eyes were large and black, were set
in his head with an almost singular straightness, and were surmounted by
brows which, depressed towards the nose, sloped upwards towards the
temples. These brows gave to the eyes beneath them, even to the whole
face, a curiously distinctive look of open resolution, which was
seizing, and attractive or unattractive according to the temperament of
the beholder.

He took up the _carte du jour_, studied it at length and with obvious
care, then gave an order in excellent French, which the steward hastened
away to carry out. This done, he twisted his moustaches and looked
calmly at his companions, not curiously, but rather as if he regarded
them with a polite indifference, and merely because they were near him.
Mrs. Armine seemed quite unaware of his scrutiny, but Nigel spoke to him
almost immediately, making some remark about the ship in English. The
stranger answered in the same language, but with a strong foreign
accent. He seemed quite willing to talk. He apologized for interrupting
their tete-a-tete, but said he had no choice, as the saloon was
completely full. They declared they were quite ready for company, Nigel
with his usual sympathetic geniality, Mrs. Armine with a sort of
graceful formality beneath which--or so her husband fancied--there was
just a suspicion of reluctance. He guessed that she would have much
preferred a private table, but when he said so to her, as they were
taking their coffee on deck, she answered:

"No, what does it matter? We shall so soon be in our own house. Tell me
about the villa, Nigel, and Luxor. You know I have never seen it."

With little more than a word she had deftly flicked the intruding
stranger out of their lives, she had concentrated herself on Nigel. He
felt that all her force, like a strong and ardent stream, was flowing
into the new channel which he had cut for her. He obeyed her. He told
her about Egypt. And as he talked, and watched her listening, he began
to feel thoroughly for the first time the vital change in his life, and
something within him rejoiced, that was surely his manhood singing.

The voyage passed swiftly by, attended by perfect weather, calm,
radiant, blue--weather that releases humanity from any bonds of
depression into a joyous world. Yet for the Armines it was not without
an unpleasant incident. Among the passengers were a Lord and Lady
Hayman, whom Nigel Armine knew, and whom Mrs. Armine had known in the
days when