Stella was thrilled.  So he had taken all this trouble.  He must be a good deal interested in her, then; and feeling sure of this, womanlike, she immediately took advantage of it to insist upon leaving him.

“Very well,” he said, when he could not dissuade her.  “To-night the wheel of fortune will revolve for us all, and it remains to be seen who will draw a prize and who a blank.”

Then he walked by her side to where they saw the quiet servant standing, a motionless sentinel, and here Count Roumovski bowed and turned on his heel, while Stella advanced to the bench on which the comfortable Martha slept.

This latter was full of defence when she awoke.  She had not closed an eye, but thought Miss Stella was enjoying “them statues” better without her, which was indeed true, if she had guessed!

Miss Rawson ate very little luncheon—­the Russian did not appear—­ and immediately after it she was taken as a treat to see the Borghese Gardens by her uncle and aunt!  It behooved her not to be tired by more sightseeing, since her betrothed would arrive when they returned for tea, and would expect her to be bright and on the alert to please him, Aunt Caroline felt.  As for Stella, as that moment approached it seemed to her that the end of all joy had come.

CHAPTER IV

The Rev. Eustace Medlicott, when the stains of travel had been removed from his thin person, came down to tea in the hall of the Grand Hotel with a distinct misgiving in his heart.  He did not approve of it as a place of residence for his betrothed.  Another and equally well-drained hostelry might have been found for the party he thought, where such evidences of worldly occupations and amusements would not so forcibly strike the eye.  Music with one’s meals savored of paganism.  He was still very emaciated with his Lenten fast.  It took him until July, generally, to pick up again; and he was tired with his journey.  Stella was not there to greet him, only the Aunt Caroline, and he felt a sense of injury creeping over him.  She might have been in time.  Nancy Ruggles, the Bishop’s second daughter, had given him tea and ministered to his wants in a spirit of solicitous devotion every day since the Ebleys had left Exminster, but Nancy’s hair was not full of sunlight, nor did her complexion suggest cream and roses.  Things which, to be sure, the Rev. Eustace Medlicott felt he ought not to dwell upon; they were fleshly lusts and should be discouraged.

He had been convinced that celibacy was the only road to salvation for a priest, until Stella Rawson’s fair young charms had unconsciously undermined this conviction.  But even if he had been able to arrange his conscience to his liking upon the vital point, he felt he must fight bravely against allowing himself or his betrothed to get any pleasure out of the affair.  It was better to marry than to burn, he had St. Paul’s authority for this—­but when he felt emotion