herself, so naturally informed. All these things had their charm, and,
coupled with her undoubted beauty, left his brain in a whirl.

He was satisfactorily dressed at last, although obliged to switch on the
lights before this was accomplished. The reflection of himself in the
pier glass quite met his deliberate approval, and he glanced inquiringly
at his watch, rather eager to delve deeper into this adventure. It was a
few moments of seven, and she would undoubtedly be waiting for him in the
hall below. He descended the broad stairs, conscious of a thrill of
expectancy; nor was he doomed to disappointment.

Miss Coolidge met him in the dimly lighted vacancy of the hall, with
smiling eyes of welcome. They were mocking, puzzling eyes, the depths of
which he could not fathom--they perplexed, and invited at the same
instant. She was in evening dress, a creamy satin, revealing white
shoulders, and rounded, beautifully mounded arms, visible beneath folds
of filmy lace. If he had dreamed the girl attractive before in the
plainness of street costume, he now beheld her in a new vision of
loveliness. His heart throbbed at the sight, every nerve tingling to the
intimate tones of her voice. And she met him in a more delightful mood of
informality than had found expression even during their afternoon ride.
She was apparently in the highest spirits, eager to overstep all
conventionality.

"Again you please me," she said, surveying him critically. "Really this
is too much, the wonderful way in which you meet every test."

"You mean in clothes?"

"In everything, so far. Clothes--yes; do they not reveal the very soul of