r, who really was, as Paul Lane had
said, an extraordinary woman, had a keen eye to the main chance. She
acted as a sort of agent to her husband, and was reported on all hands
to be capable of driving a very hard bargain. She and Max Elliot were
perpetually cabling to each other across the Atlantic, and Max was
seriously thinking of imitating Margot Drake and "running over" to New
York on the _Lusitania_. Only his business in London detained him. He
spoke of Sennier invariably as "Jacques," of Madame Sennier as
"Henriette." Living English composers scarcely existed any more in his
sight. France was the country of music. Only from France could one
expect anything of real value to the truly cultured.

Charmian began to hate this absurd entente cordiale.

Another person on whom she had secretly set high hopes was Adelaide
Shiffney. It was for this reason that she had been irritated at Mrs.
Shiffney's defection on the night of the house-warming. Now that she was
married to a composer Charmian understood the full value of Mrs.
Shiffney's influence in the fashionable world. She must get Adelaide on
their side. But here again Sennier stood in her path. Mrs. Shiffney was,
musically speaking of course, in love with Jacques Sennier. Since Wagner
there had been nobody to play upon feminine nerves as the little
Frenchman played, to take women "out of themselves." As a well-known
society woman said, with almost pathetic frankness, "When one hears
Sennier's music one wants to hold hands with somebody." Apparently Mrs.
Shiffney wanted to hold hands with the composer himself. She had "no
use" at the moment for anyone else, and had already arranged to take the
Senniers on a yachting cruise after the London season, beginning with
Cowes.

The "feelers" which Charmian put out found the atmosphere rather chilly.

But she remembered what battles with the world most of its great men
have had to fight, how many wives of great men have had to keep the
flame alive in gross darkness. She was not daunted. But she presently
began to feel that, without being frank with Claude, she must try to get
a certain amount of active help from him. She had intended by judicious
talk to create the impression that Claude was an extraordinary man, on
the way to accomplish great things. She believed this thoroughly
herself. But she now realized that, owing to the absurd Sennier "boom,"
unless she could get Claude to show publicly something of his talent
nobody