ng, and then he saw that Christine, Hickson and Mr. and Mrs.
Linburne were being ushered in. Christine approached, tall, beautiful,
conspicuous, and as divinely unconscious of it as Adam and Eve of their
nakedness; she moved between the tables, bowing here and there to people
she knew, not purposely ignoring all others, but seeming to find them
invisible as thin air. Riatt watched as if she were some great spectacle,
and was recalled only by hearing Dorothy's voice saying:

"What a lovely creature!"

"That is Miss Fenimer."

A sudden and deep flush spread over Miss Lane's face.

"And you have been telling me of your indifference to her?" she asked
bitterly. "How could any man be indifferent!"

"Good Heavens," cried Riatt fiercely. "All you women are alike! Beauty
isn't the only thing in the world for a man to love. There are such
things as truth and honor--"

"Yes, and old friendship, too," said Miss Lane, "but they don't always
amount to much."

"That is an unnecessary, unkind thing to say," he answered. "My
friendship for you means a good deal more to me than my engagement to
her."

"Max, I don't need to be consoled or soothed about your engagement," said
Miss Lane with a good deal of spirit. "As far as I am concerned you are
quite free not only to become engaged, but to have any feeling you like
for the lady you have chosen. I'm sure I congratulate you very heartily."

"You mean you don't believe a word of what I have been trying to
tell you."

"Oh, yes, I do. I believe you are engaged."

Perhaps it was as well that at this instant, Christine's eyes fell upon
her; she stared, then laughed, and pointed him out to Hickson, who
glanced at him coldly; he was evidently thinking that he would not have
taken another girl out to lunch the very day his engagement was
announced.

"I suppose I had better go and speak to them," Max said.

"I should think so," replied Dorothy tonelessly. "Who are the others?"

Riatt, not sorry for a moment's respite, entered into a detailed account
of Lee Linburne. He was the third generation of a great fortune,
augmenting rather than decreasing with years. He was but little over
thirty and had taken the whole field of amusement and sports as his own.
He played polo, had a racing stable and a racing yacht, had gone in
recently for flying (hence Riatt's connection with him), occasionally
financed a theatrical show, and now and then attended a directors'
meeting of some of his gra