"Having said so much, you must tell me more," she said. "It is not the man I want to know, of course I hope for his recovery, but it is his sister who interests me, and a woman who has a brother who is a failure is to be pitied, not shunned." "I don't want to go into details," said Guy a little curtly. "It is enough that he's not a man for you to know, and I'm thankful that he's not likely to come within your circle." "That's too arbitrary for me," said Adrienne in a tone of hauteur. "I don't intend to go through life edging away from everything and everyone who is not of spotless purity. What is their story? Their name is Preston. Have they always lived here?" "No, he's by way of being an artist. I met them in Rome some years ago; he was rather well known upon the Riviera before that—ran through a fortune at Monte Carlo—and then he took up art for a living." "His poor sister! I expect she brought him to this out-of-the-way place to keep him out of temptation." "Oh, money is not his temptation. We won't discuss him. I will not have you make his acquaintance." "But, Cousin Guy, you are not my guardian." "I have made myself one pro tem.," he said gravely. "Your uncles would hold me responsible if you came to any harm." "Oh, I'm not a child." Adrienne's tone was impatient. "Do you think I would fall in love with him, or he with me?" she went on. "It is his sister I want to know. She is English, and is living here away from friends. I liked her look so; she's straight and frank and so handsome, and such lines of trouble upon her face!" Silence fell between them for a few minutes, then Adrienne rose from her seat with a little sigh. "Well, I will submit to your discretion. I won't pay them a visit. If I were younger and rasher, I would out of mere curiosity, but I will write a note to her. That I can do, to show a little sympathy." Guy rose and held out his hand to her. "Shake, as we Americans say," he said, smiling. Adrienne smiled at him in return. His smiles were so few that she was absolutely fascinated by them. They made him look ten years younger. She put her hand in his. "Don't be so masterful and peremptory another time," she said; "it never pays with me. I'm not one of those women who admire a 'cave man.'" "I didn't lay my hand upon you," he said. "You laid it on my horse. I wonder—" She stopped: a dreamy look came into her eyes. "I wonder if he knows little Agatha." "God forbid!" said Guy hastily. Adrienne looked at him reproachfully. "How can you speak so! I feel she would get hold of a man's soul if anyone could, and bring light and hope to the most desperate. You are very inconsistent, Cousin Guy. The first time I saw you, you talked to me about half the world easing the burdens of the other half; you put yourself and me in the position of burden-bearers, and said I ought to ease the burden of loneliness and unhappiness which weighs down my aunt—"