a
pose. I suppose that none of us is quite free from a little pretense,
under which the true man or woman shows."

"I am glad indeed to hear you take his part," I told her, "and I hope he
will do some fine manly things over there and return in his right mind,
with his eyes open to--to what he has been so foolish as to----"

"I know that he will give the best of himself, Mr. Cole," she put in.
"Gordon is a first rate sportsman, and that means a man who will play
the game, strongly and honestly, without taking the slightest advantage.
And perhaps----"

"My dear lady, I know a good woman who burns candles when she wants
anything badly, and prays before the Virgin. I shall get her to exert
her good offices in our behalf. I'd give anything to know that
everything will turn out as I heartily wish it may, for both your sakes.
In you, I know that he has found all that a man may wish and long for in
the world, and yet has failed to appreciate his good fortune."

She put her gloved hand in mine.

"Thank you," she said simply. "I--I'll wait, a long time."

She went down the steps and entered the machine, sitting before the big
wheel, strongly aslant and grooved to give a strong grip. The chauffeur
jiggled something, whereat the great beast began to hum. She nodded
again to me and started without the slightest jerk. Evidently she drove
better than Gordon. She turned the nose of the thing around till the
front wheels were an eighth of an inch from the sidewalk, backed again
in circular fashion, and swept off towards the avenue. Sixty horses, I
reflected, could lie obediently in the hollow of her hand, but just one
man, who should have thanked Heaven upon his knees, had squirmed away
like an arrant fool.

I went up the stairs, slowly, chewing upon the fact that I had given
her no inkling of how matters really stood. But, in deference to the
feelings of Frances, it had been impossible for me to do so, especially
since she was no longer an element in the case. Gordon had given up all
hope of her and run away, so that this closed one part of the incident.
Then, if I had told Miss Van Rossum of Gordon's proposal to Frances, it
would have made her very unhappy and she might possibly have blamed the
model. Women, the very best and dearest of them, are sometimes not quite
fair to their own sex.

Yes, it was a matter that belonged to Frances and Gordon, and I had no
right to be a bearer of tales, so that Miss Van Rossum is unaware