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BY ORDER OF THE CZAR. . 187

nitude, not to mention bankers and divines, it was good enough for the wife of a mere city solicitor."

And thus, after sundry discussions of an equally momen- tous character, Philip and his prospective sister-in-law drift- ed into the very smallest of small talk, which was happily brought to an end very quickly, for Walter Milbanke's horses were as good as his wines and his dinners, Walter priding himself on having everything of the best.

When Mrs. Milbanke made her way through Lady Forsyth's crowded hall to the drawing-room, Philip For- syth in a somewhat perturbed state of mind was driven back to Westbury Lodge. He hardly felt master of him- self; a strong consciousness of the claims of duty took possession of him. He had proposed to Dolly ; Dolly was a beautiful girl, she might easily make a much better match. His mother liked her very much. Mrs. Milbanke was a kind, genial woman, devoted to Dolly. Walter Mil- banke was a good fellow. They were well-to-do, and they paid him much respect. Chetwynd had said Philip needed the anchorage of marriage ; and after all the Coun- tess Stravensky was a strange creature, with no doubt a remarkable career. She went about in a queer way with a private secretary, who was a very cut-throat looking person ; and she was Philip's senior by several years. He admitted to himself that she exercised a strange fascination over him ; but why did he admit this ? Why did he think about her at all beyond the realm of art, any more than he would think of any other good subject ? He asked himself these questions in a desultory kind of way, and shuddered with a pleasant thrill as he thought of her kissing him ; but this was followed by an unpleasant kind of feeling that there was something motherly or sisterly, or merely friendly in her kiss and in her farewell, nothing suggestive of passion or of love except in the abstract. She had said " Good- bye ; " she had treated him as if he were a memory, not a