right had she to worry him with idiotic
jealousies? Could anyone have behaved more honourably than he
throughout their intercourse? Why, the average man--

His debt? What had that to do with the matter? The very fact of his
accepting a loan of money from her emphasised the dry nature of their
relations. That money must quickly be repaid, or he would have no
peace. The woman began to presume upon his indebtedness, he saw that
clearly. Her tone had been different, ever since.

Deuce take the silly creature! She had made him thoroughly
uncomfortable. What it was to have delicate sensibilities!

CHAPTER XIV

Having an imperious Will and an intelligence merely practical, it was
natural for Lady Ogram to imagine that, even as she imposed her
authority on others in outward things, so had she sway over their
minds; what she willed that others should think, that, she took for
granted, they thought. Seeing herself as an entirely beneficent
potentate; unable to distinguish for a moment between her arbitrary
impulses and the well-meaning motives which often directed her; she
assumed as perfectly natural that all within her sphere of action must
regard her with grateful submissiveness. So, for example, having
decided that a marriage between Dyce Lashmar and Constance Bride would
be a very good thing for both, and purposing large generosity towards
them when it should have come about, she found it very difficult to
conceive that either of her young friends could take any other view of
the matter. When observation obliged her to doubt the correctness of
her first impressions, she grew only the more determined that things
should be as she wished. Since the coming of May Tomalin, a new
reason--or rather, emotion--fortified her resolve; seeing a
possibility, even a likelihood, that May and Lashmar might attract each
other, and having very definite views with regard to her niece, she was
impatient for a declared betrothal of Constance and the aspiring
politician. Their mutual aloofness irritated her more than she allowed
to be seen, and the moment approached when she could no longer endure
such playing with her serious purposes.

She knew that she had committed an imprudence in coming to London and
entering, however moderately, into the excitements of the season. A day
or two sufficed to prove the danger she was incurring; but she refused
to take count of symptoms. With a weakness which did not lack its
pathos, she had, for