I am
going into Town to-day to consult a firm that has just set up, called
the Modern Sorcery Company Ltd. They profess to interpret dreams, and
I am anxious to see whether they can."
"In Cockspur Street, aren't they?" Shiel asked. "I saw their
advertisement in one of the papers. I presume you are not going there
alone?"
"No!" Gladys laughed, "I shall go with a friend, though I often do go
into Town alone. I can assure you I am quite capable of looking after
myself. In that respect, at least, I am quite up to date. Probably you
are more accustomed to French girls?"
"Yes! I have spent most of my life in Paris," Shiel said. "But how
could you tell that?"
"Oh! I guessed you were an artist--and had probably spent some time in
Paris"--Gladys rejoined, "by the way you looked at the house and
garden. I could read appreciation in your eyes and gesture; such
appreciation, as I knew, could only come from an artist. G.W. Barnett
helped me in planning this cottage and the garden."
"What! Barnett the landscape painter! I am a great admirer of his
work. Were you a pupil of his?"
"Yes, he was one of the visiting R.A.'s at the Beechcroft Studio in St.
John's Wood, where I worked for three years. We were then living in
Blackheath--St. John's Park--a hateful place. Mr. Barnett was awfully
good, when I told him we were moving, and that I wanted to live in
really artistic surroundings--he suggested that I should be my own
architect, and promised to do everything he could to assist me,"
"And your father hadn't a say in the matter," Shiel commented, with an
amused smile.
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