ses to look at her, and men turned to watch.

Saltash sauntered behind her in his regal way, looking neither to right
nor left, yet fully aware of all he passed. No one accosted him. There
were times when even those who knew him well would have hesitated to do
so. He could surround himself with an atmosphere so suavely impersonal as
to be quite impenetrable to all.

It surrounded him now. He walked like a king through a crowd of
courtiers, and the buzz of talk did not spring up again till he was out
of sight.

"So you do not want to see _le premiere danseuse du siecle!_" he
commented, as he entered the sitting-room of their suite behind Toby.

She turned, blue eyes wide with protest in her white face. "Do you wish
me to see her, my lord? That--woman!"

He frowned upon her suddenly. "Call me Charles! Do you hear? We will play
this game according to rule--or not at all."

"You are angry," Toby said, and turned still whiter.

He came to her, thrust a quick arm about her. "I am not angry,
_mignonne_, at least not with you. But you must take your proper place. I
can't keep you in hiding here. Those gaping fools downstairs--they have
got to understand. You are not my latest whim, but a permanent
institution. You are--my wife."

She shivered in his hold, but she clung to him. "I don't feel like--a
permanent institution," she told him rather piteously. "And when you are
angry--"

"I am not angry," said Saltash, and tweaked her ear as though she had
been a boy. "But--whether you feel like it or not--you are my wife, and
you have got to play the part. _C'est entendu, n'est-ce-pas?_"

"Whatever you wish," said Toby faintly.

He set her free. "You must look your best tonight. Wear blue! It is your
colour. I shall present Spentoli to you. And tomorrow he will want to
paint you."

Toby stiffened. "That--_canaille_!" she said.

He looked at her in surprise. "What is the matter with you tonight,
Nonette? You are hating all the world."

Her blue eyes blazed. "I don't want to meet Spentoli," she said. "He has
an evil eye. You--you--I look to you to--to--to protect me."

"My good child!" said Saltash.

He turned aside to light a cigarette, and there was a pause. But Toby
still stood rigid, as it were on guard. He spoke again after a moment,
and his voice was kind though it had a certain dominant quality also.

"Nonette, you need not be afraid when you are with me. I shall protect
you. Now go and dress! When you are re