That was the first of a series of "male" dinners, to which, however, it seemed to Doris, if one might judge from Arthur's accounts, that a good many female exceptions were admitted, no doubt by way of proving the rule.

And during July, Meadows lunched in town--in the lofty regions of St.James's or Mayfair--with other enthusiastic women admirers, most of them endowed with long purses and long pedigrees, at least three or four times a week.

Doris was occasionally asked and sometimes went.

But she was suffering all the time from an initial discouragement and depression, which took away self-reliance, and left her awkwardly conscious.

She struggled, but in vain.