acteristic of the man. If there was a drop of sycophantic blood in
his veins, he had yet to reveal it. And it was this sublime confidence
in himself which formed one of his most potent charms for her. From
birth she had been waited upon, with varying degrees of servility,
depending upon the station and the hopes of those who waited. There were
servants. There were young men, of varying degrees of attractiveness,
station, and impecuniousness, who wanted to marry her. There were
beggars, of varying degrees of honesty, who wanted her to aid them.
There were the proponents of various charitable schemes, with varying
degrees of sincerity and intelligence, who wanted her to sign the
cheques. And in addition to those who merely wanted money, were the
great swarm of both sexes, who sought the smile of her social favour,
who delighted to be seen with her, to have her accept their attentions,
to be invited to her functions. There had been very few people in
her life who were there with a wholly disinterested purpose. And
even the individuals who were disinterested--or whom she thought
disinterested--had relatives who were not. In spite of her temperament,
the circumstances of her birth and wealth had forced her to surround
herself with a well-defined armour of suspicion. In Good's lack of
reverence, of tact, of taste, of manners, of anything approaching the
conventions which made up her life, she found what she had craved. Of
his utter clarity of soul there could be no doubt. She never once even
suspected that he had a thought which he considered worth uttering,
which, from motives of expediency, he did not utter. She had given him
food and lodging. He had given her--all he had to give--his open heart.
It was clear that he thought they were quits. And she was glad that he
did. It was her first experience of such an exchange.

She smiled again as she recalled his promise not to enter into debate
with Imrie. He would treat Imrie kindly--for her sake. How Arnold would
fume if he knew of such forbearance. And if Good only knew what he was
saying ... well, she reflected, he would doubtless say it just the same!

At supper, true to his promise, Good was extremely taciturn. He appeared
respectfully interested in all that Imrie had to say, joked pleasantly
with Roger, was politely intimate with Judith, and to her very great
astonishment, even went so far as to tell several very entertaining
anecdotes of his experiences in the diamond min