She had thrown herself back in her armchair, and was regarding him as if he were perpetrating some mysterious joke, which she did not understand. “How extraordinary; how very extraordinary!” she exclaimed at length, “that is the very thing that Ralph said of her when they first met.” “But why extraordinary? There are few men who would not endorse the opinion. Miss Brandt possesses the kind of beauty that appeals to the senses of animal creatures like ourselves. She has a far more dangerous quality than that of mere regularity of feature. She attracts without knowing it. She is a mass of magnetism.” “O! do go on, Mr. Pennell! Tell me how she received the news you went to break to her!” “I never broke it at all. There was no need to do so. Miss Brandt alluded to the magnificent Captain Pullen’s marriage with the greatest nonchalance. She evidently estimates him at his true value, and does not consider him worth troubling her head about!” “You astonish me! But how are we to account then for the attitude she assumed towards Miss Leyton, and the boast she made of Ralph’s attentions to her?” “Bravado, most likely! Miss Leyton goes to the Red House all aflame, like an angry turkey cock, and accuses Miss Brandt of having robbed her of her lover, and what would you have the girl do? Not cry Peccavi, surely, and lower her womanhood? She had but one course--to brave it out. Besides, you have heard only one side of the question, remember! I can imagine Miss Leyton being very ‘nasty’ if she liked!” “You forget the letters which Miss Brandt wrote to Ralph and which were found in his empty grate at Richmond!” “I do not! I remember them as only another proof of how unworthy he is of the confidence of any woman.” “Really, Mr. Pennell, you seem to be all on Miss Brandt’s side!” “I am, and for this reason. If your ideas concerning her are correct, she displayed a large amount of fortitude whilst speaking of your brother-in-law yesterday. But my own belief is, that you are mistaken--that Miss Brandt is too clever for Ralph, or any of you--and that she cares no more for him in that way than you do. She considers doubtless that he has behaved in a most ungentlemanly manner towards them all, and so do I. I did not know what excuse to make for Ralph! I was ashamed to own him as a relation.” “Harriet Brandt _did_ then confide her supposed wrongs to you!” “Not at all! When she mentioned Ralph’s name, it was like that of any other acquaintance. But when she was out of the room, the Baroness told me that he had behaved like a scoundrel to the girl--that he had never confided the fact of his engagement to her, but run after her on every occasion, and then after having promised to join their party in Brussels, and asked Madame Gobelli to engage his room for him, he left for England without even sending her a line of apology, nor has he taken the least notice of them since!”