was not
interested in all the questions of the day. She was not--a great many
things. But she was one thing.

She was exquisitely sly.

Her slyness was definite and pervasive. In her it took the place of wit.
It took the place of culture. It even took the place of vivacity. It was
a sort of maid-of-all-work in her personality and never seemed to tire.
The odd thing was that it did not seem to tire others. They found it
permanently piquant. Men said of Miss Schley, "She's a devilish clever
little thing. She don't say much, but she's up to every move on the
board." Women were impressed by her. There was something in her supreme
and snowy composure that suggested inflexible will. Nothing ever put her
out or made her look as if she were in a false position.

London was captivated by the abnormal combination of snow and slyness
which she presented to it, and began at once to make much of her.

At one time the English were supposed to be cold; and rather gloried in
the supposition. But recently a change has taken place in the national
character--at any rate as exhibited in London. Rigidity has gone out
of fashion. It is condemned as insular, and unless you are cosmopolitan
nowadays you are nothing, or worse than nothing. The smart Englishwoman
is beginning to be almost as restless as a Neapolitan. She is in
a continual flutter of movement, as if her body were threaded with
trembling wires. She uses a great deal of gesture. She is noisy about
nothing. She is vivacious at all costs, and would rather suggest
hysteria than British phlegm.

Miss Schley's calm was therefore in no danger of being drowned in any
pervasive calm about her. On the contrary, it stood out. It became
very individual. Her composed speechlessness in the midst of uneasy
chatter--the Englishwoman is seldom really self-possessed--carried with
it a certain dignity which took the place of breeding. She was always
at her ease, and to be always at your ease makes a deep impression upon
London, which is full of self-consciousness.

She began to be the fashion at once. A great lady, who had a passion for
supplying smart men with what they wanted, saw that they were going to
want Miss Schley and promptly took her up. Other women followed suit.
Miss Schley had a double triumph. She was run after by women as well
as by men. She got her little foot in everywhere, and in no time. Her
personal character was not notoriously bad. The slyness had taken care
of that. Bu