m Patricia's and
Christopher's intimacy, to her father years ago.

The piece at the theatre was a modern comedy which did not greatly
interest him, indeed, he was more concerned in keeping his attention
from that newly-discovered temple within than in unravelling the
mysteries of the rather thread-bare plot of the play. Being, however,
quite unaccustomed to dealing with this dual condition of mind it is
to be feared he was a little "distrait" and mechanical of speech.
Constantia allowed him the first act to play out his mood and then
with charming imperiousness claimed his full attention, gained it, and
with it, his gratitude for timely distraction.

Half way through the play he remembered this was the theatre at which
Mrs. Sartin and Jessie were employed. He mentioned the fact to Mrs.
Wyatt, who remarked gravely their names were not on the programme.
Christopher equally gravely explained quite briefly. If he found
nothing surprising in his own interest in these friends of the past,
he never made the error of imagining they would be of interest to
newer friends. There was a certain independence in his attitude
towards all affairs that touched him nearly, which even at this early
age made him a free citizen of the world in which he chanced to move.
This attitude of mind was more in evidence to-night than he had
imagined. Personally, he quite appreciated the fact he was sitting in
a box with one of the loveliest women in London, and that she was
everything that was charming and nice to him, but it never occurred to
him that half the men in the theatre would have given a big share of
their worth to be in his place; he was almost childishly unconscious
of the envious glances he earned. Constantia was not: neither was she
blind to his attitude of personal content and impersonal oblivion. It
amused her vastly, and she compiled an exceedingly entertaining letter
to Aymer on the strength of it.

"He handed me over to Basil in the vestibule afterwards," she
concluded, "with the most engaging air of having been allowed a
special treat and fully appreciating it, and departed straightway to
conduct Mrs. Sartin, dresser at the theatre, to her house in the wilds
of Lambeth. He owned it in the most ingenuous way, seeing nothing
whatever of pathos in it. Does he lack sense of humour?"

Aymer, ignoring the rest of the letter, refuted this query with pages
of vigorous sarcasm, to the complete delight and triumph of his
sister.

Ch