He might have felt some stronger emotion on this
occasion, if he had known that the conspiracy in the library to convert
Romayne was matched by the conspiracy in the picture gallery to marry
him.
Lady Loring's narrative of the conversation which had taken place
between Stella and herself had encouraged her husband to try his
proposed experiment without delay. "I shall send a letter at once to
Romayne's hotel," he said.
"Inviting him to come here to-day?" her ladyship inquired.
"Yes. I shall say I particularly wish to consult him about a picture.
Are we to prepare Stella to see him? or would it be better to let the
meeting take her by surprise?"
"Certainly not!" said Lady Loring. "With her sensitive disposition, I am
afraid of taking Stella by surprise. Let me only tell her that Romayne
is the original of her portrait, and that he is likely to call on you to
see the picture to-day--and leave the rest to me."
Lady Loring's suggestion was immediately carried out. In the first
fervor of her agitation, Stella had declared that her courage was not
equal to a meeting with Romayne on that day.
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