fondly. On each side of her Audrey could catch murmured
exclamations of delight. Musa himself was certainly pleased and happy....
He had played at Foa's, where it was absolutely essential to play if one
intended to conquer Paris and to prove one's pretensions; and he had found
favour with this satiated and fastidious audience.

"_Ouf!"_ sighed the musical critic Orientally lounging on a chair. "Andre,
has it occurred to you that we are expiring for want of air?"

A window was opened, and a shiver went through the assembly.

The clanging sounded again, but no dog, for the dog had been exterminated.

"Dauphin, my old pig!" Foa's greeting from the entrance floated into the
drawing-room, and then a very impressed: "Mademoiselle" from Madame Foa.

"What?" cried Dauphin. "Musa has played? He played well? So much the
better. What did I tell you?"

And he entered the drawing-room with the satisfied air of having fed Musa
from infancy and also of having taught him all he knew about the violin.

Madame Foa followed him, and with her was Miss Ingate, gorgeous and
blushing. The whole company was now on its feet and moving about. Miss
Ingate scuttered to Audrey.

"Well," she whispered. "Here I am. I came partly to satisfy that hysterical
Elise, and Monsieur Dauphin met me on the stairs. But really I came because
I've had another letter from Miss Nickall. She's been and got her arm
broken in a street row. I knew those policemen would do it one day. I
always said they would."

But Audrey seemed not to be listening. With a side-long gaze she saw Madame
Piriac talking with a middle-aged Englishman, whose back alone was visible
to her. Madame Piriac laughed and vanished out of sight into the
dining-room. The Englishman turned and met Audrey's glance.

Abruptly leaving Miss Ingate, Audrey walked straight up to the Englishman.

"Good evening," she said in a low voice. "What is your name?"

"Gilman," he answered, with a laugh. "I only this instant recognised you."

"Well, Mr. Gilman," said Audrey, "will you oblige me very much by not
recognising me? I want us to be introduced. I am most particularly anxious
that no one should know I'm the same girl who helped you to jump off your
yacht at Lousey Hard last year."

And she moved quickly away.

CHAPTER XVIII

A DECISION

The entire company was sitting or standing round the table in the
dining-room. It was a table at which eight might have sat down to dinner
with a fair