er tone.

Hayden, annoyed at first, determined to out-match Ydo in her audacity,
"But I have," he cried, his eyes alight with fun, "only I called it by a
different name."

"A different name!" she puzzled.

"One of the names in the vernacular," explained Robert with grave
mendacity, "is _the_ _cake_! I have often spoken to you, Miss Oldham, of
'the cake.' Of course, it has also its imposing Latin name."

It was Ydo's turn to look puzzled now; the conversation seemed to be
slipping away from her into channels that she could not follow. "Truly,"
she cried, "I want a string of those lovely butterflies, so I will make
you an offer, Mr. Hayden. I'll buy that butterfly. Name your price."

"Believe me, mademoiselle, as I have told you before, there is no price
you could name which would tempt me to sell outright." His jaw looked
very square and his gray eyes gazed very steadily into her dancing green
ones.

The Mariposa made a little face, a combination of lifted brows and
twisted mouth. "Just so," she said spreading out her hands, "about what I
expected; but even if you can't be tempted to sell outright, I dare say
you do not mind showing the photographs?"

Hayden smiled grimly. "That is ingenuous, senorita. Of course, I have no
objection to showing the photographs--at the proper time."

Mrs. Ames picked up her gloves and rose. "I don't know what you're
talking about. It's all Greek to me," with her strident cackle, "but this
I do know, Hurlburt--Hammerton--and that is she'll get ahead of you, this
Gipsy girl. Never doubt that."

Marcia had grown slightly paler during the conversation, and now she
turned surprised, almost frightened, yes, frightened eyes from Hayden to
Ydo.

CHAPTER XIV

The day of his dinner having arrived, Hayden found himself turned from
his own doors by the ruthless Kitty and adrift upon the world.

"Yes, you've simply got to go," she said firmly in reply to his
protestations. "The decorators will be here any minute and then we'll
begin to do things. You'll really be much happier at a club or on the
streets, anywhere rather than here, for if you insist on staying, you'll
be chased from pillar to post. You won't be able to find such a thing as
a quiet corner in the whole apartment. Now go, just as quickly as you
can."

Meekly he obeyed, humbly grateful that Tatsu was allowed to remain. He
could trust Tatsu's diplomacy and powers of resource to save his
cherished possessions, and ult