d of music, and
art, and all that. They always read in the morning. They only come out
rather late in the day."

"I see they are very superior people," said Bernard. "And little Miss
Evers--what does she do in the morning? I know what she does in the
evening!"

"I don't know what her regular habits are. I have n't paid much
attention to her. She is very pretty."

"Wunderschon!" said Bernard. "But you were certainly talking to her last
evening."

"Of course I talk to her sometimes. She is totally different from Angela
Vivian--not nearly so cultivated; but she seems very charming."

"A little silly, eh?" Bernard suggested.

"She certainly is not so wise as Miss Vivian."

"That would be too much to ask, eh? But the Vivians, as kind as they are
wise, have taken her under their protection."

"Yes," said Gordon, "they are to keep her another month or two. Her
mother has gone to Marienbad, which I believe is thought a dull place
for a young girl; so that, as they were coming here, they offered to
bring her with them. Mrs. Evers is an old friend of Mrs. Vivian, who, on
leaving Italy, had come up to Dresden to be with her. They spent a month
there together; Mrs. Evers had been there since the winter. I think
Mrs. Vivian really came to Baden-Baden--she would have preferred a less
expensive place--to bring Blanche Evers. Her mother wanted her so much
to come."

"And was it for her sake that Captain Lovelock came, too?" Bernard
asked.

Gordon Wright stared a moment.

"I 'm sure I don't know!"

"Of course you can't be interested in that," said Bernard smiling. "Who
is Captain Lovelock?"

"He is an Englishman. I believe he is what 's called aristocratically
connected--the younger brother of a lord, or something of that sort."

"Is he a clever man?"

"I have n't talked with him much, but I doubt it. He is rather rakish;
he plays a great deal."

"But is that considered here a proof of rakishness?" asked Bernard.
"Have n't you played a little yourself?"

Gordon hesitated a moment.

"Yes, I have played a little. I wanted to try some experiments. I had
made some arithmetical calculations of probabilities, which I wished to
test."

Bernard gave a long laugh.

"I am delighted with the reasons you give for amusing yourself!
Arithmetical calculations!"

"I assure you they are the real reasons!" said Gordon, blushing a
little.

"That 's just the beauty of it. You were not afraid of being 'drawn in,'
as little M