CHAPTER I.
HOW RICHARD BEGAN TO WOO On this far-away November morning, it being ten by every steeple clock and an hour utterly chaste, there could have existed no impropriety in one's having had a look into the rooms of Mr.Richard Storms, said rooms being second-floor front of the superfashionable house of Mr.Lorimer Gwynn, Washington, North West.

Richard, wrapped to the chin in a bathrobe, was sitting much at his ease, having just tumbled from the tub.

There was ever a recess in Richard's morning programme at this point during which his breakfast arrived.

Pending that repast, he had thrown himself into an easy-chair before the blaze which crackled in the deep fireplace.

The sudden sharp weather made the fire pleasant enough.
The apartment in which Richard lounged, and the rooms to the rear belonging with it, were richly appointed.