I can't play decently yet, but I'd rather be doing it than anything. I think it's chiefly because I can lose myself doing these things. Forget that I'm Finch Whiteoak." He stared in silence at the floor for a moment, his hands thrust in his pockets, then he raised his eyes to his friend's face and asked ingenuously: "It's wonderful when you're able to forget yourself completely, isn't it?"
"It must be. . . . But I couldn't do it, Finch. I'm so damned self-conscious. I'm always posing. I don't want to forget myself. My great joy in life is watching my own stunts. But," he added, seriously, "my feeling about you is not self-conscious. It's real. As real as you are, and you're as real as one of those spirited horses your red-headed brother rides so well."
Finch uttered one of his sudden guffaws. "I'm real enough, but I'm no more spirited than a—than a—why, I guess Renny'd take a fit if he heard anyone call me spirited."
"Well, I suppose I should have said sensitive, highly strung. . . . And this—Renny—stopped your music lessons, eh? Because you failed to pass your matric. Had he given you a good teacher?"
"Splendid. When Renny does anything, he does it thoroughly—even if it's swearing. I've never heard anyone who can curse like Renny."
"He seems a thoroughgoing beast, but I like him in spite of myself. Is he married?"
Finch shook his head, and he thought of Alayne.
"Doesn't care about women?"
"They fall for him."
"Are any of your brothers married?"
"Yes. Eden's married; that is—well, he's separated from his wife. She's in New York. Her name is Alayne. Piers is married, too. He and his wife live at Jalna."
"Jalna?"
"Yes, that's the name of our place. Indian military station. My grandfather was stationed there."
Leigh exclaimed: "Look here, Finch, you must ask me out. I'm eaten up with curiosity to meet this family of yours. You're like a picture without its frame. I
