hold
upon his memory. He fancied that she was bored, or unhappy, or both.

Finally, in the midst of commonplaces which, to his apprehension, were
verging upon flatness, a bold inspiration disclosed itself--as
splendid as the Dent du Midi revealing its glaciers above the mounting
sunrise--in his brain.

"We should all be charmed if you would come up and dine with us
tonight," he said, under the abrupt impulsion of this idea. "It's been
such an age since we wanderers have had the privilege of company at our
table!"

The felicity of these phrases from his lips attracted his admiring
attention, even while he waited in suspense for an answer to them.

The ladies exchanged a look. "Yes," said Miss Madden, after the
slightest of pauses, "we shall be very happy."

Shortly thereafter Thorpe took his leave, and went downstairs and out.
He wandered about till luncheon time, observing the mountains across the
lake from various standpoints, and, as it were, with new eyes. He was
interested in them in a curious new fashion; they seemed to say things
to him. His lip curled once at the conceit that he was one of the Alps
himself.

CHAPTER XII

IT did not happen until three days later that Thorpe's opportunity to
speak alone with Lady Cressage came.

In this brief period, the two parties seemed to have become fused in a
remarkable intimacy. This was clearly due to the presence of the young
people, and Thorpe congratulated himself many times each day upon the
striking prescience he had shown in bringing them.

Both the ladies unaffectedly liked Julia; so much so that they seemed
unwilling to make any plans which did not include her. Then it was only
a matter of course that where she went her brother should go--and a
further logical step quite naturally brought in their willing uncle. If
he had planned everything, and now was ordering everything, it could not
have gone more to his liking.

Certain side speculations lent a savour to the satisfaction with which
he viewed this state of affairs. He found many little signs to confirm
the suspicion that the two ladies had been the readier to make much of
Julia because they were not overkeen about each other's society. The
bright, sweet-natured girl had come as a welcome diversion to a couple
who in seclusion did battle with tendencies to yawn. He was not quite
convinced, for that matter, that the American lady always went to that
trouble. She seemed to his observation a wil