"Yes."

"It does one's eyes good to see such a powerful looking young man. Is
your brother married, may I ask?"

"He is not."

"In coming into a new circle as I have done, you understand, Miss Burr, I
often feel a certain awkwardness on account of not knowing the relations
between the persons I meet," he said, apologizing for his questions.

Laura saw her opportunity, and promptly improved it.

"My brother has been attentive to Miss Brand for a long time. They are
about as good as engaged. Good-evening, Mr. Cordis."

It so happened that several days after this conversation, as Madeline was
walking home one afternoon, she glanced back at a crossing of the street,
and saw Harrison Cordis coming behind her on his way to tea. At the rate
she was walking she would reach home before he overtook her, but, if she
walked a very little slower, he would overtake her. Her pace slackened.
She blushed at her conduct, but she did not hurry.

The most dangerous lovers women have are men of Cordis's feminine
temperament. Such men, by the delicacy and sensitiveness of their own
organizations, read women as easily and accurately as women read each
other. They are alert to detect and interpret those smallest trifles in
tone, expression, and bearing, which betray the real mood far more
unmistakably than more obvious signs. Cordis had seen her backward
glance, and noted her steps grow slower with a complacent smile. It was