her vindication, and Miss Le Mesurier walked across
the room and said good-bye to Mrs. Willoughby. Conway rose at the same
time, and the pair left the house together.

'What a liar that man is!' said Fielding.

'What man?' asked Mrs. Willoughby.

'Why, Mallinson. He said he was doing no work because he had no
incentive. As a matter of fact, I happen to know that he is working
rather hard.'

'What did Clarice say?'

'What you might expect. She melted into sympathy.'

Mrs. Willoughby looked puzzled. 'Yet she went off with Percy Conway
immediately afterwards,' she said, and then laughed at her recollections
of a previous visit from that gentleman.

'Yes; and absolutely unconscious of the humour of her behaviour,' said
Fielding. 'That's so delightful about her.' He paused for a second and
asked, 'Have you ever been inside a camera obscura? You get a picture, an
impression, very vivid, very accurate, of something that is actually
happening. Then some one pulls a string and you get a totally different
picture, equally vivid, equally accurate, of something else which is
actually happening. There is no trace of the first picture in the second.
Then they open a shutter and you see nothing but a plain white slab.
Somehow I always think of Miss Le Mesurier's mind.'

After leaving Mrs. Willoughby's, Conway and Miss Le Mesurier walked
together in the direction of Beaufort Gardens.

'Do you see much of Mr. Drake?' she asked, after a considerable silence.

'Not as much as one would wish to. He's generally busy.'

'You like him, then?' she asked curiously. 'Why?'

'Don't you? There's an absence of pretension about him. Nothing of the
born-to-command air, but insensibly you find yourself believing in him,
following him. I believe even Fielding finds that as well. When Drake
first came back I used to stand up for him--well, because, perhaps, I had
a reason of my own. I am not sure that I believed all I said, but I am
sure now I should say exactly the same and believe every word of it.'

He spoke with a quiet conviction which gave solid weight to his words,
owing to its contrast with the flighty enthusiasm which was the usual
characteristic of his eulogies.

'You mentioned Mr. Fielding,' she said.

'Yes; haven't you heard? He's investing in Matanga Concessions, and
largely for him. He's often seen in Drake's office.'

Clarice walked along in silence for some way further. Then she said, with
a distinct irritation in her