of the moralities minor and major, he saw the birth of an influence
which inevitably must henceforth be desperately reckoned with.

Given a name, this new-born life-factor was love; love barely
awakened, and as yet no more than a masterful desire to stand well in
the eyes of one woman. None the less, he saw the possibilities: that a
time might come when this woman would have the power to intervene;
would make him hold his hand in the business affair at the very
moment, mayhap, when he should strike the hardest.

It was a rather unnerving thought, and when he considered it he was
glad that their ways, coinciding for the moment, would presently go
apart, leaving him free to do battle as an honest soldier in any cause
must.

The Rosemary party was rising, and Winton rose, too, folding the seat
for Miss Virginia and carefully reaching her wrap from the rack.

"I am so glad to have met you," she said, giving him the tips of her
fingers and going back to the conventionalities as if they had never
been ignored.

But the sincerity in Winton's reply transcended the conventional form
of it.

"Indeed, the pleasure has been wholly mine, I assure you. I hope the
future will be kind to me and let me see more of you."

"Who knows?" she rejoined, smiling at him level-eyed. "The world has
been steadily growing smaller since Shakespeare called it 'narrow.'"