'All right?' he said, with a cool interrogation, and he turned to

Logotheti before Margaret could give any answer.

'Come in and lunch, my dear fellow,' said the Greek affably.

'I never lunch--thanks all the same.' He moved to go on, nodding a

good-bye.

'Are you here for long?' asked Margaret, forcing him to stop again.

'That depends on what you call long. I leave this evening.' 'I should call that a very short time!' Margaret tried to laugh a

little, with a lingering hope that he might unbend.

'It's quite long enough for me, thank you,' he answered roughly.

'Good-bye!' He lifted his hat again and walked off very fast. Margaret's face fell,

and Logotheti saw the change of expression.

'He's an awfully good fellow in spite of his shyness,' he said quietly.

'I wish we could have made him stay.' 'Yes,' Margaret answered, in a preoccupied tone.

She was wondering whether Logotheti had guessed that there had been

anything between her and Lushington. Logotheti ushered his guests in

under the main entrance.

'Do you know Mr. Lushington well?' she asked.

'Yes, in a way. I once published a little book, and he wrote a very

nice article about it in a London Review. You did not know I was a man

of letters, did you?' Logotheti laughed quietly. 'My book was not very

long--only about a hundred pages, I think. But Lushington made out that

it wasn't all rubbish, and I was always grateful to him.' 'What was your book about?' asked Margaret, as they entered the house.

'Oh, nothing that would interest you--the pronunciation of Greek. Will

you take off your hat?' At every step, at every turn, Margaret realised how much she had been

mistaken in thinking that anything in Logotheti's house could be in bad

taste. There was perfect harmony everywhere, and a great deal of

simplicity. The man alone offended her eye a little, the man himself,

with his resplendent tie, his jewellery and his patent leather shoes;

and even so, it was only the outward man, in so far as she could not

help seeing him and contrasting his appearance with his surroundings.

For he was as tactful and quiet, and as modest about himself as ever;

he did not exhibit the conquering air which many men would have found

it impossible not to assume under the circumstances; he showed himself

just as anxious to please little Madame De Rosa as Margaret herself,

and talked to both indiscriminately. If Margaret at first felt that she

was doing something a little eccentric, not to say compromising, in

accepting the invitation, the sensation had completely worn off before

luncheon was half over, and she was as much at her ease as she could

have been in Mrs. Rushmore's own house. She felt as if she had known

Logotheti all her life, as if she understood him thoroughly and was not

displeased that he should understand her.




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