A London Life; The Patagonia; The Liar; Mrs. Temperly

of his time. He deprecated this course very respectfully; urged that he had it on his conscience to deliver her at her own door; but she sprang into the cab and closed the apron with a movement

occur to him that there was a scandal so near her, because he thought with no great promptitude of such things; and yet, since there was-but since there was after all Laura scarcely knew what attitude would sit upon him most gracefully. As to what he might be prepared to suspect by having heard what Selina's reputation was in London, of that Laura was unable to judge, not knowing what was said, because of course it was not said to her. Lionel would undertake to give her the benefit of this any moment she would allow him, but how in the world could he know ei

gether the Soane Museum had not been in the original programme. They had been near it, they had been on foot and they had rushed in to take refuge from the rain. But how did they come to be near it and above all to be on foot? How could Selina do anything so reckless from her own point of view as to walk about the town-even an out-of-the-way part of it-with her suspected lover? Laura Wing felt the want of proper knowledge to explain such anomalies. It was too little clear to her where ladies went and how they proceeded when they consorted with gentlemen in regard to their meetings with whom they had to lie. She knew nothing of where Captain Crispin lived; very possibly-for she vaguely remembered having heard Selina say of him that he was very poor-he had chambers in that p

and ruin and shame come down and bury us!' That was what was in the air-the vulgarest disgrace, and the girl, harder now than ever about her sister, was conscious of a more passionate desire to save herself. But Selina's absence made the difference that during the next hour a certain chill fell upon this impulse from other feelings: she found suddenly that she was late and she began to dress. They were to go together after dinner to a couple of balls; a diversion which struck her as ghastly for people who carried such horrors in their breasts. Ghastly was the idea of the drive of husband, wife and sister in pursuit of pleasure, with falsity and detection and hate between them. Selina's maid came to her door to tell her that she was in the carriage-an extraordinary piece of punctuality, which made her wonder, as S

e was quite prepared for her presenting a face of blankness to any form of interrogation and saying, 'What on earth are you talking about?' It was in short conceivable to her that Selina would deny absolutely that she had been in the museum, that they had stood face to face and that she had fled in confusion. She was capable of explaining the incident by an idiotic error on Laura's pa

I have seen him

ally do with gentlemen yo

with you see what he is. One might go with him anywhere. Then he brought us an introduction-we have to do

ionel were to know it he wouldn't tole

ad,' she said. 'You are horrible!' She saw that Selina had not taken up the idea of denying-she judged that would be hopeless: the recognition on either side had been too sharp. She looked radiantly handsome, especially wit

ent on, with her wonderful affected clearness; 'but it was not your finding me that was out of the way; it was my finding you-with your remarkable escort! That was incredible. I pretended not to recognise you, so that the gentleman who was with me shouldn't see you, shouldn't know you. He questioned me and I repudiated you. You may thank me for saving you! You

n endless succession of ladies with 'dressed' heads, of gentlemen in white neckties. 'Why, I thought your frames were all so pretty!' Laura murmu

ur

cy was expen

knocking about in cabs

at you say about me,' Laura went on; 'though I don't know

ve a view through the front glass. 'We are there, but there are two other

are you going-where are y

n't pretend to be better than other women, but you do!' And being on the side of the house she quickly st