tances, and--though rarely made new; he strove to
interest himself in practical things, if perchance his opportunity
might meet him by the way; and always he did his best to obtain an
insight into the pressing questions of the time. Though in truth of a
very liberal mind, he imagined himself a mass of prejudices; his Norman
blood (considerably diluted, it is true) sometimes appeared to him as a
hereditary taint, constituting an intellectual, perhaps a moral,
disability; in certain moods he felt hopelessly out of touch with his
age. To anyone who spoke confidently and hopefully concerning human
affairs, Lord Dymchurch gave willing attention. With Dyce Lashmar he
could not feel that he had much in common, but this rather loquacious
young man certainly possessed brains, and might have an inkling of
truths not easily arrived at. To-day, at all events, Lashmar's talk
seemed full of matter, and it was none the less acceptable to Lord
Dymchurch because of its anti-democratic tenor.

"Not long ago," he remarked, quietly, "I was reading Marcus Aurelius.
You will remember that the idea of the community of human interests
runs through all his thought. He often insists that a man is nothing
apart from the society he belongs to, and that the common good should
be our first rule in conduct. When you were speaking about
individualism a sentence of his came into my mind. 'What is not good
for the beehive cannot be good for the bee.'"

"Yes, yes!" cried Dyce, eagerly. "Thank you very much for reminding me;
I had quite forgotten it."

They were no longer alone in the library; two other men had strolled
in, and were seated reading; on this account, Lord Dymchurch subdued
his voice even more than usual, for he had a horror of appearing to
talk pretentiously, or of talking at all when his words might fall upon
indifferent ears. Respectful of this recognised characteristic, Lashmar
turned the conversation for a minute to lighter themes, then rose and
moved away. He felt that he had made an impression, that Lord Dymchurch
thought more of him than hitherto, and this sent him forth in buoyant
mood. That evening, economy disregarded, he dined well at a favourite
restaurant.

On the third day after posting his letter to Constance Bride, he
received her reply. It was much longer than he had expected. Beginning
with a rather formal expression of interest in Dyce's views, Constance
went on to say that she had already spoken of him to Lady Ogram,