He had a tall, muscular frame, and a head of striking outline, with large nose, full lips, deep-set eyes, and prominent eyebrows.  His hair was the richest tone of chestnut; his moustache and beard—­ the latter peaking slightly forward—­inclined to redness.  Excellent health manifested itself in the warm purity of his skin, in his cheerful aspect, and the lightness of his bearing.  The lower half of his forehead was wrinkled, and when he did not fix his look on anything in particular, his eyelids drooped, giving him for the moment an air of languor.  On sitting down, he at once abandoned himself to a posture of the completest ease, which his admirable proportions made graceful.  From his appearance one would have expected him to speak in rather loud and decided tones; but he had a soft voice, and used it with all the discretion of good-breeding, so that at times it seemed to caress the ear.  To this mode of utterance corresponded his smile, which was frequent, but restrained to the expression of a delicate, good-natured irony.

‘No one had told me of your return,’ were Miss Barfoot’s first words as she shook hands with him.

’I fancy because no one knew.  You were the first of my kinsfolk to whom I wrote.’

‘Much honour, Everard.  You look very well.’

’I am glad to be able to say the same of you.  And yet I hear that you work harder than ever.’

‘Who is the source of your information about me?’

’I had an account of you from Tom, in a letter that caught me at Constantinople.’

’Tom?  I thought he had forgotten my existence.  Who told him about me I can’t imagine.  So you didn’t come straight home from Japan?’

Barfoot was nursing his knee, his head thrown back.

’No; I loitered a little in Egypt and Turkey.  Are you living quite alone?’

He drawled slightly on the last word, its second vowel making quite a musical note, of wonderful expressiveness.  The clear decision of his cousin’s reply was a sharp contrast.

‘A lady lives with me—­Miss Nunn.  She will join us in a moment.’

‘Miss Nunn?’ He smiled.  ‘A partner in your activity?’

‘She gives me valuable help.’

’I must hear all about it—­if you will kindly tell me some day.  It will interest me greatly.  You always were the most interesting of our family.  Brother Tom promised to be a genius, but marriage has blighted the hope, I fear.’

‘The marriage was a very absurd one.’

’Was it?  I feared so; but Tom seems satisfied.  I suppose they will stay at Madeira.’

’Until his wife is tired of her imaginary phthisis, and amuses herself with imagining some other ailment that requires them to go to Siberia.’

‘Ah, that kind of person, is she?’ He smiled indulgently, and played for a moment with the lobe of his right ear.  His ears were small, and of the ideal contour; the hand, too, thus displayed, was a fine example of blended strength and elegance.