f her! But it could only be done by some one with whom she came
naturally into frequent contact. Nobody could thrust himself in upon her.
And she seems to know very few people who could be of any use to her.'

On another occasion he came across her in the afternoon at Mrs. Stuart's.
The conversation turned upon his sister, Madame de Chateauvieux, for whom
Mrs. Stuart had a warm but very respectful admiration. They had met two
or three times in London, and Madame de Chateauvieux's personal
distinction, her refinement, her information, her sweet urbanity of
manner, had made a great impression upon the lively little woman, who,
from the lower level of her own more commonplace and conventional success
in society, felt an awe-struck sympathy for anything so rare, so unlike
the ordinary type. Her intimacy with Miss Bretherton had not gone far
before the subject of 'Mr. Kendal's interesting sister' had been
introduced, and on this particular afternoon, as Kendal entered her
drawing-room, his ear was caught at once by the sound of Marie's name.
Miss Bretherton drew him impulsively into the conversation, and he found
himself describing his sister's mode of life, her interests, her world,
her belongings, with a readiness such as he was not very apt to show in
the public discussion of any subject connected with himself. But Isabel
Bretherton's frank curiosity, her kindling eyes and sweet parted lips,
and that strain of romance in her which made her so quickly responsive to
anything which touched her imagination, were not easy to resist. She was
delightful to his eye and sense, and he was as conscious as he had ever
been of her delicate personal charm. Besides, it was pleasant to him to
talk of that Parisian world, in which he was himself vitally interested,
to any one so naive and fresh. Her ignorance, which on the stage had
annoyed him, in private life had its particular attractiveness. And, with
regard to this special subject, he was conscious of breaking down a
prejudice; he felt the pleasure of conquering a great reluctance in her.
Evidently on starting in London she had set herself against everything
that she identified with the great Trench actress who had absorbed the
theatre-going public during the previous season; not from personal
jealousy, as Kendal became ultimately convinced, but from a sense of keen
moral revolt against Madame Desforets's notorious position and the
stories of her private life which were current in all