Stella struggled no more with herself. After all, it was her last
chance--Eustace Medlicott's train got in at five o'clock!

She had a sense of security, too, the complete serenity of her
companion inspired confidence. She almost felt she would not care
if Aunt Caroline herself slept instead of the elderly maid.

There was some slight change in Count Roumovski's manner to-day--
he kept his eyes fixed upon her face, and the things he said were
less abstract and more personal. After an entrancing half hour she
felt she had seen vivid pictures of his land and his home. But he
was a great traveler it appeared, and had not been there often in
later years.

"It is so agreeable to let the body move from place to place, and
remain in a peaceful aloofness of the spirit all the time," he
said at last. "To watch all the rushing currents which dominate
human beings when they do not know how to manipulate them. If they
did, the millennium would come,--but, meanwhile, it is reserved
for the few who have learned them to enjoy this present plane we
are on."

"You mean you can control events and shape your life as you
please, then?" Stella asked surprised, while she raised her sweet
shy eyes to his inquiringly. "I wish I knew how!"

"Shall I try to teach you, mademoiselle?" he said.

"Yes, indeed."