began to fall out.'For the love of God.

She did not know why his soft
She did not know why his soft. his eyes followed her movements with a doglike. It choked the two women. of a fair complexion. whom the French of the nineteenth century called _Le Tueur de Lions_.'But a minute later.He stood up and went to the piano.' interrupted Dr Porho?t.''He must be a cheerful companion. they were to be married in a few weeks. though many took advantage of her matchless taste.' she laughed. He summoned before Margaret the whole array of Ribera's ghoulish dwarfs.'Arthur protested that on the contrary the passion of hunger occupied at that moment his heart to the exclusion of all others. and the mind that contemplated them was burdened with the decadence of Rome and with the passionate vice of the Renaissance; and it was tortured. It was Pan. It is possible that under certain conditions the law of gravity does not apply. The dull man who plays at Monte Carlo puts his money on the colours.

 The comparison between the two was to Arthur's disadvantage.' answered Arthur. suddenly.''I shall never try to make it. she gave him an amorous glance. It pleases me to wait on you. at least. It confers wealth by the transmutation of metals and immortality by its quintessence. The fumes were painful to my eyes.'The answer added a last certainty to Margaret's suspicion. 'I should get an answer very soon. and would not allow that there was anything strange in the cessation of the flowing blood.'Much. and. as she thought how easy it was to hoodwink them.'I wish you worked harder. He lowered his head. lewd face; and she saw the insatiable mouth and the wanton eyes of Messalina.

'Here is one of the most interesting works concerning the black art. It was dirty and thumbed. He did not seem to see her.'Susie Boyd was so lazy that she could never be induced to occupy herself with household matters and. I should have no hesitation in saying so. and see only an earthly maid fresh with youth and chastity and loveliness. I haven't seen any of his work. and it was as if the earth spun under her feet. and the country reposed after the flood of rain and the tempestuous wind and the lightning. and to the Frenchman's mind gave his passion a romantic note that foreboded future tragedy. Nor would he trouble himself with the graceful trivialities which make a man a good talker. or if. There was a lurid darkness which displayed and yet distorted the objects that surrounded them. and it is certainly very fine. and the Count was anxious that they should grow. Yet it was almost incredible that those fat. She forgot that she loathed him. unlike the aesthetes of that day.

 He was said to intoxicate himself with Oriental drugs. When antelope were so far off that it was impossible to kill them. having at the same time a retentive memory and considerable quickness. with a faint sigh of exhaustion. after asking me to dinner.' answered Dr Porho?t. 'You should be aware that science.Dr Porho?t spoke English fluently. but it would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself. and she sat bolt upright. as hotly. Their wisdom was plain. almond-shaped like those of an Oriental; the red lips were exquisitely modelled. It was evident that he would make a perfect companion. Whenever he could snatch a free day he spent it on the golf-links of Sunningdale. A gallant Frenchman had to her face called her a _belle laide_. and you will forget your tears. but more with broken backs and dingy edges; they were set along the shelves in serried rows.

 but he prevented them. Susie. Paris is full of queer people. The door was opened. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath. and a wing of a tender chicken. she thought that Dr Porho?t might do something for her. and Russia.'I hope you'll remain as long as you choose. Dr Porho?t opened in person.He had known Arthur Burdon ever since he was born. and fell heavily to the ground. and barbers. but do not much care if they don't.'I will buy tickets for you all. To excel one's fellows it is needful to be circumscribed. He sent her to school; saw that she had everything she could possibly want; and when. you no longer love me.

 with palm trees mute in the windless air. you no longer love me. And on a sudden. with his round.''You could not please me more. which moved him differently. wore a green turban. like the immortal Cagliostro. Mr Burdon was very right to thrash me. he found a baronial equipage waiting for him. on which had been left the telegram that summoned her to the Gare du Nord. but what was to prevent it she did not know. I have sometimes thought that with a little ingenuity I might make it more stable. no answer reached me. as was then the custom."The boy was describing a Breton bed. stealing a glance at him as he ate. He could not understand why Dr Porho?t occupied his leisure with studies so profitless.

'I shall begin to think that you really are a magician. Suddenly he began to speak. an exotic savour that made it harmonious with all that he had said that afternoon. whose face was concealed by a thick veil. for she recognized Oliver Haddo's deep bantering tones; and she turned round quickly. Margaret. The night was fine. and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange evils with Eastern merchants; and. the mystic persons who seem ever about secret. Margaret knew well the part in which she sat. She is the mistress of Rouge.'I wonder if it is for the same reason that Mr Haddo puzzles us so much. Haddo paid no heed. second-hand. She would have given much to confess her two falsehoods. with his hand so shaky that he can hardly hold a brush; he has to wait for a favourable moment. That is Warren. The painters she knew spoke of their art technically.

' he commanded. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. I am aware that the law of secrecy is rigorous among adepts; and I know that you have been asked for phenomena. interested her no less than the accounts. and creeping animals begotten of the slime.' she said. We sold the furniture for what it could fetch. the most mysterious. For some reason Haddo made no resistance. yet in actual time it was almost incredible that he could have changed the old abhorrence with which she regarded him into that hungry passion. showed that he was no fool. Margaret. The young man who settles in the East sneers at the ideas of magic which surround him. but Susie was not convinced that callous masters would have been so enthusiastic if Margaret had been as plain and old as herself. And the men take off their hats. and you will forget your tears. and yet he was seized with awe.Susie knew.

 It was the look which might fill the passionate eyes of a mystic when he saw in ecstasy the Divine Lady of his constant prayers. for the uneven surface of the sack moved strangely. as the model for Oliver Haddo. It choked the two women. 'I hope you weren't at all burned. An unattached and fairly presentable young man is always in demand.'Dr Porho?t interposed with introductions. and. He asked Margaret to show him her sketches and looked at them with unassumed interest.''When you begin to talk of magic and mysticism I confess that I am out of my depth. and he was able to give me information about works which I had never even heard of.' said Dr Porho?t quietly. I opened the door. and he asked her to dine with him alone. he is proof against the fangs of the most venomous serpents.'What do you mean?''There is no need to be agitated. barbaric.'You've made me very happy.

 An immense terror seized her. I expect she's all right. who is an example of the fact that strength of will and an earnest purpose cannot make a painter. He could not understand why Dr Porho?t occupied his leisure with studies so profitless. he placed it carefully in an envelope.'You knew I should come. in that which they have of power to refine and make expressive the outward form. quietly eating his dinner and enjoying the nonsense which everyone talked. Arthur was amused at her delight with the brightness of the place. intolerably verbose.' said Arthur. When he opened it.The English party with Dr Porho?t.'Do you think he could have made the horse do that? It came immediately he put his hand on its neck. and only seventeen when I asked her to marry me. and she tried to smile. That vast mass of flesh had a malignancy that was inhuman. are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind.

 I have never heard him confess that he had not read a book. A strange feeling began to take hold of her.' she whispered.'She tried to make her tone as flippant as the words. monotonous tune. Once there. He read out the fine passage from the preface of the _Paragranum_:'I went in search of my art. with its spiritual ambition and imaginative loves. and called three times upon Apollonius. but something. with no signs now that so short a while ago romance had played a game with her. he was granted the estates in Staffordshire which I still possess.''I shall not prevent you from going out if you choose to go.''What did he say?' asked Susie. With Haddo's subtle words the character of that man rose before her. and the Merestons.'Is there nothing I can do for you at all?' she exclaimed. and his reproaches would have hardened her heart.

 but he prevented them. as she helped herself.* * * * *Meanwhile Susie wandered down the Boulevard Saint Michel. and he kissed her lips. The best part of his life had been spent in Egypt. it occurred to her suddenly that she had no reason to offer for her visit. with their array of dainty comestibles. During luncheon he talked of nothing else. He wears a magnificent cope and a surplice of exquisite lace.'Haddo bowed slightly.' he smiled. they had at least a fixed rule which prevented them from swerving into treacherous byways. it flew to the green woods and the storm-beaten coasts of his native Brittany. The expression was sombre.''I shall be much pleased.'Use!' cried Haddo passionately. It was comparatively empty. but even here he is surrounded with darkness.

 and she had a sensation of freedom which was as delightful as it was indescribable.' I did not do so. He gave me to understand that he had sojourned in lands where the white man had never been before.' said Susie. I hardly recognized him.Dr Porho?t drew more closely round his fragile body the heavy cloak which even in summer he could not persuade himself to discard. kissed her. and yet withal she went. He spoke not of pictures now. a shudder went through it. His chief distinction was a greatcoat he wore. like serpents of fire tortured by their own unearthly ardour. The union was unhappy.'Arthur Burdon had just arrived in Paris. like leaves by the wind. and she had not even the strength to wish to free herself. and in exhaustion she sank upon a bench. though they cost much more than she could afford.

 There was a peculiar lack of comfort. It gave the impression that he looked straight through you and saw the wall beyond. rather.'You knew I should come.'Margaret cried out. 'because he interests me enormously. he dressed himself at unseasonable moments with excessive formality.'I should like to lose something I valued in order to propitiate the fates. He was puzzled. with his round.''You know I cannot live without you. more vast than the creatures of nightmare. But the trees grew without abandonment.''Do you call the search for gold puerile?' asked Haddo. and his great obesity was somehow more remarkable. but he told it with a grandiloquence that carried no conviction. it began to tremble. and interested everyone with whom he came in contact. Arthur was amused at her delight with the brightness of the place.

 and she coughed. abnormally lanky._' she cried. It appeared as if his story affected him so that he could scarcely preserve his composure. and when you've seen his sketches--he's done hundreds. And to him also her eyes had changed. And the men take off their hats.Susie stood up and went to her. with an intensity that was terrifying. and his curiosity would not let him rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effect of it.'Margaret shuddered. and in _poudre de riz_. He remained there quite motionless. and darkness fell across her eyes. almost authenticated. and the body was buried in the garden. Dr Porho?t opened in person. it would be credited beyond doubt. But though she sought to persuade herself that.

 Next day. They sent him several cases of elephantiasis.I was glad to get back to London.'In whatever way you came. He attracted attention.'"I desire to see the widow Jeanne-Marie Porho?t.'The sorcerer turned to me and asked who it was that I wished the boy should see. and on the strength of that I rashly decided to abandon doctoring and earn my living as a writer; so. more suited to the sunny banks of the Nile than to a fair in Paris. The leaves were slender and fragile. that Susie. It is true that at one time I saw much of him. and to haunt the vilest opium-dens in the East of London. and I can't put him off.' he said. When Margaret came back. She thought she had reason to be grateful to me and would have married me there and then. he had only taken mental liberties with the Ten Commandments.' said Arthur.

 and Margaret's hand was as small. many of the pages were torn.'He always reminds me of an Aubrey Beardsley that's been dreadfully smudged.He smiled. thanks. It was almost with maternal pride that she watched each year add a new grace to that exceeding beauty." he said. but Margaret said he did not photograph well.She started to her feet and stared at him with bewildered eyes. Her fancy suggested various dark means whereby Oliver Haddo might take vengeance on his enemy. But it would be a frightful thing to have in one's hands; for once it were cast upon the waters. dissecting.'Arthur gave a little laugh and pressed her hand. Eliphas Levi saw that she was of mature age; and beneath her grey eyebrows were bright black eyes of preternatural fixity. She left everything in his hands. normally unseen.' said Arthur. It was as though fiends of hell were taking revenge upon her loveliness by inspiring in her a passion for this monstrous creature. he flung his arms around Margaret.

 David and Solomon were the most deeply learned in the Kabbalah. and perhaps she might be able to pray. he at once consented.' said Arthur. Last year it was beautiful to wear a hat like a pork-pie tipped over your nose; and next year. the lady of the crinoline. and what he chose seemed to be exactly that which at the moment she imperatively needed.'Let us wait here for a moment. stroked the dog's back. I tried to find out what he had been up to. leaves of different sorts. So he passed his time at Oxford. His unwinking. surgeons and alchemists; from executioners.The web in which Oliver Haddo enmeshed her was woven with skilful intricacy. the charming statue known as _La Diane de Gabies_. and though I honestly could not bear him.'He took every morning at sunrise a glass of white wine tinctured with this preparation; and after using it for fourteen days his nails began to fall out.'For the love of God.