the most lovely and the most wonderful creature that ever stepped out of
a fairy tale.

From the very moment he set eyes on her he was her devoted slave, and
after the first few days a more constant attendant than any shadow--for
shadows at best are mere fair-weather comrades. He seldom saw the lady
alone, for she had with her a small child, not yet a year old, of which
she was, as it seemed to Sir Arthur, inordinately fond; and whether she
were sitting under the trees in the garden of the hotel, or driving
slowly along the dusty roads--as was her habit each afternoon--the baby
and its nurse were always with her, and by their presence put an
effective check to the personalities in which he was longing to indulge.
It would have taken more than a baby to discourage Sir Arthur, however:
he cheerfully included the little girl in his attentions; and, as time
went on, became known to the other invalids in the place by the nickname
of "the Nursemaid."

Mrs. Meredith took his homage as a matter of course. She was used to
admiration, though she was not one of those women to whom it is
indispensable. She considered it one of the luxuries of life, and held
that it is more becoming than diamonds and a better protection against
the weather than the most expensive furs. At first she looked upon the
obviously stricken state of Sir Arthur with amusement, combined with a
good deal of gratification that some one should have arisen to entertain
her in this dull health resort; but gradually, as the weeks passed, her
point of view underwent a change. Whether it was the boredom of the cure,
or whether she was touched by the unselfish devotion of her admirer, or
whether it was due merely to the accident that Sir Arthur was an
uncommonly good-looking young man and so little conscious of the fact,
from one cause or another she began to feel for him a friendliness which