And Tommy Esmond launched forth on a full flow of narrative. Mrs L'Estrange was the first cousin of a well-known Irish earl, and was-- well, in somewhat reduced circumstances, and had a snug little flat in the Cadogan district. "Mrs L'Estrange is quite satisfactorily explained," remarked Guy, interrupting his rather voluble friend. "Now what do you really know about Miss Keane?" Here, Esmond was a little less precise. Mrs L'Estrange he knew quite well, had known her ever since he had been in London; her ancestry and connections were unimpeachable. Miss Keane, it would appear, had been suddenly projected into the L'Estrange household, as it were, from space. He understood that she was a distant connection, a far-off cousin, but he could give no particulars. Tommy, with the born instinct of the true diplomatist, was always ready to present everything in its best light, but he lacked the one essential quality of the born diplomatist--he was not very successful when he came to camouflaging facts. Spencer's smile was more amused than ever, as he regarded his genial friend. Spencer was only thirty, and Tommy was at least old enough to be his father. But there were times when the younger man thought he saw more clearly than the elder. "Let us put it at this, Tommy. Mrs L'Estrange, being in somewhat straitened circumstances, supplements her meagre income by card-playing, at which I have no doubt she is an adept." And here, the usually placid Tommy interposed hotly: "You may say of Mrs L'Estrange what you like. But, if you propose to offer any derogatory remarks about Miss Keane, I would rather not listen to them." And Spencer kept a curb on his tongue. Was this fat, comical-looking little man, a most unromantic figure, violently in love with Miss Stella Keane, and her sworn champion? Far be it from him to disturb his faith in this seductive siren, if it were so. "It's all right, old chap," he said quietly. "I am not going to make any remarks, derogatory or otherwise, about Miss Keane. I think I will adopt your suggestion. Let us adjourn to Mrs L'Estrange's flat. If one loses fifty or a hundred one may have a good time." "You will see the most charming girl in London," cried Esmond in enthusiastic tones. It struck Spencer, as a peculiar phase of his friend's detachment, that, being in love with the girl himself, he should be so anxious to introduce her to a younger man, who might, presumably, be his rival. For there could be no question of rivalry between the two men, apart from their ages. Spencer was tall, athletic, handsome: Tommy Esmond was--just Tommy Esmond--rotund, comical in appearance, and insignificant.