'"

"That is what I wanted to be sure of," Madalena answered. "Now--I
_know_!"

CHAPTER XV

NELSON SMITH AT HOME

The Countess de Santiago took her defeat like a soldier. But her line
both of attack and defence was of the sapping-and-mining order.

Once she had cared as deeply as it was in her to care for the man known
to London as "Nelson Smith." He was of the type which calls forth intense
feeling in others. Men liked him immensely or disliked him extremely.
Women admired him fervently or detested him cordially. It was not
possible to regard him with indifference. His personality was too
magnetic to leave his neighbours cold; and as a rule it was only those
whom he wished to keep at a distance who disliked him.

As for Madalena de Santiago, for a time she had enjoyed thinking herself
in love. There were reasons, she knew, why she could not hope to be the
man's wife, and if he had chosen a plain woman to help him on in the
world she would have made no objection to his marriage.

But at first sight she had realized that Annesley Grayle, shy and
unconscious of power to charm as she was, might be dangerous.

Madalena had anxiously watched the two together, and at breakfast the day
before the wedding she had distrusted the light in the man's eyes as he
looked at the girl. It had seemed incredible that he should be in love
with a creature so pale, so formless still in character (as Annesley
appeared to Madalena); that a man like "Don" should be caught by a pair
of gray eyes and a softness which was only the beauty of youth.

Still, the Countess had been made to suffer; and if she could have found
a way to prevent the marriage without alienating her friend, she would
have seized it. But she could think of no way, except to drop a sharp
reminder of what Don owed to her. The hint had been unheeded. The
marriage had taken place, and Madalena had been obliged to play the part
of the bride's friend and chaperon.

Afterward, to be sure, she had been paid. Her reward had come in the
shape of invitations and meetings with desirable people. Nelson Smith's
marriage had given her a place in the world, and at first her success
consoled her. Soon, however, the pain of jealousy overcame the anodyne.
She could not rest; she was forever asking herself whether Don were glad
of her success for her own sake, or because it distracted her attention
from him.

Was he falling in love with his wife, or was his way of looking at