the whispers of the oriental orgies that were said to take place in
his bachelor apartments made him an object of a curious interest, and
many sighed for the opportunity of reforming so distinguished a
sybarite.

On Edith's entrance into society he had been much impressed by her
beauty, and had gradually grown quite attentive, equally attracted by
her father's wealth. But she, though with no clear perception of his
character, and with no higher moral standard than that of her set,
instinctively shrank from the man. Indeed, in some respects, they were
too much alike for that mysterious attraction that so often occurs
between opposites. Not that she had his unnatural depravity, but like
him she was shrewd, practical, resolute, and was controlled by her
judgment rather than by her impulses. Her vanity, of which she had no
little share, led her to accept his attentions to a certain point, but
the keen man of the world soon saw that his "little game," as in his
own vernacular he styled it, would not be successful, and he was the
last one to sigh in vain or mope an hour in lovelorn melancholy. While
ceasing to press his suit, he continued to be a frequent and familiar
visitor at the house, and thus his attention was drawn to Zell, who,
though young, had developed early in the stimulating atmosphere in
which she lived. At first he petted and played with ner as a child, as
she wilfully flitted in and out of the parlors, whether her sisters
wanted her or not. He continually brought her _bon-bons_ and like
fanciful trifles, till at last, in jest, the family called him Zell's
"ancient beau."

But during the past year it had dawned on him that the child he petted
on account of her beauty and sprightliness, was rapidly becoming a
brilliant woman, who would make a wife far more to his taste than her