oing to tell him
anything that might, untold, make him curious enough to come!

Jim went to London, revelling in clear English speech after years of
Teutonic gutturals, and rejoicing in the clean, clear-cut personalities
with which he came in contact. He loved the wonderful London
drawing-rooms, the well-ordered lives, the atmosphere of the smart clubs
and hotels, the plays and pictures and books that were discussed and
analyzed so inexhaustibly.

He found Eileen and Phyllis more charming than ever; and he very much
admired their aunt, stately Lady Violet Dray, and their bright, clever,
friendly cousin Ivy, who was as fresh and breezy as the winds that blew
over her native heather. Ivy was slender and vivacious; her face was
thin and a little freckled, and covered with a fine blond down, which
merged on her forehead into the straight rise of her carrot-coloured
hair. Her eyes were sharply blue, set in thick, short, tawny lashes. She
was an enthusiastic sportswoman, well informed on all topics of the day,
assured of her position and sure of herself, equally at home in her
riding tweeds and mud-splashed derby, and the trailing satin evening
gowns that left her bony little shoulders bare, and were embellished by
matchless diamonds or pearls. There was no sentiment in her, her best
friends were of both sexes and all ages, but she attached Jim to her
train, patronized and bullied him, and they became good friends.

Mrs. Chancellor talked well, and talked a great deal, and she stimulated
Jim to talk, too. Never in his life had so constant a demand been made
upon his conversational powers; and every hour with her increased his
admiration for Ivy and lessened his valuation of his own wisdom. She was
a thorough Englishwoman, considering everything in life desirable only
inasmuch as it was British. Toward America her attitude was one of
generous laughter touched with impatience. She never for one moment
considered seriously anything American. Mrs. Chancellor thought all of
it really too funny-"rarely too fenny," as she pronounced it. Only one
thing made her more angry than the defence of anything American, and
that was dispraise of anything British. The history of England was
sacred to her: London was the crown and flower of the world's
civilization; English children, English servants, English law, were all
alike perfect, and she also had her country's reverence for English
slang, quoting and repeating it with fondest appreciat