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Oscar Warrender is quite an achievement! Now tell me something about your teacher. She's some old girl from the great days of musical comedy, according to Warrender.'
    'That isn't the way I would describe her myself,' replied Caroline rather repressively. 'Her name is Miss Curtis—Naomi Curtis. She zvas in

    musical comedy years ago—^yes. And Sir Oscar said I was to tell her from him that she's obviously a very good teacher indeed. I'll do so tomorrow when I go for my usual Saturday lesson. She'll be delighted.'
    'Could I come and hear your lesson?' Kennedy looked both amused and curious. But then, before she could say she very much doubted if Miss Curtis would agree to that, he added, 'No—I forgot—I can't. I'm taking our Lucille Duparc to lunch.'
    'Again?' Caroline said that without thinking, but at a slight change in his expression she amended that hastily with, 'Not that it's my business, of course!'
    'No, it isn't, is it?' he agreed drily. But, perhaps realising that he had sounded unnecessarily touchy, he reverted to the subject of her teacher and said thoughtfully, 'Naomi Curtis? The name doesn't ring a bell with me. What did she play?'
    'I have no idea. It was long before my time— and yours too, I imagine. Anyway, she didn't have star roles. Hers wasn't that kind of voice. Oddly enough, what she recalls with the greatest pride is some role she had in a straight play. Quite a secondary one dramatically, I gather, but it required someone who could sing with great taste and musicality during the course of the action.'
    'What was the play called?'
    'I'm afraid I can't remember that.' Caroline shook her head regretfully. 'But I do remember the name of the woman who played the leading role, because Miss Curtis thought the world of her. The name was Sophie Lander.'

    He gave her an odd sort of glance at that and asked drily, 'What made you pick that name out of the hat, for heaven's sake?'
    Caroline looked astonished.
    *It was the name Miss Curtis mentioned. It doesn't mean a thing to me. Why should it?'
    'Sophie Lander was the stage name of my legendary godmother before she married old Van KrolL'
    'Your ? Oh, then you really have a
    godmother? I didn't quite believe you when you mentioned her the other day. And even now the word "legendary" seems appropriate.' Caroline laughed outright. 'You don't strike one as anyone's godchild, if I may say so.'
    He laughed too then, though rather reluctantly, but he asked with real curiosity. 'What did your Miss Curtis say about her? Was she a good actress? I never saw her on the stage myself. She'd left and married Van Kroll before I was bom.'
    Caroline considered the question before saying slowly, 'I asked Miss Curtis that once and she made an odd reply. She said, "Not really—^no. She didn't need to be. When she came on to the stage or into a room you didn't notice anyone else.'"
    Kennedy's laugh was quite uninhibited that time and he said, 'That's my godmother all right! As a matter of fact, she may be coming to Lucille's recital. If she does I'll introduce you to each other. She's in about the same age group as your Miss Curtis—but even so I think you'll see
    what I mean. And now ' he pushed a pile of
    correspondence towards her'—take those and

    attend to them. They're routine stuff. You know as well as I do what's required.'
    Then he dismissed her with a peremptory wave of his hand, as though he thought they had already wasted enough time on matters of secondary importance.
    Among those he evidently included Caroline and her singing capabilities, whatever Oscar Warrender might have said about her, and on the whole Caroline was now ready to agree with him.
    After all, as she had said, it was Jeremy's career with which they were all concerned. She wished he hadn't asked if she were in love with Jeremy, and still more did she wish she had not blushed at the question. But no one before had ever asked her to define her feelings where Jeremy was concerned. Of course she