she doesn't even know him!... Yes, of
course she does, naturally."

"Oh!"

Romer, though he never by any chance smiled at his wife's careless
irresponsible chatter, nor laughed at her trivial jests, took the
deepest interest in them, and would listen, as if under a charm, by the
hour, to subtleties and frivolities that one would never have imagined
he would enjoy. Sometimes the faint shadow of a smile would illuminate
his face like a cold ray of wintry moonlight, but that was when she had
ceased speaking. The smile was the effect of having watched the sparkle
of her grey eyes, the expression of her pretty mouth, and her brilliant,
sunshiny grace.

"It's very sweet of Harry," she said thoughtfully, "to do all this for
me. It's all for me, or rather it's all for Daphne; he's so fond of
Daphne."

"Really? Why doesn't he marry her himself?"

She looked surprised and blushed slightly.

"Harry? Why, he never marries!"

"He doesn't as a rule, I know," Romer admitted.

"Then, why should he make an exception for Daphne? He's fond of her--of
us--in fact, devoted--just like a brother. Not that I ever saw a devoted
brother. Besides, Harry's made to be a bachelor, and he isn't well off
enough to marry."

"Really? Hard up? Poor chap! Never saw any sign of it."

"Hard up? No; how like you! Of course, he has plenty of money, for
_him_, but he spends it all, poor boy. Anyhow, of course, he's not
really rich like Van Buren. It's on a totally different scale--a
different sort of thing altogether. But, of course, Van Buren may not
care for Daphne; people have such funny tastes; and not only that, but
if he adores and worships the ground she treads on I shan't let her
dream of marrying him unless she absolutely returns it--at least, unless
she likes him fairly well."

All this seemed to absorb Romer, and after a pause he said--

"I suppose you'll get Daphne a new dress for Harry's beano?"

Valentia smiled pityingly.

"Yes, of course, you would think that. No! Why, that would be _l'enfance
de l'art_! First of all, Daphne looks ever so much better when she's
dressed really simply, not the latest fashion; on the very verge of
dowdiness! It suits her--shows her off. It would be silly to dress her
up like a doll or make her look _endimanchee_ on Thursday, or arranged
and got up expensively, on purpose for Van Buren. I wouldn't, for
instance, for anything, let her wear her new tulle dress from Armand!
He'd see through it. Besid