"You admire him very much, I can see," the amiable elderly voice said.

I could not help turning and looking up. "It is as if a great, great
genius were one's friend--as if he talked and one listened," I said. "He
is like a splendid dream which has come true."

Old Lord Armour looked at me quite thoughtfully, as if he saw something
new in me.

"That is a good way of putting it, Miss Muircarrie," he answered.
"MacNairn would like that. You must tell him about it yourself."

I did not mean to glance through the flowers again, but I did it
involuntarily. And I met the other eyes--the wonderful, interested
ones just as I had met them before. It almost seemed as if he had been
watching me. It might be, I thought, because he only vaguely remembered
seeing me before and was trying to recall where we had met.

When my guardian brought his men guests to the drawing-room after
dinner, I was looking over some old prints at a quiet, small table.
There were a few minutes of smiling talk, and then Sir Ian crossed the
room toward me, bringing some one with him. It was Hector MacNairn he
brought.

"Mr. MacNairn tells me you traveled together this afternoon without
knowing each other," he said. "He has heard something of Muircarrie and
would like to hear more, Ysobel. She lives like a little ghost all
alone in her feudal castle, Mr. MacNairn. We can't persuade her to like
London."