shown much favor to his widow, who is now travelling for
her health."
" And you think her beautiful ? " asked Philip.
" She is your picture, and as sombre in expression, until you rouse her interest; then her eyes they are of a rich violet light up, and her smile is simply divine."
" And you will find the chicken not to be despised/' remarked Mrs. Chetwynd, " if you will allow me to sug- gest anything so mundane ; the Surrey chicken ought to be canonized in the cook's calendar."
"Yes ; don't let the countess take away your appetite; and here's to the gold medal ! "
Dick nodded to his guest over a glass of champagne, and Mrs. Chetwynd said : " But you did not tell me why I am to have the honor of this paragon of beauty's presence to- night without a formal invitation ? "
" She informed me that she expects to leave London to- morrow or on the next day," said Dick, " and may not return ; which emboldened me to say how much I regretted you had not had the pleasure of meeting her, in order that you might have invited the honor of her company at your ' at home ' to-night, and so on. Then I told her all about Philip and his picture ; how it had been inspired ; inti- mating with a poetic and mysterious touch that I believed you had dreamed you had seen her at the opera, and how you had tried to suggest such a face as hers in the very last position possible, and that you were searching London for the face you vowed you had seen, in order to ask the owner to sit for your picture. She seemed more interested in what I said than she cared to exhibit. I thought she winced, and that a shade of color spread over her pale, handsome face when I mentioned your having seen her at the opera. She turned and spoke to her secretary, who, while she appeared to talk quite familiarly with him, treated her with the greatest deference, if not with slavish
