I must try to strike a trail by applying her own methods to her own character.

She would have attacked the question, no doubt,"-- here I eyed my pipe wisely,--"from the psychological side.

She would have asked herself"-- I stroked my chin--"what such a temperament as hers was likely to do under such-and-such circumstances.
And she would have answered it aright.

But then"-- I puffed away once or twice--"SHE is Hilda." When I came to reconnoitre the matter in this light, I became at once aware how great a gulf separated the clumsy male intelligence from the immediate and almost unerring intuitions of a clever woman.

I am considered no fool; in my own profession, I may venture to say, I was Sebastian's favourite pupil.