him her hand with free grace, and smiled up at him
as he bade her good-morning.

He remarked on her pale cheeks, but praised the brightness of her
eyes, and accepted her explanation that the bustle and the strangeness
was unusual to her, as a natural and sufficient reason for the pallor.

"You will soon grow accustomed to that," he said, as they descended to
the carriage, "and be the rosiest, fairest little woman on the
boulevard, for I mean to drive half the men jealous by taking you
there often."

[Illustration: "She wondered if she would feel _much_ different if she
were dead."--page 76.]

Madeline made no reply, and they entered the carriage.

Davlin was not surprised at her silence; he was prepared for a little
coyness; in fact, for some resistance, and expected to have occasion
for the specious eloquence always at his command. Of course, the
result would be the same,--he had no doubt of that, and so in silence
they reached their destination.

Up a broad flight of stairs, and then a door. Lucian rings, and an
immaculate colored servant appears, who seems as well bred as an
English baronet, and who expresses no surprise at the presence of a
lady there.

Up another flight of softly carpeted stairs, across a wide hall, and
lo! the abode of the sybarite, the apartments of the disciple of
Chance.

"Welcome to your kingdom, fair queen," says Lucian, as they enter.
"This is your abiding place, for a time, at least, and I am your slave
for always," and he kneels playfully before her.

Madeline turns away, and, finding it easiest to do, in her then state
of mind, begins a careless tour of the rooms, making a pretense of
criticism, and finding in even this slow promenade some relief from
absolute quiet and silence.

She guarded her face lest it should display too much of that locked,
sullen calm underneath, and replied by an occasional word and nod to
his running comments upon the different articles undergoing
examination. Fingering carelessly the rare ornaments upon a fine set
of brackets, her eye rested upon an elegant little gold mounted
pistol. She turned away quickly, and they passed to other things.

Her replies became more ready, and she began questioning gravely about
this or that, listening with childlike wonder to his answers, and
winning him into a pleasant bantering humor.

Finally he threw himself upon a chair, and selecting a cigar proceeded
to light it.

Madeline continued to flit from pictu