Despite her show of bravery Adoree was panic-stricken when the
bell rang and Bob went to the door to explain the change of plan
and invite Pope in.

The latter could be heard saying: "That's fine. Me for a home-
cooked dinner. Here's an unabridged cluster of orchids for Mrs.
Wharton, too. If I'd had time I'd have brought you a hanging-lamp
or a plush album decorated with sea-shells." He entered the
living-room with a hand extended and a smile upon his lips, then
halted as if frozen. By the time he had been introduced to Adoree
he had burst into a gentle perspiration.

Certainly the personal appearance of the notorious dancer was
sufficiently unexpected to shock him; she might have been anything
rather than a king's favorite; she looked far more like a prim
little housewife as she helped Lorelei with her homely tasks, and
the incongruity affected Pope painfully. With involuntary
suspicion he avoided her after his first stiff greeting; but his
eyes followed her furtively, and he wandered slightly in his
attention to Bob's chatter.

As for Miss Demorest, she took a grim delight in his discomfort,
and prepared to blast him with sarcasm, to wither him with her
contempt when the moment came. Meanwhile she listened as the two
men talked, turning up her nose when Pope scored Broadway with his
usual bitterness.

"He thinks that's smart," she reflected; but she, too, detested
the Great Trite Way, and his words expressed her own distaste so