He did not wait for an answer this time, but went on talking very eagerly about the scheme that he entertained for obtaining material for his book.
"It might revolutionize the whole standard of moral values in the country," he said very simply. "You know, just put things in a light that hasn't struck home in England yet at all. Of course, on the continent they're far more advanced than we are, on those sort of points. That's why I want to travel, before I start serious work. Of course, I've got a mass of notes already. Just ideas, that have struck me as I go along. I'm afraid I'm fearfully observant, and I generally size up the people I meet, and then make notes about them—or else simply dismiss them from my mind altogether. My idea is rather to classify human nature into various types, so that the book can be divided up under different headings, and then have a sort of general summing up at the end. Of course, that's only a rough sketch of the whole plan, but you see what I mean?"
"Yes, I do," said Alex with conviction. "I've always, all my life, thought that people mattered much more than anything else, only I've never found anybody else who felt like that too."
"It's rather interesting to look at things the same way, don't you think?" Noel enquired.
"Oh, yes," Alex answered with shy fervour, her heart beating very fast.
She was only anxious to prolong the tête-à-tête, and had no idea of suggesting a return to the drawing-room, in spite of the damage that she subconsciously felt the damp ground to be doing to her satin slippers. But presently Lady Isabel called to her from the window, and she came into the lighted room, conscious both of her own glowing face and of a certain kindly, interested look bent upon her by her seniors.
X
Noel
In the ensuing days, Alex met that look very often—a look of pleased, speculative approval, pregnant with unspoken meanings.