apologetic butler, her ladyship's own maid with a special message,
acquired new significance now, looking at things from Rice's point of
view. There was so much in his own circumstances which had lent weight
to what he had been told. He was earning a good deal of money, but he
was spending more. Emily had insisted upon rooms of her own choosing in
a fashionable neighbourhood, and had herself selected the
furniture--which was not yet paid for. She had insisted gently but
firmly upon his going to the best tailors. The little expeditions in
which he had been permitted to act as her escort, the luncheons and
dinners at restaurants, although they were not many, were expensive.
Yes, Rice was right. To be near Emily de Reuss was to live within a
maze of fascination, but the end to it could only be the end of the
others. Already he was in debt, a trifle behind with his work--a trifle
less keen about it. Already the memory of his sufferings seemed to lie
far back in another world--his realisation of them had grown faint.
There was something paralysing about the atmosphere of pleasure with
which she knew so well how to surround herself.

The door opened and she came in, a dream of spotless muslin and glinting
colours. She came over to him with outstretched hands and a brilliant
smile upon her lips.

"How is it, my friend," she cried, "that you always come exactly when I
want you? You must be a very clever person. I have to go for a minute
or two to the stupidest of garden parties at Surbiton. You shall drive
with me, and afterwards, if you like, we will come back by Richmond and
dine. What do you say?"

"Delightful," he answered, "and if I were an idle man nothing in the
world would give me more pleasure. But this afternoon I must not think