After this I may say that I looked for anything, and my
worst fears were soon confirmed.
It began as the vaguest sort of gossip. The Honourable George, it was
said, had been a guest at one of the Klondike woman's evening affairs.
The rumour crystallized. He had been asked to meet the Bohemian set at
a Dutch supper and had gone. He had lingered until a late hour,
dancing the American folkdances (for which he had shown a surprising
adaptability) and conducting himself generally as the next Earl of
Brinstead should not have done. He had repeated his visit, repairing
to the woman's house both afternoon and evening. He had become a
constant visitor. He had spoken regrettably of the dulness of a
meeting of the Onwards and Upwards Society which he had attended. He
was in the woman's toils.
With gossip of this sort there was naturally much indignation, and yet
the leaders of the North Side set were so delicately placed that there
was every reason for concealing it. They redoubled their attentions to
the unfortunate man, seeking to leave him not an unoccupied evening or
afternoon. Such was the gravity of the crisis. Belknap-Jackson alone
remained finely judicial.
"The situation is of the gravest character," he confided to me, "but
we must be wary.
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