op. They alighted; the driver was bidden to wait; and
along the alleys of the gleaming bazaar they sought a present suitable
for Leonard Woolstan. To Lashmar it was a scarcely tolerable ennui; he
had even more than the average man's hatred of shopping, and feminine
indecision whipped him to contemptuous irritation. To give himself
something to do, he looked about for a purchase on his own account,
and, having made it, told Iris that this was a present from him to his
former pupil.

"Oh, how kind of you!" exclaimed the mother, regarding him tenderly.
"How very kind of you! Len will be delighted, poor boy."

They left the shop, and stood by the hansom.

"Where are you going to now?" asked Iris.

"Home, to work. I have to address a meeting at Hollingford on the 20th,
and I must think out a sufficiency of harmless nonsense."

"Really? A public meeting already? Couldn't I come and hear you?"

Dyce explained the nature of the gathering.

"But I shall see you before then," he added, helping her to enter the
cab. "By the bye, don't be indiscreet with reference to what we spoke
of just now."

"Why of course not," answered Iris, her eyes fixed on his face as he
drew back carelessly saluting.

Though Lashmar had elaborated his story concerning Lord Dymchurch on
the spur of the moment, he now thoroughly believed it himself, and the
result was a restlessness of mind which no conviction of its utter
absurdity could overcome. In vain did he remember that Lady Ogram had
settled his destiny so far as the matter lay in _her_ hands, and that
to displease the choleric old autocrat would be to overthrow in a
moment the edifice of hope reared by her aid. The image of May Tomalin
was constantly before his mind. Not that he felt himself sentimentally
drawn to her; but she represented an opportunity which it annoyed him
to feel that he would not, if he chose, be permitted to grasp. Miss
Tomalin by no means satisfied his aspiration in the matter of marriage,
whatever wealth she might have to bestow; he had always pictured a very
lofty type of woman indeed, a being superb in every attribute when
dreaming of his future spouse. But he enjoyed the sense of power, and
was exasperated by a suggestion that any man could have a natural
advantage over him. To this characteristic he owed the influence with
women which had carried him so far, for there is nothing that better
stands a man in his relations with the other sex than settled egoism
se