“Ah,” I said, “that is only — only at certain times.”

As we went together from room to room I forgot everything except the fact of her presence. Never was beauty so powerful as hers; never was the power of beauty used so artlessly, with such a complete unconsciousness. I began gloomily to speculate on the chances of her ultimately marrying Alresca, and a remark from her awoke me from my abstraction. We were nearing the top of the house.

“It is all familiar to me, in a way,” she said.

“Why, you said the same down-stairs. Have you been here before?”

“Never, to my knowledge.”

We were traversing a long, broad passage side by