"I would like him to love you, dear child," she said; and then as
Tamara did not answer she went on softly almost to herself: "My brother
Alexis was just such another as Gritzko. That season he spent with me
in London, when your mother and I were young, he played all sorts of
wild pranks. We three were always together. He was killed in a duel
after, you know. It was all very sad."

Tamara stroked her godmother's hand.

"Dear, dear Marraine," she said.

Then they checked sentiment and went to dress for dinner, arm in arm.
They had grown real friends in these three short weeks.




CHAPTER X


The scene at the ballet was most brilliant, as it is always on a Sunday
night. The great auditorium, with its blue silk-curtained boxes, the
mass of glittering uniforms, and the ladies in evening-dress, although
they were all in black, made a gay spectacle almost like a gala night.
Then it is so delightful to have one's eyes pleased with what is on the
stage and yet be able to talk.

But Tamara, as she sat and looked at it, was not enjoying herself. She
was overcome with a vague feeling of unrest. She hated having to admit