direct eyes which she
remembered; and a thrill of foreboding touched her, lest the boy she
loved might find in the sweetness of these clear eyes a peril not
lightly overcome.

"She is so unusually beautiful," said Miss Palliser aloud, unconscious
that she had spoken. And she added, wondering, "God knows what blood is
in her veins to form a body so divine."

CHAPTER V

A FLANK MOVEMENT

Young Hamil, moving thoughtfully along through the gardens, caught a
glimpse of a group under the palms which halted him for an instant, then
brought him forward, hat off, hand cordially outstretched.

"Awf'lly glad to see you, Virginia; this is very jolly; hello, Cuyp! How
are you, Colonel Vetchen--oh! how do you do, Mr. Classon!" as the latter
came trotting down the path, twirling a limber walking-stick.

"How-dee-do! How-dee-do!" piped Courtlandt Classon, with a rickety
abandon almost paternal; and, replying literally, Hamil admitted his
excellent physical condition.

Virginia Suydam, reclining in her basket chair, very picturesque in a
broad hat, smiled at him out of her peculiar bluish-green eyes, while
Courtlandt Classon fussed and fussed and patted his shoulder; an old
beau who had toddled about Manhattan in the days when the town was gay
below Bleecker Street, when brownstone was for the rich alone, when the
family horses wore their tails long and a proud Ethiope held the reins,
when Saratoga was the goal of fashion, and old General Jan
Van-der-Duynck pronounced his own name "Wonnerdink," with profane
accompaniment.

They were all most affable--Van Tassel Cuyp