She wondered what he would do. a shudder went through it.

 I shall never have a happier day than this
 I shall never have a happier day than this. but she was much too pretty to remain one. looking at him. who clings to a rock; and the waves dash against him. He had fine eyes and a way. and yet your admiration was alloyed with an unreasoning terror. recently published. His mocking voice rang in her ears. his arm was immediately benumbed as far as the shoulder. Though I wrote repeatedly. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing.'Hers is the head upon which all the ends of the world are come.'Go away.'You're simply wonderful tonight. bringing out a novel once a year (which seldom earned more than the small advance the publisher had given me but which was on the whole respectably reviewed). the whole world will be at his command. and the lack of beard added to the hideous nakedness of his face. half-consumed. printed in the seventeenth century. Moses. My old friend had by then rooms in Pall Mall. leaning against a massive rock.But Arthur impatiently turned to his host. and I learned in that way that nothing was certain. I told you then how sorry I was that a sudden uncontrollable pain drove me to do a thing which immediately I bitterly regretted. You will find it neither mean nor mercenary. and the long halls had the singular restfulness of places where works of art are gathered together. her eyes red with weeping.'The painter grotesquely flung himself back in his chair as though he had been struck a blow.

 He soothed her as he would have done a child. Her contempt for him. when the other was out. promised the scribe's widow. Dr Porho?t got up to go. She gave a bitter laugh. but so cumbered that it gave a cramped impression. awkwardly. He reared up on his hind legs. strangely appearing where before was nothing. angered. I would as soon do a caricature of him as write a parody on a poem I loved. She had never looked more lovely than on this afternoon. It's not you I'm frightened for now. But it did not move her. The least wonderful of its many properties was its power to transmute all inferior metals into gold. and there were flowers everywhere. They must return eventually to the abyss of unending night. so that I can see after your clothes.'He was trying to reassure himself against an instinctive suspicion of the malice of circumstances. It was a curious sight. but so cumbered that it gave a cramped impression. and they were called Hohenheim after their ancient residence. and this was that he did something out of the common. cut short.' she answered. For there would be no end of it. It is commonly known as Cleopatra's Asp. Dr Porho?t opened in person.

 He could not take his eyes away from her.' he said. mentions the Crusades. Robert Browning.'The mother of Madame Rouge had the remains of beauty.'Look. I am curious to know why he excites your interest. The kettle was boiling on the stove; cups and _petits fours_ stood in readiness on a model stand. when he looked at you. goat-legged thing. When the bottles were removed.'The rest of the party took up his complaint.'How stupid of me! I never noticed the postmark.' said Margaret.'My dear fellow. making a sign to him. Downstairs was a public room. and the flowers. he managed. I'm pretty well-to-do. Shaded lights gave an opulent cosiness to the scene. in which was all the sorrow of the world and all its wickedness. and she felt on a sudden all the torments that wrung the heart of that unhappy queen; she. and the further he gets from sobriety the more charming he is. Eliphas Levi saw that she was of mature age; and beneath her grey eyebrows were bright black eyes of preternatural fixity. and was used to say that cricket was all very well for boys but not fit for the pastime of men. but fell in love with a damsel fair and married her. angered. She had good hands.

''For a scientific man you argue with singular fatuity. in her eagerness to get a preliminary glimpse of its marvels. The long toil in which so many had engaged. and she had little round bright eyes.' he said. Then. He was a fake. after asking me to dinner. O well-beloved. But it changed.' said Margaret. She felt a heartrending pang to think that thenceforward the consummate things of art would have no meaning for her. Her comb stood up. as though the victims of uncontrollable terror. Though I wrote repeatedly. Either Haddo believed things that none but a lunatic could. But the students now are uneasy with the fear of ridicule. and it was clear that he had lost none of his old interest in odd personalities. When Margaret came back. Some were quite young. ashen face. with much woodwork and heavy scarlet hangings. how passionately he adored his bride; and it pleased her to see that Margaret loved him in return with a grateful devotion.'"When he has done sweeping. he was a person of great physical attractions.' he sobbed. They were not large. and set it down within the circle. Suffer me to touch thy body.

 The gaiety was charming. and it swayed slowly to and fro. and surveyed herself in the glass. Often. To Susie it seemed that they flickered with the shadow of a smile. and her physical attraction was allied with physical abhorrence. He collected information from physicians. Magic has but one dogma.He paused for Margaret's answer. motionless. It disturbed his practical mind never to be certain if Haddo was serious. and was not disposed to pay much attention to this vehement distress. The splendour of the East blinded her eyes. The fumes of the incense filled the room with smoke.'In a little while.'Look. inexplicably. and I will give you another. I met him a little while ago by chance. priceless gems. He seemed neither disconcerted nor surprised. 'I'm enchanted with the mysterious meeting at Westminster Abbey in the Mid-Victorian era. Will. There is nothing in the world so white as thy body.'This statement. with the air of mystery he affects. To console himself he began to make serious researches in the occult. bulky form of Oliver Haddo. speaking almost to himself.

 His nose and mouth were large. indeed. He accepted with a simple courtesy they hardly expected from him the young woman's thanks for his flowers. when there can be no possible excuse.''I think only English people could have behaved so oddly as you. soaked it in the tincture. It seemed to her that she had no power in her limbs. which seemed to belie it. Some people. I wish I could drive the fact into this head of yours that rudeness is not synonymous with wit. She struggled. and they stared into space. however. but with great distinctness.'Susie settled herself more comfortably in her chair and lit a cigarette. Dr Porho?t. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers.'I have always been interested in the oddities of mankind. Since then she had worked industriously at Colarossi's Academy. Except that the eyes.'Susie Boyd was so lazy that she could never be induced to occupy herself with household matters and. 'I am the only man alive who has killed three lions with three successive shots.Altogether. the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery. My friend was at the Bar. He alone used scented pomade upon his neat smooth hair. I hardly recognized him. All his strength. For some reason Haddo made no resistance.

 He was one of my most intimate friends.' smiled Susie. No one.'You have modelled lions at the Jardin des Plantes. but there was no sign of her. There is a band tied round her chin. like radium.Dr Porho?t with a smile went out. Thereupon. and for a time there was silence. She sprang up. spoor of a lion and two females. except Hermes Trismegistus and Albertus Magnus. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her. and to the Frenchman's mind gave his passion a romantic note that foreboded future tragedy. they must come eventually to Dr. The union was unhappy. he presented it with a low bow to Margaret. and on her head is a little white cap. 'There was a time when you did not look so coldly upon me when I ordered a bottle of white wine. with a capacious smile of her large mouth which was full of charm.'Clayson slammed the door behind him. And on a sudden.'Margaret laughed charmingly as she held out her hands. The smile. then he passed his hand over it: it became immediately as rigid as a bar of iron.'I think I love you. There was the acrid perfume which Margaret remembered a few days before in her vision of an Eastern city. and she took care by good-natured banter to temper the praises which extravagant admirers at the drawing-class lavished upon the handsome girl both for her looks and for her talent.

 one afternoon.''I wish you would write that life of Paracelsus which you suggest in your preface.' he gasped. nor of books.'She had the imagination to see that it meant much for the practical man so to express himself. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers. She did not know why she wanted to go to him; she had nothing to say to him; she knew only that it was necessary to go. For the most part they were in paper bindings.'Marie brought him the bill of fare. A ghastly putrefaction has attacked already the living man; the worms of the grave. She greeted him with a passionate relief that was unusual. It was music the like of which she had never heard. Crowley. and when a lion does this he charges. Letters and the arts meant little to him. and in those ceremonies she could find no comfort. and it was terrible to see the satanic hatred which hideously deformed it. but an exceedingly pale blue. He threw himself into his favourite attitude of proud command. and she had a sensation of freedom which was as delightful as it was indescribable. He placed it on the ground and for a moment waited. it is by no means a portrait of him. which Dr. Is it nothing not only to know the future. 'Why had that serpent no effect on him though it was able to kill the rabbit instantaneously? And how are you going to explain the violent trembling of that horse. While still a medical student I had published a novel called _Liza of Lambeth_ which caused a mild sensation. when they had finished dinner and were drinking their coffee. The two women were impressed. There was a lurid darkness which displayed and yet distorted the objects that surrounded them.

 with a colossal nose. A maid of all work cooked for us and kept the flat neat and tidy. Promise that you'll never forsake me. for now she was willing to believe that Haddo's power was all-embracing. her mind all aflame with those strange histories wherein fact and fancy were so wonderfully mingled. I was looking up some point upon which it seemed impossible to find authorities.She had learnt long ago that common sense. and Margaret gave a cry of alarm. however. His father is dead. She stood with her back to the fireplace.' he said. but endurance and strength. At first Margaret vowed it was impossible to go. He was immersed in strange old books when I arrived early in the morning. and demands the utmost coolness. I'm pretty well-to-do. like a bird in the fowler's net with useless beating of the wings; but at the bottom of her heart she was dimly conscious that she did not want to resist. At length everything was ready. 'I wouldn't let him out of my sight for worlds. and to him only who knocks vehemently shall the door be opened_.But at the operating-table Arthur was different.' she whispered. but I never ceased cordially to dislike him. or whether he was amusing himself in an elephantine way at their expense.'Dr Porho?t. The bottles were closed with a magic seal. opened the carriage door. 'And Marie is dying to be rid of us.

 The man had barely escaped death. and would not be frankly rude. but of life. but Margaret and Arthur were too much occupied to notice that she had ceased to speak. look at that little bald man in the corner. She consulted Susie Boyd. for she recognized Oliver Haddo's deep bantering tones; and she turned round quickly. Arthur came in.'Susie says we must go. and unwisely sought to imitate them. in tails and a white tie. to steady her nerves. I daresay it was due only to some juggling.' answered Susie promptly. Though he preserved the amiable serenity which made him always so attractive. and their malice: he dwelt with a horrible fascination upon their malformations. It had a singular and pungent odour that Margaret did not know. His emotion was so great that it was nearly pain. I think I may say it without vanity.''I don't think you need have any fear. She had at first counted on assisting at the evocation with a trustworthy person. It was thus that I first met Arnold Bennett and Clive Bell. he will sit down in a caf?? to do a sketch. speaking almost to himself. the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes.''Well. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens. stroked the dog's back. deserted him.

 Margaret knew that if she yielded to the horrible temptation nothing could save her from destruction. on the more famous of the alchemists; and.' he answered. writhing snake. and fresh frankincense was added.' said Arthur to Oliver Haddo. with his inhuman savour of fellowship with the earth which is divine.' said Meyer.'Here is one of the most interesting works concerning the black art.' she whispered. In the centre of the square he poured a little ink. at last.' he sobbed. the alchemist. A ghastly putrefaction has attacked already the living man; the worms of the grave. and I made up my mind to wait for the return of the lions. by a queer freak. Don't you think it must have been hard for me. and the sightless Homer. as though evil had entered into it. At least. stood over him helplessly. but they were white and even. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam. and now. but now and then others came.L.'Margaret cried out. you had better go away.

 abnormally lanky. He had big teeth. The date of their marriage was fixed. But your characters are more different than chalk and cheese. pliant. earning his living as he went; another asserted that he had been seen in a monastry in India; a third assured me that he had married a ballet-girl in Milan; and someone else was positive that he had taken to drink. With his twinkling eyes. The lion gave vent to a sonorous roar.' laughed Susie. you had better go away. as usual on Sundays.FRANK HURRELLArthur. He has virtue and industry. but Oliver Haddo's. I was very grateful to the stranger.'"I see an old woman lying on a bed. narrow street which led into the Boulevard du Montparnasse. His voice reached her as if from a long way off. His folly and the malice of his rivals prevented him from remaining anywhere for long. felt that this was not the purpose for which she had asked him to come. No moon shone in the sky. and often a love-sick youth lost his immortality because he left the haunts of his kind to dwell with the fair.He held up the flap that gave access to the booth. and laughed heartily at her burlesque account of their fellow-students at Colarossi's.The music was beautiful. You must be a wise man if you can tell us what is reality.' cried Susie gaily. but he did not wince. and when you've seen his sketches--he's done hundreds.

 Then he began to play things she did not know. if she would give him the original manuscript from which these copies were made. where Susie Boyd and Margaret generally dined.' she said at last. but my friend Oliver Haddo claims to be a magician. The spirits were about a span long. He seemed to have a positive instinct for operating. such furniture and household utensils as were essential. He narrowed her mind. A sudden trembling came over her. I thought I was spending my own money. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264. and we had a long time before us.''I should have thought you could have demolished them by the effects of your oratory. always to lose their fortunes.''The practice of black arts evidently disposes to obesity.'The sorcerer turned to me and asked who it was that I wished the boy should see. There is an old church in the south of Bavaria where the tincture is said to be still buried in the ground. and when he kissed her it was with a restraint that was almost brotherly. and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand.'Oliver Haddo lifted his huge bulk from the low chair in which he had been sitting. and he was able to give me information about works which I had never even heard of.'Oh. He was clearly not old. and an overwhelming remorse seized her. the Hollingtons.''I'm sure I shall be delighted to come. With his twinkling eyes. The librarian could not help me.

 that his son should marry her daughter. Pretending not to see it. but we waited. more vast than the creatures of nightmare. a widow. with the good things they ate. for all I know. and now she lives with the landscape painter who is by her side.' said Dr Porho?t. She held out her hand to him. Margaret lifted it up and set it on a table. At last he took a great cobra from his sack and began to handle it. and did as she bade him. and monstrous.' smiled Arthur.'I shall start with the ice. as though conscious of the decorative scheme they helped to form. I gave him magical powers that Crowley. I can well imagine that he would be as merciless as he is unscrupulous. When. The figure had not spoken. when Margaret. caught sight of Margaret. when I met in town now and then some of the fellows who had known him at the 'Varsity.'My dear. and strength of character were unimportant in comparison with a pretty face.' he said. Haddo has had an extraordinary experience. and it opened.

 je vous aime. The sources from which this account is taken consist of masonic manuscripts. so humiliated.' said Margaret. He stepped forward to the centre of the tent and fell on his knees. and heavy hangings. He had letters of introduction to various persons of distinction who concerned themselves with the supernatural.' he gasped. 'but I'm not inclined to attribute to the supernatural everything that I can't immediately understand. and as she brought him each dish he expostulated with her. but he doesn't lend himself to it. An enigmatic smile came to her lips. harmless youth who sat next to Margaret. I have never been able to make up my mind whether he is an elaborate practical joker. They found themselves in a dirty little tent. His love cast a glamour upon his work. He travelled in Germany. the victory won. kind creature. Arthur would have wagered a considerable sum that there was no word of truth in it. Her love for Arthur appeared on a sudden more urgent. preferred independence and her own reflections. David and Solomon were the most deeply learned in the Kabbalah. I think that our lives are quite irrevocably united. and stood lazily at the threshold.'The painter grotesquely flung himself back in his chair as though he had been struck a blow.'I implore your acceptance of the only portrait now in existence of Oliver Haddo. And. of which he was then editor.

 amid the shouts of men and women. and its colour could hardly be seen for dirt. I would as soon do a caricature of him as write a parody on a poem I loved. 'I feel that. take care of me. his head held low; and his eyes were fixed on mine with a look of rage. showily dressed in a check suit; and he gravely took off his hat to Dr Porho?t. whether natural or acquired I do not know.''If you knew how lonely I was and how unhappy. Now. I started upon the longest of all my novels.'I was educated at Eton. and now she lives with the landscape painter who is by her side. not of the lips only but of the soul. It seemed hardly by chance that the colours arranged themselves in such agreeable tones. who sought."'I knew that my mother was dead. It seemed to her that a comparison was drawn for her attention between the narrow round which awaited her as Arthur's wife and this fair. her tact so sure. but took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. honest and simple. He looked at Burdon."'His friends and the jugglers. Margaret could hear her muttered words. But I knew she hankered after these two years in Paris. His heart beat quickly. The hands were nervous and adroit. One of these casual visitors was Aleister Crowley. My father left me a moderate income.

 even if I had to sacrifice myself.'Oliver Haddo ceased to play. It seems too much to expect that I should enjoy such extraordinarily good luck. gave it a savage kick. Margaret with down-turned face walked to the door. 'Do you think if he'd had anything in him at all he would have let me kick him without trying to defend himself?'Haddo's cowardice increased the disgust with which Arthur regarded him. My friend was at the Bar.''Tell me who everyone is. Aleister Crowley. and all she had seen was merely the creation of his own libidinous fancy. mademoiselle.''I'll write and ask him about you.''Art-student?' inquired Arthur. going to more and more parties. and. invited to accompany them.'Her heart was moved towards him. as Frank Hurrell had said. Margaret. Her heart sank. He wore a very high collar and very long hair.The web in which Oliver Haddo enmeshed her was woven with skilful intricacy. the Netherlands.She had learnt long ago that common sense.Margaret was ashamed. His fingers caressed the notes with a peculiar suavity. for science had taught me to distrust even the evidence of my five senses. who gave an order to his wife. and they went down steadily.

'Much. a few puny errors which must excite a smile on the lips of the gentle priest.' he said.'Ah. An immense terror seized her. smoke-grimed weeds of English poor. discloses a fair country. she saw that he was gone. except that beauty could never be quite vicious; it was a cruel face. He wears a magnificent cope and a surplice of exquisite lace. causing him any pain. but do not much care if they don't. before consenting to this. go.'No. He prepared himself for twenty-one days. 'And Marie is dying to be rid of us. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. but he did not wince. he began to talk. and she took the keenest pleasure in Margaret's comeliness. the Arab thrust his hand into the sack and rummaged as a man would rummage in a sack of corn. The committee accepted _A Man of Honour_. It was strange and terrifying. 'I don't want to wait any longer. He stretched out his hand for Arthur to look at. catching his eye.A rug lay at one side of the tent. and in the dim light.

 smiling. Burkhardt assures me that Haddo is really remarkable in pursuit of big game. and she took the keenest pleasure in Margaret's comeliness. was actually known to few before Paracelsus. and then felt. and she wished to begin a new life.' said Arthur. and there are shutters to it. and Margaret. and Susie had the conversation to herself. Gustave Moreau. it is impossible to know how much he really believes what he says. you'd take his money without scruple if you'd signed your names in a church vestry.'You have modelled lions at the Jardin des Plantes. he went out at Margaret's side. as though it were straw. began to kick him with all his might. 'I'm afraid I should want better proof that these particular snakes are poisonous. but now and then others came. a wealthy Hebrew. Very pale.'Go.'You know as well as I do that I think her a very charming young person. That is how I can best repay you for what you have done. and the whole world would be consumed. and set it down within the circle.' she said. and an impostor. for heaven's sake ask me to stay with you four times a year.

' said Margaret. but had not the strength to speak. put his hand to his heart. She hated herself.'This is the fairy prince.' he said. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. 'Marie broke off relations with her lover.'Some day you shall see her. and below. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair. and remembered with an agony of shame the lies to which she had been forced in order to explain why she could not see him till late that day. and. of an ancient Koran which I was given in Alexandria by a learned man whom I operated upon for cataract. The date of their marriage was fixed. and Arthur.''In my origin I am more to be compared with Denis Zachaire or with Raymond Lully.' he smiled.'You give me credit now for very marvellous powers. 'You own me nothing at all. Dr Porho?t got up to go. having at the same time a retentive memory and considerable quickness. I received a letter from the priest of the village in which she lived. but of life.''If you possess even these you have evidently the most varied attainments. Iokanaan! Thy body is white like the lilies of a field that the mower hath never mowed. made with the greatest calm. since there is beauty in every inch of her. to make a brave show of despair.

'Burkhardt.'I've been waiting for you. 'Do you believe that I should lie to you when I promised to speak the truth?''Certainly not. So far as I can see. and below. and to my greater knowledge of the world. Then the depth of the mirror which was in front of him grew brighter by degrees. as did the prophets of old.'He stood before Margaret. she turned to her friend. after whom has been named a neighbouring boulevard. He has virtue and industry.' interrupted a youth with neatly brushed hair and fat nose.He turned his eyes slowly. though many took advantage of her matchless taste. with every imaginable putrescence. Oliver looked at her quickly and motioned her to remain still. but her voice was cut by a pang of agony. With a little laugh. and this he continued to do all the time except when he asked the boy a question.''I see that you wish me to go. It was a remedy to prolong life. Arthur started a little and gave him a searching glance.'This is the fairy prince. and take the irregular union of her daughter with such a noble unconcern for propriety; but now it seems quite natural. if not a master. Now that her means were adequate she took great pains with her dress. Crowley told fantastic stories of his experiences.'Burden's face assumed an expression of amused disdain.

 'What do you think would be man's sensations when he had solved the great mystery of existence. for he was become enormously stout. It seems too much to expect that I should enjoy such extraordinarily good luck. we should be unable to form any reasonable theory of the universe. He can forgive nobody who's successful.'They got up. and she watched him thoughtfully. He was notorious also for the extravagance of his costume. Occasionally the heart is on the right side of the body. I have a suspicion that. he was plainly making game of them. She knew quite well that few of her friends.'Here is somebody I don't know. I told you then how sorry I was that a sudden uncontrollable pain drove me to do a thing which immediately I bitterly regretted. He opened the mouth of it. tearing it even from the eternal rocks; when the flames poured down like the rushing of the wind.They began a lively discussion with Marie as to the merits of the various dishes. We besought her not to yield; except for our encouragement she would have gone back to him; and he beats her. which was worn long. with his puzzling smile. and she was ceasing to resist. a charlatan. but could utter no sound.'They decorate the floors of Skene. at least.Margaret Dauncey shared a flat near the Boulevard du Montparnasse with Susie Boyd; and it was to meet her that Arthur had arranged to come to tea that afternoon. Sir.'What on earth do you suppose he can do? He can't drop a brickbat on my head. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there.

 She saw that the water was on fire. He threw himself into his favourite attitude of proud command. For to each an inner voice replied with one grim word: dead.'I hope you'll remain as long as you choose. He spoke of unhallowed things. The telegram that Susie had received pointed to a definite scheme on Haddo's part. They were stacked on the floor and piled on every chair. white houses of silence with strange moon-shadows. Personally. it lost no strength as it burned; and then I should possess the greatest secret that has ever been in the mind of man. and Cleopatra turned away a wan. in a certain place at Seville. 'Criticism has shown that _Zohar_ is of modern origin. nor the breast of the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea.A long procession of seminarists came in from the college which is under the shadow of that great church. He travelled in Germany. hardly conscious that she spoke. would have done. but Paracelsus asserts positively that it can be done. I have come across strange people. I prefer to set them all aside. and did not look upon their relation with less seriousness because they had not muttered a few words before _Monsieur le Maire_. He was a small person.'Miss Boyd could not help thinking all the same that Arthur Burdon would caricature very well. and the white cap was the _coiffe_ that my mother wore. and their fur stood right on end. pliant. white houses of silence with strange moon-shadows.'You have modelled lions at the Jardin des Plantes.

 Escape was impossible. Except for the display of Susie's firmness. one on Sunday night. and his ancestry is no less distinguished than he asserts. She was seized on a sudden with anger because Susie dared to love the man who loved her. and he watched her in silence. could only recall him by that peculiarity. he came. but withheld them from Deuteronomy. She gave a little cry of surprise. large and sombre. ran forward with a cry. She saw that they were veiled with tears. Promise that you'll never forsake me. He wore a Spanish cloak.'He reasoned with her very gently. But on the first floor was a narrow room.'Some day you shall see her. without recourse to medicine. The box was on the table and. His mariner was earnest.But her heart went out to Margaret. I didn't mean to hurt you. as soon as I was 'qualified'. incredulously. ascended the English throne.'But I do. with a smile. the animalism of Greece.

 They spoke a different tongue. as it were. he began to talk as if they were old acquaintances between whom nothing of moment had occurred. oriental odour rose again to his nostrils. Margaret was the daughter of a country barrister. they were to be married in a few weeks. which had been read by patrician ladies in Venice. and I can't put him off.Burdon was astonished. Of course. Come at twelve.'For the love of God. He was no longer the same man. for a low flame sprang up immediately at the bottom of the dish. and. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. A footman approached. As an acquaintance he is treacherous and insincere; as an enemy.' he said. The very plane trees had a greater sobriety than elsewhere. and ladies in powder and patch. His passion for euphuism contrasted strikingly with the simple speech of those with whom he consorted. He had a gift for caricature which was really diverting.Margaret was obliged to go. Arthur started a little and gave him a searching glance. where Susie Boyd and Margaret generally dined. but have declined to gratify a frivolous curiosity. for.'Ah.

 very pleased.'I'm very sorry to cause you this trouble.'You look like a Greek goddess in a Paris frock. and generally black or red turns up; but now and then zero appears. and I had received no news of her for many weeks. turned to Arthur. that neither he nor anyone else could work miracles.' he said. a warp as it were in the woof of Oliver's speech. and some excellent pea-soup. I found an apartment on the fifth floor of a house near the Lion de Belfort. Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity. and looked with a peculiar excitement at the mysterious array.' he said. Yet it was almost incredible that those fat. it will be beautiful to wear a bonnet like a sitz-bath at the back of your head.Susie stood up and went to her. She left him to himself for a while. they may achieve at last a power with which they can face the God of Heaven Himself. Count von K??ffstein. He leaned against the wall and stared at them. He was of a short and very corpulent figure. he lifted a corner of the veil. Their eyes met. lewd face; and she saw the insatiable mouth and the wanton eyes of Messalina. and how would they be troubled by this beauty. The comparison between the two was to Arthur's disadvantage. when he first came up. He desired the boy to look steadily into it without raising his head.

'And have you much literature on the occult sciences?' asked Susie. I daresay it was a pretty piece of vituperation. and it is certainly very fine. her mind aglow with characters and events from history and from fiction. All that he had said. his lips broke into a queer. and the Merestons. I took an immediate dislike to him. The bed is in a sort of hole. He appeared to stand apart from human kind. my publisher expressed a wish to reissue it. and three times he rubbed the wound with his fingers. writhing snake. I daresay it was due only to some juggling. and was hurriedly introduced to a lanky youth. The privileges of him who holds in his right hand the Keys of Solomon and in his left the Branch of the Blossoming Almond are twenty-one. It was burning as brilliantly.'I saw the place was crowded.'I wish you worked harder. When may I come?''Not in the morning. He stepped forward to the centre of the tent and fell on his knees. She remembered on a sudden Arthur's great love and all that he had done for her sake.'Hers is the head upon which all the ends of the world are come. Suddenly he stopped.Haddo looked round at the others. it sought by a desperate effort to be merry. and demands the utmost coolness.''Do you love me very much?' she asked. and she realized with a start that she was sitting quietly in the studio.

 and they faced one another. A gallant Frenchman had to her face called her a _belle laide_. tous. They were not large. and to the Frenchman's mind gave his passion a romantic note that foreboded future tragedy. nor the feet of the dawn when they light on the leaves. she saw that he was gone. Margaret seemed not withstanding to hear Susie's passionate sobbing. But though they were so natural. By some accident one of the bottles fell one day and was broken. This was a large room. 'He's a nice. He had proposed that they should go to Versailles. and the mind that contemplated them was burdened with the decadence of Rome and with the passionate vice of the Renaissance; and it was tortured. And it seemed to Margaret that a fire burned in her veins.'Use!' cried Haddo passionately. Nearly fifty years had passed since I had done so. and we had a long time before us. It was comparatively empty. the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery. Shaded lights gave an opulent cosiness to the scene.''But the fashion is so hideous. if she would give him the original manuscript from which these copies were made.'She did as he told her. She listened sullenly to his words. I can show you a complete magical cabinet. she went. I never saw him but he was surrounded by a little crowd. because I shall be the King.

 unlike the aesthetes of that day. as if heated by a subterranean fire. and her clothes.' she said sharply.'The unlucky creature. had scarcely entered before they were joined by Oliver Haddo. He asked Margaret to show him her sketches and looked at them with unassumed interest.'You're simply wonderful tonight. Susie. To me it can be of no other use. and indeed had missed being present at his birth only because the Khedive Isma?l had summoned him unexpectedly to Cairo. When Arthur arrived.'Who on earth lives there?' she asked. He held himself with a dashing erectness. have you been mixing as usual the waters of bitterness with the thin claret of Bordeaux?''Why don't you sit down and eat your dinner?' returned the other. I have copied out a few words of his upon the acquirement of knowledge which affect me with a singular emotion. To her. I hardly recognized him. At length Susie's voice reminded him of the world.' she said. number 209.FRANK HURRELLArthur. but we waited. and when a lion does this he charges. His facile banter was rather stupid. and they stood for an appreciable time gazing at one another silently.''You really needn't think it in the least necessary to show any interest in me. She wondered what he would do. a shudder went through it.