n of the eagerness she felt for the fray. In
addition she made herself a great favourite of the wealthy baronet, and
recognising in him a means of possibly exercising some power over Denis,
cultivated his affection by every wile of which her clever race made her
capable.

Denis Malster was obviously the most staggered by the turn events had
taken. Bewildered and fascinated by Leonetta's art of blowing hot and
cold, as the spirit moved her, kept constantly alert by the rapid
changes of her caprice, he had come to have eyes and ears only for her
imperious youth. If she ran off with Guy Tyrrell or with Stephen
Fearwell,--a mere boy,--he grew grave, meditative, taciturn; when she
returned he resumed his role of obsequious courtier without either
reserve or concealment. And who can be more obsequious to a pretty
schoolgirl than an Englishman of thirty?

The British are known all over the world for their stamina, for the grit
and tenacity with which they can play a losing game; nay, it is even
reported that they have frequently turned a losing game into a victory
by this very capacity for stubborn patience in adversity.

Cleopatra lacked none of the qualities which have made the British
nation famous. She, too, could play a losing game with dignity, grace,
and pride; even if, as in this case, it was the cruellest game that a
girl can be called upon to play. Perhaps, too, she noticed the conflict
that had started in Denis Malster's heart; or maybe she simply saw the
unmistakable signs of his dawning passion. But, in any case, and as
quickly as surely as she realised that he was becoming enslaved to her
sister, his charms underwent a mysterious intensification in her eyes
that only aggravated the difficulties of her position.

Certainly he had not made the first advances. Or, if he had, they had
been too subtle to be observed. What woman, moreover, really believes
that a man is ever guilty in the traffic of the sexes? She had, however,
been compelled to notice her sister's manoeuvres. They had been
unmistakable, untiring, unpardonable.

At times she had even been constrained to admire the skill with which
Guy Tyrrell, Stephen Fearwell, and the Incandescent Gerald himself had
been employed by Leonetta in the business of tormenting Denis into a
state of complete subjection. Every means was legitimate to Leonetta. If
she could not pretend to read a man's hand, she would make a cat's
cradle with him; if she could not take his