She detested the sham enthusiasm of The Circle, and appreciated Peter more than her mother did.

Basil had been spoilt by his mother, who considered him a genius, and had produced a book of weak verse.

Juliet was fond of her brother, but she saw his faults and tried to correct them.

She wished to make him more of a man and less of an artistic fraud, for the young man really did possess talents.

But the hothouse atmosphere of "The Shrine of the Muses!" would have ruined anyone possessed of genius, unless he had a strong enough nature to withstand the sickly adulation and false judgments of those who came there.