then at the sock. He opened
his mouth to speak and then shut it again. Then he whistled a short,
defiant whistle which went out of tune toward the end. Then he walked
the length of the studio and back. Then he stopped and said to
Pollyooly very fiercely:

"Do you think I've got nothing else to do but wait here all the
afternoon for your precious guv'ner to come home to tea?"

"I don't know," said Pollyooly politely.

"Well, I have--plenty," said Mr. Reginald Butterwick savagely.

Pollyooly said nothing.

"And what's more, I'm going to do it!" said Mr. Reginald Butterwick yet
more savagely; and he strode firmly to the door. On the threshold he
paused and added: "But you tell your guv'ner from me--Mr. Reginald
Butterwick--that he hasn't seen the last of me--not by a long chalk.
One of these fine nights when he's messing round with--well, you tell
him what I've told you--that's all. He'll know."

With that he passed through the door and banged it heavily behind him.
The front door was larger and heavier, so that he was able to bang it
more loudly still.

CHAPTER IV

THE DUCHESS HAS AN IDEA

Pollyooly heaved a sigh as the studio trembled to the shock of the
banged front door, a sigh chiefly of relief, but tinged also with a
faint regret that she had not seen Mr. Reginald Butterwick torn limb
from limb. She knew that she would not really have enjoyed the sight;
and the mess in the cleaned studio would have been exceedingly
annoying; but there were primitive depths in her heart, and somewhere
in them was the regret that she had missed the thrilling spectacle.

The studio still quivered to the bang, the sigh still trembled on
Pollyooly's lip, when the bedroom door opened, and Hilary Vance came
forth with an immense scowl on his spacious face and said fiercely:

"So the scoundrel's gone, has he?"

"Yes. When I told him how big you were, he didn't seem so eager to
fight. And he went away," said Pollyooly quickly. "But he told me to
tell you that you hadn't seen the last of him--not by a long chalk."

Her host's scowl lightened a little; there was almost a faint
satisfaction on his face as he said:

"So he fears my rivalry still, does he?" Then his face grew gloomier
than ever; and he added: "There's no need. I am not one to sit at the
feet of a tarnished ideal. There will be a gap--there is a gap--but I
have done with HER for good and all. I have--done--with--HER."

He had drawn himself up t