his success was soon manifest in the change of Lilian's countenance.
Denzil, attentive to both, grew more genuinely at ease. When Lilian
caught his eye, he smiled at her with warmth of approving kindness.
It must have been a fastidious man who felt dissatisfied with the
way in which the young hostess discharged her duties; timidity led
her into no _gaucherie_, but was rather an added charm among the
many with which nature had endowed her. Speech and manner, though
they had nothing of the conventional adornment that is gathered in
London drawing-rooms, were those of gentle breeding and bright
intelligence; her education seemed better than is looked for among
ladies in general. Glazzard perceived that she had read diligently,
and with scope beyond that of the circulating library; the book with
which she had been engaged when they entered was a Danish novel.

"Do you also look for salvation to the Scandinavians?" he asked.

"I read the languages--the modern. They have a very interesting
literature of to-day; the old battle-stories don't appeal to me
quite so much as they do to Denzil."

"You ought to know this fellow Jacobsen," said Quarrier, taking up
the novel. "'Marie Grubbe' doesn't sound a very aesthetic title,
but the book is quite in your line--a wonderfully delicate bit of
work."

"Don't imagine, Mrs. Quarrier," pleaded Glazzard, "that I am what is
called an aesthete. The thing is an abomination to me."

"Oh, you go tolerably far in that direction!" cried Denzil,
laughing. "True, you don't let your hair grow, and in general make