The visitor seemed to have wished to give Isabel a proof of his intention to keep the promise made her the evening before; he was both discreet and frank--not even dumbly importunate or remotely intense.

He thus left her to judge what a mere good friend he could be.

He talked about his travels, about Persia, about Turkey, and when Miss Stackpole asked him whether it would "pay" for her to visit those countries assured her they offered a great field to female enterprise.

Isabel did him justice, but she wondered what his purpose was and what he expected to gain even by proving the superior strain of his sincerity.

If he expected to melt her by showing what a good fellow he was, he might spare himself the trouble.