i?8 
THE STRAND MAGAZINE . 
to an arm chair by the fire. “ And don't 
move at all till I come back.” 
She vanished into another room, humming 
gaily to herself. 
While he was alone the man looked at him- 
self in the glass and murmured to his reflection 
with a sardonic smile, “ You’re doing well, 
my son. This is a bit of luck.” 
Then he sat down by the fire once more 
and waited. 
She was back again. The portiere over the 
door was pushed aside, and he saw a picture 
that made him catch his breath in his throat 
with a queer quiver of joy. For there in the 
doorway stood a woman of wonderful beauty 
— the woman of the Embankment, as she 
might have been before she came to the rags 
and shabbiness of her downfall, the woman as 
she was to-day. 
Her hair was glorious and rich, no longer 
brushed back from her forehead, but waved 
carelessly over its pale beauty, and some 
miracle had taken the lines and hollows from 
her face and the shadows away from 
her eyes. Her face was surprising in the 
beauty of its clear-cut oval and delicate 
features, but through it all the observer 
could trace the resemblance to the wretched 
woman who had sat on a bench beside him 
on the Embankment barely an hour before. 
He looked at her, clad in a Chinese dressing- 
gown, all sprawling dragons and chrysanthe- 
mums, clasped round the waist with a scarlet 
girdle, the highest note in that melody of 
pink in her sitting-room. 
And, as he looked at her, he in his shabby 
clothes and she in the splendid simplicity 
of her gown, an odd look came into his eyes, 
a look of profound humiliation, as though 
he were all too conscious of her beauty and 
her riches and his own poorness. He looked 
at her wistfully, she thought, searching her 
face, and then suddenly he cried out, “ Why, 
I know who you are ! ” 
She echoed his laughter. 
u Not really ! ” she exclaimed. 
“ Yes,” he said, huskily. “ I’ve seen your 
photographs everywhere, and I’ve seen you 
too. You’re Ivy Marling. I’ve seen you in 
1 The Pensioner.’ ” He seemed to change 
his tone as though anxious to check his 
familiarity. “ I paid a shilling a few weeks 
ago and went in the gallery.” 
“You spent a shilling — maybe your last 
shilling— to see me act ? ” 
“ Yes,” he said. “ It was worth it. 
You’re splendid — I could never feel hungry 
listening to you.” 
She came farther into the room. The 
sadness of this man attracted her. There 
was something faithful and sincere in his 
eyes. He looked hungry and poor, and she 
wanted to help him. 
“ Well,” she said, going over to the chafing- 
dish, “ I suppose you’re hungry. You see, 
I lied to you on the Embankment. Sit down.” 
He sat down near the table and she gave 
him a dainty plate of food — scrambled eggs, 
anchovies, and fish with a subtly-flavoured 
sauce. He ate it with a silver knife and fork. 
She observed that his table manners were 
good. Under the shabbiness the well-bred 
man was still there. 
“ Well,” she said, with a smile on her 
pretty lips, “ what do you think of me ? ” 
“ I don’t know w r hat to think except that 
it’s all wonderful, and you’re the most 
wonderful of it all.” 
“ Not so bad. But aren’t you wondering 
what’s the matter with me to roam about 
the Embankment in rags ? ” 
“ A lark ! I suppose,” he said, gloomily. 
“ Or a wager, perhaps.” 
“ Wrong and wrong. I’ll tell you really, 
if you would like to know. Do you know 
why you paid your last shilling to come and 
see me ? ” 
“ Because you’re the most wonderful 
actress in the world.” 
“ Have some more fish ” 
“ No ! I don’t want any more.” 
“ Finish it all. It’s because whenever I 
have a part to play, I study it and live it. 
Now, my next part happens to be — well, the 
part I was playing to-night, and one of the 
scenes is the Embankment. I wanted to go 
there myself — in character, and see what it 
was like.” 
He was intensely interested. 
“ I see. You are a good actress, you took 
me in completely. I’d no idea ” He 
laughed again, and to hide his confusion 
w r ent on eating the fish. 
“ And oh ! ” she continued, “ I was so 
sorry when I saw how real, how tragic it all 
was ; those terrible creatures on the seats, 
the horror of the dismal poverty, the hopeless 
wretchedness of the night! And you — you 
looked so sad and forlorn, and yet you seemed 
to keep up such a brave heart.” 
“You are very kind. You need have no 
pity on me. I brought it all on myself,” 
He smiled at her. “ Do you know,” he 
said, l< I’m glad.” 
“Why?” 
“ I’m glad it wasn’t drink. 1 thought it 
w r as terrible when you said that. You fooled 
me completely. You took my sympathy 
