I was invited to join the game, but dread of being led into a carouse deterred me, and after looking on for a few minutes, I said good-night and wandered back toward the office. I walked up and down a couple of times with an unlighted cigarette between my teeth, as if merely seeking diversion, and then going up to the desk, asked some irrelevant questions about the arrivals during the day. My question answered, I turned carelessly as if about to depart, and then as though the thought had suddenly presented itself, looked back, and said: "Oh! by the by; did I understand correctly that my brother, Mr. Torrence Attlebridge, had settled for our apartments?" The clerk did not have to refer to his books, but answered promptly with a pleased smile: "Oh, yes, sir. Everything is settled for in full. Your brother has paid in advance for two months. He has our receipt for the amount—three hundred pounds. They are our very best apartments, sir; decorated by LeBrune, and furnished by Haltzeimer entirely regardless—I hope Mr. Attlebridge finds everything satisfactory!" I assured him that everything was just as we desired and went away comforted, with the exception of wishing that I had the money instead of the rooms. But such thoughts were idle; I was in Torrence’s hands. After loitering about the smoking room for a few minutes, I returned to my room, and to bed. *V.* When I got up in the morning Torrence had gone. He had left without disturbing me, as he said he should, the journey to Gravesend requiring an early start. I determined to put in the day writing, having evolved some ideas which I thought might suit a certain American journal; but it is astonishing when the necessity for work has been removed, how indifferent we become to it. Every effort seemed absolutely futile, and after an hour, I put away my writing materials and went out for a drive in the park. I could see that my brother’s new outfit was greatly admired, and I leaned back upon the satin cushions, conscious that I was looked upon as an important person—possibly a duke. I lunched at a fashionable restaurant near the marble arch, and then, after a drive along Edgeware road, returned to the hotel.