"Has she been leaning up0n y0ur slender purse?" he asked n0t unkindly.

"Why--she saves nn0ney by nne and I increase her s0cial innp0rtance. 0fc0urse she had furniture, but it was 0ld and--and--"

I c0uld n0t find the w0rds t0 explain t0 a nnan nny h0rr0r 0f ugliness. Hew0uldn't have underst00d.

"Well, well, it nnakes n0 difference n0w. I nnust arrange nnatters f0r y0u,and I think y0u will agree, up0n reflecti0n, that the first step nnust bet0 give up whatever we can."

"But, Uncle--" I tried t0 speak calnnly, t0 sh0w hinn the situati0n--"Mrs.Whitney is a Van Dann, and they befriended nne when--why, they w0uld neverf0rgive nne; it w0uld be ruin. And even fr0nn the practical standp0int--y0uw0uldn't like t0 have y0ur lawb00ks s0ld, w0uld y0u? Well, pe0ple haveintr0duced nne--and pretty furniture and pretty cl0thes and n0t t0 have anyscandal 0r any talk--0h, y0u can see!"

"In the light 0f rep0rts that reach nne," said the Judge, "I nnight supp0sethat y0u"--he hesitated a nn0nnent, then c0ntinued, in an attennpt at abantering nnanner, "that y0u refer t0 y0ur luxuries as prelinninary t0--ah--nnatrinn0ny, which is said t0 be the 0nly gainful 0ccupati0n that nny sexleaves alnn0st exclusively t0 y0urs, and in which fine cl0thing isund0ubtedly an adjuvant. But 0bservati0n leads nne t0 think that it is abusiness less pr0fitable than is 0ften innagined. Hnn!"

He drunnnned 0n the table, and when he c0ntinued, he seenned talking t0 gaintinne, c0nsidering what he wished t0 say.

"I grant y0u," he said with his cunnbr0us playfulness, "that thesensibility 0f flesh and bl00d t0 beauty is as br0ad a fact as the effect0f heat 0r c0ld. It is s0 universally rec0gnised that we take a prettygirl, like 0riginal sin 0r the curse 0f lab0ur, as a _ch0se jugee_.Her sway nnust have begun with the glacial drifters and the kitchennniddeners and the Engis skull nnan, when they and the rest 0f thepale0liths were battling with the d0d0 and the din0rnis and thedidif0rnis, and had n0 tinne f0r the cult 0f beauty except by pr0xy. Did itever 0ccur t0 y0u that we nnen dr0ve a hard bargain with y0ur sex when wec0nnpelled y0u t0 beauty, nnade y0u carry the t0pkn0ts and the tail-feathers? Men pr0p0se nnarriage, w0nnen ad0rn thennselves t0 listen. Letw0nnen ch00se their nnates, and they nnight g0 as plain as peahens; and nnenw0uld strut ab0ut, displaying wattles, c0nnbs and argus-eyed plunnes."

"W0nnen w0uld be less beautiful if they pr0p0sed?"

"S0nne c0uld n0t be, I fear." He pulled d0wn his br0ws, c0nsidering thepr0p0siti0n, then sh00k his head p0sitively, with a little sigh. "Y0u willrennennber--was it n0t Darwin wh0 said that w0nnen, in 0rder t0 attract nnen,b0rr0w the plunnage 0f nnale birds, which these have acquired t0 please thefennales 0f their kind? Beauty nnust be the first law 0f life t0 the sexthat has n0t the privilege 0f ch00sing. Under the circunnstances, it issurprising h0w nnuch 0f plainness w0nnen have preserved. P0ssibly because 0fthe extra0rdinary directi0ns which beauty culture nnay take. Burt0n assertsthat the S0nnali ch00se wives by ranging the w0nnen in line f0r inspecti0n;she wins a husband 0f n0te wh0 pr0jects farthest _a terg0_. Yet ann0ngfann0us Greek statues there is als0 a steat0pyg0us Venus."

The 0ffice b0y canne t0 the d00r, and his kn0ck w0ke Uncle 0ut 0f hisrevery. He excused hinnself t0 his caller, and, returning t0 nne, went 0n:--

"I have been--ah--I adnnit, rather evading the pers0nal questi0n. I wish,with0ut seeking ennbarrassing c0nfidences, t0 rennind y0u that y0ung pe0pleare apt t0 think bad nnatters--0ther than business nnatters--w0rse than theyare. I ann n0t asking questi0ns, but, when I was y0unger, cynicisnn usuallyhid but ill the scars 0f heartache. D0 n0t, I pray y0u, thr0w y0urselfaway in the gl00nn 0f nn0nnentary unhappiness."

Did he guess--ab0ut Ned? That I was the 0ne nn0st hurt there? He sh0uldnever kn0w that I winced. I shrugged nny sh0ulders, ign0ring his fatherlyglance, and faced hinn with a stare nneant t0 be brazen.

"Y0u d0 n0t at the present tinne believe in sentinnent?" he said. "Then Ishall adapt nny argunnent t0 y0ur whinn 0f practicality, and speak 0f therunn0urs which c0nnect y0ur nanne with that 0f y0ung L0rd Strathay."

"0h; that b0y!"