It is not to be supposed that John Hammond’s state of mind could long remain unperceived by the keen eyes of the dowager.  She saw the gradual dawning of his love, she saw the glow of its meridian.  She was pleased to behold this proof of Lesbia’s power over the heart of man.  So would she conquer the man foredoomed to be her husband when the coming time should bring them together.  But agreeable as the fact of this first conquest might be, as an evidence of Lesbia’s supremacy among women, the situation was not without its peril; and Lady Maulevrier felt that she could no longer defer the duty of warning her granddaughter.  She had wished, if possible, to treat the thing lightly to the very last, so that Lesbia should never know there had been danger.  She had told her, a few days ago, that those drives, and walks with the two young men were undignified, even although guarded by the Fraeulein’s substantial presence.

’You are making yourself too much a companion to Maulevrier and his friend,’ said the dowager.  ’If you do not take care you will grow like Mary.’

‘I would do anything in the world to avoid that,’ replied Lesbia.  ’Our walks and drives have been very pleasant.  Mr. Hammond is extremely clever, and can talk about everything.’

Her colour heightened ever so little as she spoke of him, an indication duly observed by Lady Maulevrier.

’No doubt the man is clever; all adventurers are clever; and you have sense enough to see that this man is an adventurer—­a mere sponge and toady of Maulevrier’s.’

‘There is nothing of the sponge or the toady in his manner,’ protested Lady Lesbia, with a still deeper blush, the warm glow of angry feeling.

’My dear child, what do you know of such people—­or of the atmosphere in which they are generated?  The sponge and toady of to-day is not the clumsy fawning wretch you have read about in old-fashioned novels.  He can flatter adroitly, and feed upon his friends, and yet maintain a show of manhood and independence.  I’ll wager Mr. Hammond’s trip to Canada did not cost him sixpence, and that he hardly opened his purse all the time he was in Germany.’

’If my brother wants the company of a friend who is much poorer than himself, he must pay for it,’ argued Lesbia.  ’I think Maulevrier is lucky to have such a companion as Mr. Hammond.’

Yet, even while she so argued, Lady Lesbia felt in some manner humiliated by the idea that this man who so palpably worshipped her was too poor to pay his own travelling expenses.

Poets and philosophers may say what they will about the grandeur of plain living and high thinking; but a young woman thinks better of the plain liver who is not compelled to plainness by want of cash.  The idea of narrow means, of dependence upon the capricious generosity of a wealthy friend is not without its humiliating influence.  Lesbia was barely civil to Mr. Hammond that evening when he praised her singing; and she refused to join in a four game proposed by Maulevrier, albeit she and Mr. Hammond had beaten Mary and Maulevrier the evening before, with much exultant hilarity.