The young man laughingly told his sweetheart that he thought her father had been at the bottom of this unusual invitation, and she admitted it. “He’s a very keen judge of character,” she said. “In his responsible position he is bound to be. And he says you never thoroughly know a man till you have stayed in the same house with him. No doubt that is why he wanted you here daily for a time.” “Till he had completed his investigations, eh?” observed Lydon, with an amused smile, although at the same time he had every sympathy with regard to Jasper’s anxiety on behalf of his child. “Well, dear, I shall have to mind my P’s and Q’s, shan’t I? I must take care not to come down grumpy in the morning, or show any of the latent villainy that is hidden somewhere in my disposition.” The girl laughed happily. She had inherited her father’s capacity for reading character, and she had not much fear of this open, honest, even-tempered young fellow, whose moods hardly ever seemed to vary. It occurred to Lydon that, on this visit, Stormont was devoting himself much more closely to his business, whatever it might be, than was usual with him. He went up pretty early to London every day, and on two occasions he missed dinner, and did not return till late in the evening. Evidently something of importance was going on. There were, strange to relate, no dinner parties during that week. Lydon could hardly believe there was so much affection between the two men that Howard wanted to enjoy his brother’s company without interruption. He thought it was rather a matter of policy. Howard knew that, if questioned, Gloria would not be able to conceal the fact of his extravagance. She might even let out that there were periods when he was obviously short of money, and in view of these possible confidences he did not wish to give Jasper the elder brother’s privilege of lecturing him. In the eyes of such a financial purist as the banker, his happy-go-lucky methods would savour of nothing short of criminal folly. Lydon listened to his sentiments one night when the two men were together in the smoking-room, on the second occasion on which Howard had not returned to dinner. The banker’s face was very grim as he delivered his criticism on what he knew and had observed.