"Oh," he answered, a trifle uneasily, "a multitude of
circumstances. Pretty nearly every conventional barrier the
world has invented, existed between him and her. She was a
frightful swell, for one thing."

"A frightful swell--?" The Duchessa raised her eyebrows.

"Yes," said Peter, "at a vertiginous height above him--horribly
'aloft and lone' in the social hierarchy." He tried to smile.

"What could that matter?" the Duchessa objected simply. "Mr.
Wildmay is a gentleman."

"How do you know he is?" Peter asked, thinking to create a
diversion,

"Of course, he is. He must be. No one but a gentleman could
have had such an experience, could have written such a book.
And besides, he's a friend of yours. Of course he's a
gentleman," returned the adroit Duchessa.

"But there are degrees of gentleness, I believe," said Peter.
"She was at the topmost top. He--well, at all events, he knew
his place. He had too much humour, too just a sense of
proportion, to contemplate offering her his hand."

"A gentleman can offer his hand to any woman--under royalty,"
said the Duchessa.