n, I wired to him to join us."

A worn, fatigued-looking, but not ungentle rake of forty,
Selincourt had stayed once at Wanhope, but the visit had not been
a success: indeed Laura had been thankful when it ended before
host and guest threw the decanters at each other's heads. That
she was pleased to see him now there could be no doubt: she had
taken him by both hands and was smiling at him as if she would
have liked to fling decorum to the winds and kiss him. Lawrence
also smiled but with a touch of finesse. His plan was working.
Laura was going to enjoy herself: bon! he was truly fond of Laura
and delighted to give her pleasure. But by it he would be left
free to devote himself to Isabel.

It was to this end that he had planned the entire expedition. At
Chilmark they met continually in the same setting, and he had no
means of printing a fresh image of himself on her mind, but here
he was free of country customs, a rich man among his equals, an
expert in the art of "doing oneself well"--one of those who rule
over modern civilization by divine right of a chequebook and a
trained manner. Isabel had been brought up by High Churchmen,
had she? Let them test what hold they had of her! Every aspect
of their journey and of the supper-table at Malvani's, with its
heady music and smell of rich food and wines, had been calculated
to produce a certain effect--an intoxication of excitement and
pleasure. And he set himself to stamp his own impression on
Isabel, naming to her, in his soft, isolating undertones, the
notable men and women in the room, describing their careers,
their finances, even their scandals--it amused him to watch her
repress a start. It amused him still more to stand up and shake
hands when the immense body and Hebraic nose of an international
financier went by with two great ladies and a cabinet minister in
tow. "One of my countrymen," Hyde turned to Isabel with a
mocking smile. "I am a citizen of no mean city. Those--" with an
imperceptible jerk of the head--"would lick the dust off his
boots to find out what line the Jew bankers mean to take in the
Syrian question. They might as well lick mine."

"Why, do you know?" breathed Isabel.

"Verily, O Gentile maiden." Lawrence grinned at her over his
champagne. "I lunched Raphael last time I was in town and he
told me all about it. But I shouldn't tell them. It isn't good
for Gentiles to know too much about Weltpotitik. That's our
show." He leant