eting with this undergraduate--purely accidental on my
part--in the romantic garden of the poet's house that first turned my
mind towards the university town of Oxbridge. I had no difficulty in
finding employment as a waitress there in a restaurant where knowledge
of the business was considered less essential than a turn for repartee
and some gift for keeping the young of our great nobility in their
proper place. It was not long before I had made the acquaintance of
quite a number of undergraduates. Some of them had a marked tendency
towards rapidity, but soon learned that the regulation of the pace would
remain with me.

One Sunday morning I had consented to go for a walk with one of my young
admirers--a nice boy, with more nerve than I have ever encountered in
any human being except myself. It happened by chance that we encountered
the Dean of his college. The Dean, with an unusual condescension--for
which there may possibly have been a reason--stopped to speak to my
companion, who without the least hesitation introduced the Dean to me as
his sister.

That was my first meeting with Dr. Benger Horlick, the celebrated Dean
of Belial.

No social occasion has ever yet found me at a loss. The more difficult
and dramatic it is, the more thoroughly do I enjoy its delicate
manipulation. I could not deny the relationship which had been asserted,
without involving my young friend. The only alternative was to play up
to it, and I played up. The perfect management of old men is best
understood by young girls.

I told him that I was staying with mamma, and mentioned a suitable
hotel, adding that I was so sorry I had to return to town that
afternoon, as I had begun to love the scholastic peace of Oxbridge and
valued so much the opportunity of meeting its greatest men. I was bright
and poetical in streaks, and every shy--if I may use the expression--hit
the coco-nut. Sometimes I glanced at Willie, my pseudo-brother. His face
twitched a little, but he never actually gave way to his feelings. The
Dean had ceased to pay much attention to him.

For about a quarter of an hour the Dean strolled along with us. At
parting, he held my hand--for a minute longer than was strictly
necessary--and said:

"You have interested me--er--profoundly. May I hope that when you get
back to Grosvenor Square, you will sometimes spare a few moments from
the fashionable circles in which you move, and write to me?"

I said that it would be a great hon