paying me. The Diana company is touring in the provinces while the theatre is getting itself decorated. I hate the provinces. Leeds and Liverpool and Glasgow — fancy dancing there! And so my half-sister — Carlotta, y’know — got me this engagement, and I’m going to stay with her. Have you met Carlotta?”

“No — not yet.” I did not add that I had had reason to think a good deal about her.

“Well, Carlotta is — Carlotta. A terrific swell, and a bit of a Tartar. We quarrel every time we meet, which isn’t often. She tries to play the elder sister game on me, and I won’t have it. Though she is elder — very much elder, you now. But I think her worst point is that she’s so frightfully mysterious. You can never tell what she’s