I bowed again, and was silent as the curtain rose—­and once more Claire’s superb voice thrilled the house.  Surely man was seldom more strangely placed than was I, between the speech of my love and the eyes of this extraordinary woman.  As I sat in the shadow and listened, I felt those blazing fires burning into my very soul; yet whenever I looked up and met them, their icy glitter baffled all interpretation.  Still as I sat there, the voice of Claire came to me as though beseeching and praying for my judgment, and rising with the blaze of light and heated atmosphere of the house, swept into the box until I could bear the oppression no longer.  She must have looked for me, and seeing my place empty, have guessed that I condemned her.  Mad with the thought, I rose to my feet and stood for a minute full in the light of the theatre.  It may not have been even a minute, but she saw me, and once more, as our gaze met, faltered for an instant.  Then the voice rang out clear and true again, and I knew that all was well between us.  Yet in her look there was something which I could not well interpret.

As I sank back in my seat, I met the eyes of my companion still impenetrably regarding me.  But as the curtain fell she said quietly—­

“So you know Clarissa Lambert?”

I stammered an affirmative.

“Well?  You admire her acting?”

“I never saw it until to-night.”

“That is strange; and yet you know her?”

I nodded.

“She is a great success—­on which I congratulate myself, for I discovered her.”

“You!” I could only exclaim.

“Yes, I. Is it so extraordinary?  She and I are connected, so to speak; which makes it the more odd that she should never have mentioned you.”

The eyes seemed now to be reading me as a book.  I summoned all my courage and tried to return their steady stare.  There was a pause, broken only by the light_ frou-frou_ of the fan, as it still waved slowly backwards and forwards.  Among all the discoveries of this night, it was hard enough to summon reason, harder to utter speech.

“But you will be leaving me again if I do not explain why I sent for you.  You are wondering now on my reasons.  They are very simple—­ professional even, in part.  In the first place, I wished to have a good look at you.  Do you wonder why an old woman should wish to look upon a comely youth?  Do not blush; but listen to my other and professional reason.  I should greatly like, if I may, to look upon your talisman—­that golden buckle or whatever it was that brought such marvellous luck.  Is it on you to-night?”

I wore it, as a matter of fact, in my waistcoat pocket, attached to one end of my chain; but I hesitated for a moment.

“You need not be afraid,” she said, and there was a suspicion of mockery in her tone.  “I will return it, as I returned it before.  But if you are reluctant to let me see it (and remember, I have seen it once), do not hesitate to refuse.  I shall not be annoyed.”