Looking up, she found George de Courcy Vavasour bending over her in an attitude that betokened the utmost admiration for both parties to the tete-a-tete. Under ordinary conditions,--that is to say, if Vavasour's existence depended on his own exertions,--Helen's eyes would have dwelt on a gawky youth endowed with a certain pertness that might in time have brought him from behind the counter of a drapery store to the wider arena of the floor. As it was, a reasonably large income gave him unbounded assurance, and his credit with a good tailor was unquestionable. He represented a British product that flourishes best in alien soil. There exists a foreign legion of George de Courcy Vavasours, flaccid heroes of fashion plates, whose parade grounds change with the seasons from Paris to the Riviera, and from the Riviera to some nook in the Alps. Providence and a grandfather have conspired in their behalf to make work unnecessary; but Providence, more far-seeing than grandfathers, has decreed that they shall be effete and light brained, so the type does not endure. Helen, out of the corner of her eye, became aware that Mrs. de Courcy Vavasour was advancing with all the plumes of the British matron ruffled for battle. It was not in human nature that the girl should not recall the slight offered her the previous evening. With the thought came the temptation to repay it now with interest; but she thrust it aside. "Yes, that is my name," she said, smiling pleasantly. "Well--er--the General has asked me to--er--invite you take part in some of our tournaments. We have tennis, you know, an' golf, an' croquet, an' that sort of thing. Of course, you play tennis, an' I rather fancy you're a golfer as well. You look that kind of girl--Eh, what?" He caressed a small mustache as he spoke, using the finger and thumb of each hand alternately, and Helen noticed that his hands were surprisingly large when compared with his otherwise fragile frame. "Who is the General?" she inquired. "Oh, Wragg, you know. He looks after everything in the amusement line, an' I help. Do let me put you down for the singles an' mixed doubles. None of the women here can play for nuts, an' I haven't got a partner yet for the doubles. I've been waitin' for someone like you to turn up." "You have not remained long in suspense," she could not help saying. "You are Mr. Vavasour, are you not?" "Yes, better known as Georgie." "And you arrived in Maloja last evening, I think. Well, I do play tennis, or rather, I used to play fairly well some years ago----" "By gad! just what I thought. Go slow in your practice games, Miss Wynton, an' you'll have a rippin' handicap." "Would that be quite honest?" said Helen, lifting her steadfast brown eyes to meet his somewhat too free scrutiny.