her fingers; but the harpies had to be appeased or driven away. She could not achieve the last, therefore her purse-strings would have to be unloosened. Already the pockets of Strange gaped hungrily, and it was her hard fate to fill them. "So absurd!" grumbled Lady Jim, as the wind whimpered and the rain lashed the glass, "in the middle ages one could have hired a nice bravo to put him out of the way, and there would not have been even funeral expenses. I must pay, I suppose, but I'll see if the beast will not take the money by instalments. There is always the chance that he might be drowned between payments--and I hope he will be," she ended devoutly. In this amiable frame of mind she arrived at Curzon Street, after sending Joan, brimful of Continental experiences, to the less fashionable district of Lambeth. The house looked cosy, the servants were attentive, the insurance money swelled her bank account, and, best of all, Demetrius was posting towards Siberia. On the whole things were tolerable--it was not Leah's custom to indulge in superlatives--so she decided to remain for a week or two in London, prior to being bored at Firmingham, where the Marchioness awaited the home-coming of the yachting party. After her late efforts in the cause of politics Lady Jim felt that she really could not stand Hilda's artificial childishness without an intermezzo of amusement. But fun of any sort was hard to find, since her widowhood and the emptiness of town precluded indulgence. Piccadilly and the Park, St. James's Street and Pall Mall, were as barren of pleasure and a fashionable population as that Siberia towards which Demetrius unwillingly journeyed. Even Lady Canvey had moved out of the Early Victorian room into more modern surroundings at Nice. Askew certainly paid his promised visit, but he proved to be dull, thinking more of the yacht than the woman. The technical terms he employed in describing his purchase made Lady Jim yawn, and she decided that, like all men, he was unutterably selfish. However, she was sufficiently kind-hearted--and diplomatic--to show him the pseudo letter, and translate it for his benefit. "Told you so," said he, when in possession of misleading facts: "the beggar's all right--be on his legs in a jiffy." "Thanks to your care." "Don't rub it into a fellow, Lady Jim!" "Lady James!" "Lady James it is, though it seems to me that we are to be merely acquaintances." "Most of my friends are acquaintances." "But I want this acquaintance to be a friend." "What an exacting nature! Well"--with a sigh--"I suppose as you have loved and I have lost, we can be friends till you marry." "Why not after?" "Dear Mr. Askew, a bachelor selects his own friends, a wife chooses those of her husband. Meantime, you are a nice boy, if somewhat fickle, and I like you sufficiently to let you go. When does this ship of yours go south?" "Schooner, Lady Jim--schooner-yacht; two hundred tons Lloyd's measurement and----"