"I am quite real," and she smiled, "but now you must notice these two rooms a little that we shall pass through. They are very ghostly I think; they were the Sir Timothy's who went to fetch James I from Scotland. I am glad they are not mine, but the long gallery I love; it is my sitting-room--my very own--and in it I keep something which matters to me more than anything else in the world." Then she went on, with a divine shyness which thrilled her companion: "And--I do not know why--but I think I will show it to you." "Yes, please do that," he responded eagerly, "and do not let us stop to look at the ghostly apartments--where you sit interests me far more." So they went rapidly through Sir Timothy's rooms, with the great state bed where had slept his royal master, so the tale ran, and on down some uneven steps, and through a small door, and there found themselves in the long, narrow room, with its bays along the southern side, and one splendid mullioned casement at the end with coats-of-arms emblazoned upon each division. And through this, which looked west, there poured the lowered afternoon sun with a broad shaft of glorious light. The place was almost empty, but for a chest or two and a table near this window with writing materials and books. And upon a rough set of shelves close at hand many more volumes reposed. "So it is here you live and work, you wise, lonely, little Pallas Athené," he said. "You must not call me that--I am not at all like her," Halcyone answered softly. "She was very clever and very noble--but a little hard, I think. Wait until I have shown you my own goddess. I would rather have her soul than any other of the Olympian gods." John Derringham took a step nearer to her. "Do you remember the night at dinner here when you told me Pallas Athené's words to Perseus?" he said. "I have thought of them often, and they have helped me sometimes, I think." "I am so glad," said Halcyone simply, while she moved towards her treasure chest. He watched her with satisfied eyes--every action of hers was full of grace, and the interest he felt in her personally obscured any for the moment in what she was going to show him, but at last he became aware that she had unlocked a cupboard drawer, and was taking from it a bundle of blue silk. His curiosity was aroused, and he went over as near as he could. "Come!" whispered Halcyone, and walked to the high window-sill of the middle section, and then put down her burden upon the old faded velvet seat. "See, I will take off her veil gradually," she said, "and you must tell me of what she makes you think." John Derringham was growing interested by now, but had no idea in the world of the marvel he was going to see. He started more perceptibly than even Mr. Carlyon had done seven years before, when he had realized the superlative beauty of the Greek head. Halcyone uncovered it reverently, and then took a step back, and waited silently for him to speak.