"What is the child's name?" asked Keith, as he went into the bar. "You seem to know her."
Ezra laughed softly, and ordered a glass of brandy for his friend.
"A curious way Fate has of working," he said, rather irrelevantly. "She has played into your hands to-day, for that child is Kitty Marchurst's, better known as 'Caprice.'"
"I didn't know she had a child," said Keith. "Who is the father? Is she married?"
"No, she is not married. As to the father, it's a long story; I'll tell you all about it some day. Meanwhile, you have done her a service she will never forget."
"Much good it will be to me," said Keith disbelievingly
"You've exactly hit it," replied Ezra composedly. "She can do you a great deal of good, seeing that she is the reigning favourite of the stage at present. I will introduce you to her to-night, and then--"
"Well?"
Ezra shrugged his shoulders, and replied slowly,--
"The best friend an ambitious man can have is a clever woman; a wiser man than I made that remark."