"In part," said Nick cautiously.

"And the other part?"

"I won't put that into words. It would sound fulsome."

"Oh, please don't!" she said lightly. "And you, Max, what did you come
for?"

He seated himself in the chair which Olga had vacated. "I thought it was
time someone came to look after you," he said.

"How inane! You don't pretend to be musical, I hope?"

He leaned back, directly facing her. "No," he said. "I don't pretend."

"Never?" she said.

He smiled in his own enigmatical fashion. "That is the sort of question
I never answer."

She nodded gaily. "I knew you wouldn't. Why do you look at me like that?
I feel as if I were being dissected. I don't wonder that Olga runs away
when she sees you coming. I shall myself in a minute."

He laughed. "Surely you are accustomed to being looked at!"

"With reverence," she supplemented, "not criticism! You have the eye of
a calculating apothecary. I believe you regard everybody you meet in the