s bidden to luncheon on a day in the same week. On arriving, he
found with surprise that he was the sole guest.

"I wanted to have a real talk with you," said the hostess, as she
received him in her magnificent drawing-room. "I have been thinking a
great deal about things you said at Rivenoak."

Her fire of glances perceived that the young man, though agreeably
touched and full of expectancy, was to a certain extent on his guard.
He, too, no doubt, had power of reading faces, of discerning motives.
She did not desire him to be too facile a victim of cajolery; it would
take from the interest she felt in his ambitions. At table, they talked
at first of bio-sociology, Mrs. Toplady, with the adroitness which
distinguished her, seeming thoroughly to grasp a subject of which she
knew nothing, and which, if she had tried to think about it, would have
bored her unspeakably. But she soon diverged to things personal, spoke
of people whom she wished Lashmar to meet, and asked whether a date she
had in mind would suit his convenience.

"I think you know Lord Dymchurch?"

"Very well," answered Dyce, blandly.

"I should like to meet him I have heard he is most interesting."

"He certainly is," said Lashmar, "but no man is so hard to get hold of.
I never ventured to try to take him anywhere; he very much dislikes
meeting strangers."

"Tell me about him, will you?"

Dyce could speak only of Lord Dymchurch's personal and mental
characteristics; of his circumstances he knew nothing more than could
be gathered from rumour.

"Let me make a suggestion," said Mrs. Toplady, with a flatteringly
intimate air. "Suppose you give a quiet little dinner to a few of your
friends, say at one of the restaurants. Don't you think Lord Dymchurch
might be willing to come? If I may propose myself--" The roguish smile
was lost in a radiant archness. "Half a dozen of us just to talk over
the political situation."

Lashmar looked delighted. In reality he was seized with anxious thought
as to whom he could invite for such an important occasion. As is
commonly the case with men of great self-esteem and modest resources,
he had made friends with the poorer and less ambitious of his
acquaintances, and these were not the sort of people to present either
to Mrs. Toplady or to Lord Dymchurch. However, he knew a man pretty
well placed in the Home Office. He knew also--

"Would you like to ask our friend Mrs. Woolstan?" let fall the hostess,
shooting one