u are!" remarked the manager to himself. "That
explains----" Aloud--"Well, madam, how can I assist you? Do you want to
know Miss West's character? Well, that was--if I may use the
word--notorious."

Flossy's eyes gleamed.

"So I expected to hear," she murmured. "I am afraid that my poor brother
has some thought of--of marrying her."

"Oh, surely not!" said Mr. Ferguson. "Surely he wouldn't be such a
fool!"

"Can you tell me anything definite about her?"

"Excuse me, madam, for asking; but you--naturally--wish to prevent the
marriage, if possible?"

"I certainly do not wish my brother to ruin himself for life, as he
would do if she were such a--such a person as you imply." Mrs. Vane's
lips were evidently much too delicate to say in plain terms what she
meant. "If she were as respectable as she seems to be talented, of
course objections about birth and station might be overlooked. But my
brother has expectations from relatives who take the old-fashioned views
about a woman's position; and the mere fact of her being a singer or an
actress might be against her in their eyes. It would be much better for
him if the whole thing were broken off."

She was purposely vague and diplomatic.

"Mr. Lepel's his own master, of course," said the manager; "so perhaps
he knows all we can tell him--and more. But you are welcome to use any
information that I can give you." His little green eyes gleamed with
malice, and a triumphant smile showed itself at the corners of his thick
hanging lips. "Miss West's career is well known. Lalli, a member of our
orchestra, picked her out of the streets when she was sixteen or
seventeen, trained her a bit, and brought her here. We soon found out
what sort of person she was, and I spoke my mind to Lalli about it; for,
though we're not particular as to a girl's character, still now and
then---- Well, she was under his protection at the time, and there was
nothing much to be done; so we let her alone. He died suddenly about a
couple of years ago; and then, I believe, she accosted Mr. Lepel in the
street, and went to his rooms and fastened herself upon him, as women of
her sort sometimes do. He took her up, sent her to Italy for a bit, put
her under the care of that woman della Scala--as a blind to the public,
I suppose--and got her brought out as a singer; and she seems to have
had a fair amount of success."

Mr. Ferguson's account of Cynthia's career had an intermixture of fact,
but it was so a