"She took quite a fancy to you, old man," he said affectionately. "She said you reminded her of a judge." George smiled. Was Neaera practising _double entente_ on her betrothed? "What an infernally unpleasant thing to say!" exclaimed Tommy. "Of course I shall go and see her," said George,--"to-morrow, if I can find time." "So shall I," added Tommy. Gerald was pleased. He liked to see his taste endorsed with the approbation of his friends. "It's about time old George, here, followed suit, isn't it, Tommy? I've given him a lead." George's attachment to Isabel Bourne was an accepted fact among his acquaintance. He never denied it: he did like her very much, and meant to marry her, if she would have him. And he did not really doubt that she would. If he had doubted, he would not have been so content to rest without an express assurance. As it was, there was no hurry. Let the practice grow a little more yet. He and Isabel understood one another, and, as soon as she was ready, he was ready. But long engagements were a nuisance to everybody. These were his feelings, and he considered himself, by virtue of them, to be in love with Isabel. There are many ways of being in love, and it would be a want of toleration to deny that George's is one of them, although it is certainly very unlike some of the others. Tommy agreed that George was wasting his time, and with real kindness led Gerald back to the subject which filled his mind. Gerald gladly embraced the opportunity. "Where did I meet her? Oh, down at Brighton, last winter. Then, you know, I pursued her to Manchester, and found her living in no end of a swell villa in the outskirts of that abominable place. Neaera hated it, but of course she had to live there while Witt was alive, and she had kept the house on." "She wasn't Manchester-born, then?" "No. I don't know where she was born. Her father seems to have been a romantic sort of old gentleman. He was a painter by trade--an artist, I mean, you know,--landscapes and so on." "And went about looking for bits of nature to murder, eh?" asked Tommy. "That's about it. I don't think he was any great shakes at it. At least, he didn't make much; and at last he settled in Manchester, and tried to pick up a living, working for the dealers. Witt was a picture-fancier, and, when Neaera came to sell, he saw her, and----" "The late Witt's romance began?" "Yes, confound him! I'm beastly jealous of old Witt, though he is dead." "That's ungrateful," remarked George, "considering----" "Hush! You'll wound his feelings," said Tommy. "He's forgotten all about the cash." "It's all very well for you----" Gerald began. But George cut in, "What was his name?" "Witt's? Oh, Jeremiah, I believe." "Witt? No. Hang Witt! The father's name." "Oh!--Gale. A queer old boy he seems to have been--a bit of a scholar as well as an artist." "That accounts for the 'Neaera,' I suppose," said Tommy. "Neaera Gale," thought George. "I don't remember that."