he shows them up by looking as she does. She is their
contemporary, and she has the impertinence to be old. And they can't
forgive her for it."

"I understand," said Craven. "She has betrayed the 'old guard.' She has
disobeyed the command inscribed on their banner. She has given up."

"Yes. They will never pardon her, never!"

"I wonder what made her do it?" said Craven.

And he proceeded to touch on Miss Van Tuyn's desire to get Lady
Sellingworth to Paris. He soon found out that she did not know about the
jewels episode. She showed curiosity, and he told her what he knew. She
seemed deeply interested.

"I was sure there was a mystery in her life," she said. "I have always
felt it. Ten years ago! And since then she has never stayed in Paris!"

"And since then--from that moment--she has betrayed the 'old guard.'"

"How? I don't understand."

Craven explained. Miss Van Tuyn listened with an intensity of interest
which flattered him. He began to think her quite lovely, and she saw the
pretty thought in his mind.

When he had finished she said:

"No attempt to recover the lost jewels, the desertion of Paris, the
sudden change into old age! What do you make of it?"

"I can make nothing. Unless the chagrin she felt made her throw up
everything in a fit of anger. And then, of course, once the thing was
done she couldn't go back."

"You mean--go back to the Edwardian youthfulness she had abandoned?"

"Yes. One may refuse to grow old, but once one has become definitely,
ruthlessly old, it's practically impossible to jump back to a pretence
of the thirties."

"Of course. It would frighten people. But--it wasn't that."

"No?"

"No. For if she had felt the loss of her jewels so much as you suggest,
she would have made every effort to recover them."

"I suppose she would."

"The heart of the mystery lies in her not wishing to try to get the
jewels back. That, to me, is inexplicable. Because we women love jewels.
And no woman carries about jewels worth fifty thousand pounds without
caring very much for them."

"Just what I have thought," said Craven.

After a short silence he added:

"Could Lady Sellingworth possibly have known who had stolen the jewels,
do you think?"

"What! And refrained from denouncing the thief!"

"She might have had a reason."

Miss Van Tuyn's keen though still girlish eyes looked sharply into
Craven's for an instant.

"I believe you men, you modern men are very apt to think ter