"Then do give me your card."

He gave it to her.

"We both want to know her secret," she said, as she put it into her
card-case. "Our curiosity about that dear, delightful woman is a link
between us."

Craven looked into her animated eyes, which were strongly searching him
for admiration. He took her hand and held it for a moment.

"I don't think I want to know Lady Sellingworth's secret if she doesn't
wish me to know it," he said.

"Now--is that true?"

"Yes," he said, with a genuine earnestness which seemed to amuse her.
"Really, really it is true."

She sent him a slightly mocking glance.

"Well, I am less delicate. I want to know it, whether she wishes me to
or not. And yet I am more devoted to her than you are. I have known her
for quite a long time."

"One can learn devotion very quickly," he said, pressing her hand before
he let it go.

"In an afternoon?"