same. Fellows like you utter pious platitudes; you proclaim the glory of
women; you hold up your hands with horror at a man who dares tell the
truth, and then you back out like cowards. I say there is no woman but
who has her price. You quote that lying gossip about Miss Blackstone
refusing me because of my heresies and my whisky drinking. I tell you it
is a lie invented by Sprague's mother, and I go further and I say that
there is no woman who really cares a fig for these things, provided you
can satisfy her ambition. And I'm prepared to stand by it. All I say is,
name your woman."

"Miss Olive Castlemaine."

The man who had taken no part in the conversation spoke this time, and
as the name escaped his lips both Purvis and Sprague gave a start. Even
Leicester was silent for a moment. He looked from one to another
suspiciously, then he burst out laughing.

"You've made a bold bid, Winfield," he said. "You make even me tremble.
Miss Olive Castlemaine is, so I suppose, the most sought-after heiress
in London. She fulfils all my conditions, and, more than that, she has
refused both Sprague and Purvis. I suppose, from what I am told, that
she looked upon Sprague as a bit of a hypocrite, and Purvis as--well,
not likely to have a great future."

He evidently stung both these men by his words. It was perfectly true
that both of them had been refused by Miss Olive Castlemaine, it was
just as true that she had been sought after by a number of other
eligible marriageable men, and had refused them all.

Miss Olive Castlemaine was known to be a young lady of more than
ordinary beauty, of good social standing, and, what was more, an heiress
to great wealth. But she was not a society woman. Some women laughed at
her because she preferred seeking to do good in the world to living the
life of a butterfly. She worked among the poor, she taught a class of
ragged children, and she was known to have strong opinions both about
men and things. She had taken a degree at St. Andrews University, she
was a Girton girl, and had attained to a high position there. Without
being a "blue stocking" she was a cultured woman, and was acquainted
with the language and literature of more than one country. But, more
than all, she had caused many society women to raise their eyebrows at
the mention of her name, because she was, to use their expression,
"pious." She belonged to no set, and was rarely seen at receptions. She
loved London because it was t