“I mystify you a little already!” he said. “Yes, I am sure I do!--but there are so many surprises in store for you that I think you had better not begin putting the pieces of the puzzle together till they are all out of the box! Never mind what I seem to you, or what I may turn out to be,--enjoy for the present the simple safety of the Commonplace; there’s nothing so balancing to the mind as a quiet contemplation of the tea-table! By the way, did you arrange about your luggage as I told you?” Diana nodded a cheerful assent. “Here’s the number,” she said. “And if you are going to send for it, would you do so quite soon? I want to change my dress for dinner.” Dimitrius laughed as he took the number from her hand. “Of course you do!” he said. “Even ‘a woman of mature years’ is never above looking her best! Armed with this precious slip of paper, I will send for your belongings at once----” “It’s only a portmanteau,” put in Diana, meekly. “Not a Saratoga trunk.” He gave her an amused look. “Didn’t you bring any Paris ‘confections’?” “I didn’t wait in Paris,” she replied. “I came straight on.” “A long journey!” said Madame Dimitrius. “Yes. But I was anxious to get here as soon as I could.” “In haste to rush upon destiny!” observed Dimitrius, rising from the tea-table. “Well! Perhaps it is better than waiting for destiny to rush upon _you_! I will send for your luggage--it will be here in half an hour. Meanwhile, when you have quite finished your tea, will you join me in the laboratory?” He left the room. Madame Dimitrius laid down her knitting needles and looked wistfully at Diana. “I hope you will not be afraid of my son,” she said, “or offended at anything he may say. His brain is always working--always seeking to penetrate some new mystery,--and sometimes--from sheer physical fatigue--he may seem brusque,--but his nature is noble----” She paused, with a slight trembling of the lip and sudden moisture in her kind blue eyes. Impulsively, Diana took her thin delicate old hand and kissed it. “Please don’t worry!” she said. “I am not easily offended, and I certainly shall not be afraid! I like your son very much, and I think we shall get on splendidly together--I do, indeed! I’m simply burning with impatience to be at work for him! Be quite satisfied that I shall do my best! I’m off to the laboratory now.”