Not waiting to be presented, he turned to her with the air of fatherly interest and chastened admiration which he well knew how to assume in his intercourse with women.
"May I ask if you agree with Mr.Romayne's estimate of the picture ?" he said, in his gentlest tones.
She had heard of him, and of his position in the house.

It was quite needless for Lady Loring to whisper to her, "Father Benwell, my dear!" Her antipathy identified him as readily as her sympathy might have identified a man who had produced a favorable impression on her.

"I have no pretension to be a critic," she answered, with frigid politeness.

"I only know what I personally like or dislike." The reply exactly answered Father Benwell's purpose.

It diverted Romayne's attention from the picture to Stella.