But that was all.

Obedient to some whimsical impulse that prompted them both, and was born, no doubt, of the circumstance and mood of that first evening, they did not seek to learn more.

They feared--though they did not say it--that to learn the identity of the musician would rob them of the peculiar pleasure they found in the music, itself.

So they spoke always of their unknown neighbor in a fanciful vein, as in like humor they spoke of the spirit that Aaron King still insisted haunted the place, or as they alluded to the mystery of the carefully tended rose garden.
When the artist could put it off no longer, a day was finally set when Mrs.Taine was to come for the beginning of her portrait.

The appointed hour found the artist in his studio.