ever, and who was
respectful of herself and of others. In fact, he decided, with a flush,
that Miss Cameron herself was the young girl he had in his mind.

"Why not?" he asked.

The question came to him in his room, the sixth night of their visit,
and he strode over to the long pier-glass and stood studying himself
critically for the first time in years. He was still a fine-looking,
well-kept man. His hair was thin, but that fact did not show; and his
waist was lost, but riding and tennis would set that right. He had means
outside of his official salary, and there was the title, such as it was.
Lady Greville the wife of the birthday knight sounded as well as Lady
Greville the marchioness. And Americans cared for these things. He
doubted whether this particular American would do so, but he was adding
up all he had to offer, and that was one of the assets. He was sure
she would not be content to remain mistress of the Windless Isles. Nor,
indeed, did he longer care to be master there, now that he had inhaled
this quick, stirring breath from the outer world. He would resign, and
return and mix with the world again. He would enter Parliament; a man
so well acquainted as himself with the Gold Coast of Africa and with
the trade of the West Indies must always be of value in the Lower House.
This value would be recognized, no doubt, and he would become at
first an Under-Secretary for the Colonies, and then, in time, Colonial
Secretary and a cabinet minister. She would like that, he thought. And
after that place had been reached, all things were possible. For years
he had not dreamed such dreams--not since he had been a clerk in the
Foreign Office. They seemed just as possible now as they had seemed real
then, and just as near. He felt it was all absolutely in his own hands.

He descended to the dining-room with the air of a man who already felt
the cares of high responsibility upon his shoulders. His head was erect
and his chest thrown forward. He was ten years younger; his manner was
alert, assured, and gracious. As he passed through the halls he was
impatient of the familiar settings of Government House; they seemed
to him like the furnishings of a hotel where he had paid his bill, and
where his luggage was lying strapped for departure in the hallway.

In his library he saw on his table a number of papers lying open waiting
for his signature, the dog-tax among the others. He smiled to remember
how important it had seemed t