nd protests about this and that, and his ignorance
as to the things in life Beatrice counted paramount, Steve adapted
himself to the new environment with a certain poise that astonished
everyone. The old saying "Every Basque a noble" rang true in this
descendant of a dark-haired, romantic young woman whom his grandfather
had married. There was blood in Steve which Beatrice might have envied
had she been aware of it. But Steve was in ignorance, and very
willingly so, regarding his ancestors. There had merely been "my
folks"--which began and ended the matter.

Still it was the thoroughbred strain which the Basque woman had given
her grandson that enabled Steve to be master of his house even if he
knew very little of what it was all about. It was fortunate for his
peace of mind--and pocketbook--that Beatrice had accepted the general
rumour of a goat-tending ancestry and pried no further. Had she ever
glimpsed the genealogy tables of the Benefacio family, from which
Steve descended, she would have had the best time of all; coats of
arms and family crests and mottoes would have been the vogue; a trip
to the Pyrenees would have followed; mantillas and rebozos would have
crowded her wardrobe, and Steve would have been forced to learn
Spanish and cultivate a troubadourish air.

Moreover, the Gorgeous Girl was not willing that her husband be buried
in business. She could not have so good a time without him--besides,
it was meet that he acquired polish. Her father was a different
matter; everyone knew his ways and would be as likely to try to change
the gruff, harsh-featured man as to try surveying Gibraltar with a
penny ruler. Now Beatrice had married Steve because cave men were
rather the mode, cave men who were wonderfully successful and had no
hampering relatives. Besides, her father favoured Steve and he would
not have been amiable had he been forced to accept a son-in-law of
whom he did not approve. Mark Constantine had never learned
graciousness of the heart, nor had his child.

So Beatrice proceeded to badger Steve whenever he pleaded business,
with the result that she kept dropping in at his office, sometimes
bringing friends, coaxing him to close his desk and come and play for
the rest of the day. Sometimes she would peek in at Mary Faithful's
office and baby talk--for Steve's edification--something like this:

"Ise a naughty dirl--I is--want somebody to play wif me--want to be
amoosed. Do oo care? Nice, busy lady--