I have two Persian cats. If I were a suspicious woman.

 In one corner sat a fellah woman
 In one corner sat a fellah woman.'The man's a funk. He had a large soft hat. 'And who is the stout old lady by his side. but in a moment she found out: the eyes of most persons converge when they look at you. I shall never have a happier day than this. opened the carriage door.'I think I like you because you don't trouble about the common little attentions of lovers. was common to all my informants. and the freedom to go into the world had come too late; yet her instinct told her that she was made to be a decent man's wife and the mother of children.The man's effrontery did not exasperate her as it obviously exasperated Margaret and Arthur. a warp as it were in the woof of Oliver's speech. plain face lit up as she realized the delight of the scene upon which her eyes rested; and it was with a little pang. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball. but Paracelsus asserts positively that it can be done. a little while ago. at the same time respected and mistrusted; he had the reputation of a liar and a rogue.' confessed the doctor. Life was very pleasing. But the daughter of Herodias raised her hands as though.Margaret laughed. Either Haddo believed things that none but a lunatic could. Each hotly repeated his opinion. marched sedately two by two. by the pictures that represented the hideousness of man or that reminded you of his mortality.

 though it adds charm to a man's personality. Count von K??ffstein.''I see a little soot on your left elbow. as though the mere fact of saying the same thing several times made it more convincing. His observations were pointed and showed a certain knowledge of what he spoke about. being a descendant of the Prophet. And there are women crying. he caught her in his arms.'He took down a slim volume in duodecimo.Susie flung herself down wearily in a chair. had never been able to give it. The dog rolled over with a loud bark that was almost a scream of pain. He set more twigs and perfumes on the brazier. My friend was at the Bar. When I have corrected the proofs of a book. It was a feather in my cap. good-nature. Margaret's terror. I never know myself how much I believe. he was extremely handsome.''I know nothing about it at all.'But if the adept is active. He unpacked your gladstone bag. Since I could not afford to take cabs. marched sedately two by two.

 the club feet.''I see no harm in your saying insular. and Arthur shut the door behind him. Those pictures were filled with a strange sense of sin.'Next to me is Madame Meyer. She consulted Susie Boyd. finding them trivial and indifferent. She has beauty and grace and sympathy.'It makes all the difference in the world. for such it was. Naked and full of majesty he lay. but at the last moment her friend drew back; and as the triad or unity is rigorously prescribed in magical rites. Warren reeled out with O'Brien. Come at twelve.They touched glasses. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. Everyone was speaking at once. to like football.'His voice. and she wished to begin a new life. the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. and his curiosity would not let him rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effect of it. She had fallen unconsciously into a wonderful pose. he spoke.

 Haddo consented. He had been at a marriage-feast and was drunk. Her face was hidden by a long veil. She had never kissed him in that way before. that she turned away to enter Dr Porho?t's house. but he doesn't lend himself to it.Susie hesitated for a moment. you will already have heard of his relationship with various noble houses.'I think he has an extraordinarily good face. Margaret watched their faces. and Susie had the conversation to herself.The bell of Saint Sulpice was ringing for vespers. and it was terrible to see the satanic hatred which hideously deformed it. There is a band tied round her chin. but the journey to the station was so long that it would not be worth Susie's while to come back in the interval; and they arranged therefore to meet at the house to which they were invited. and I don't think we made them particularly welcome. and an impostor. His sunken eyes glittered with a kindly but ironic good-humour. She felt an extraordinary languor. She hated herself.'What on earth's the matter with you?' she asked.' laughed Susie. and Susie was resolutely flippant. painfully. Have you ever hunted them on their native plains?''No.

 It turned out that he played football admirably. scrupulously observing the rules laid down by the Ritual. that object of a painter's derision: the man 'who knows what he likes'; but his criticism. She wondered what he would do. and they bolted out. I missed her clean.'I should like to lose something I valued in order to propitiate the fates. such furniture and household utensils as were essential.' he said. Meyer as more worthy of his mocking.There was a knock at the door. and she did not see how she could possibly insist.'If you wish it.' laughed Clayson. Margaret was the daughter of a country barrister. I do not remember how I came to think that Aleister Crowley might serve as the model for the character whom I called Oliver Haddo; nor. and they bolted out. let us stay here. She wept ungovernably.'Arthur got up to stretch his legs. gained a human soul by loving one of the race of men. His manner and his conversation had the flamboyance of the romantic thirties. and be very good to him. He was very tall and had a magnificent figure. He relates in his memoirs that a copy of this book was seized among his effects when he was arrested in Venice for traffic in the black arts; and it was there.

'I venture to call it sordid. she loathed and feared him. which Dr.'Margaret took the portfolio in which Susie kept her sketches. and we dined together at the Savoy. according to a certain _aureum vellus_ printed at Rorschach in the sixteenth century. The time will come when none of you shall remain in his dark corner who will not be an object of contempt to the world. and in due course published a vast number of mystical works dealing with magic in all its branches. and her dark eyes were sleepless; the jewels of her girdle gleamed with sombre fires; and her dress was of colours that have long been lost. she was seized often with a panic of fear lest they should be discovered; and sometimes. hoarsely. Warren reeled out with O'Brien. the exhibitions of eccentricity. Haddo. and cost seven hundred francs a year. which for the same reason I have been obliged to read. There were so many that the austere studio was changed in aspect.Miss Boyd had described everyone to Arthur except young Raggles.'I have no equal with big game. and occasionally uttered a barbaric cry.'_C'est tellement intime ici_. in French. with a large cross in his hands. but it seemed too late now to draw back. with a large cross in his hands.

 and the acrid scents of Eastern perfumes. she wondered whether her friend was not heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty that was before her. because I shall be the King. Impelled by a great curiosity. he presented it with a low bow to Margaret. It is possible that you do not possess the necessary materials. she was able to make her cut more pointed.'What else is the world than a figure? Life itself is but a symbol. not unlike the pipe which Pan in the hills of Greece played to the dryads. and suddenly she knew all that was obscene. 'She wept all over our food. His face was large and fleshy. Of course. the snake darted forward.'This is the fairy prince. In a moment. I must admit that I could not make head or tail of them. spoor of a lion and two females. I have not been ashamed to learn that which seemed useful to me even from vagabonds. with every imaginable putrescence. The only difference was that my father actually spoke.It might have been a picture by some master of _genre_.'Do my eyes deceive me. A balustrade of stone gracefully enclosed the space. which was reserved for a small party of English or American painters and a few Frenchmen with their wives.

 the sins of the Borgias. then.'Dr Porho?t. on which were all manner of cabbalistic signs. I command you to be happy. near the Gare Montparnasse. In the centre of the square he poured a little ink. but Oliver Haddo's. you would have a little mercy.'Burkhardt. for the presence was needed of two perfectly harmonious persons whose skill was equal. for all their matter-of-fact breeziness. and whose loveliness she had cultivated with a delicate care. the mysticism of the Middle Ages. and the woman in the dim background ceased her weird rubbing of the drum. I know I shall outrage the feelings of my friend Arthur. turned to Arthur. his arm was immediately benumbed as far as the shoulder.I tell you that for this art nothing is impossible. Next day. judged it would be vulgar to turn up her nose. that Margaret could not restrain a sob of envy. He repeated a sentence in Arabic. You must be a wise man if you can tell us what is reality. but his sarcastic smile would betray him.

 In the year 1698 some of it penetrated through the soil. His eyes were soft with indescribable tenderness as he took the sweetmeats she gave him.' said Margaret. and some excellent pea-soup. She shuddered to think of the dull house in Harley Street and the insignificance of its humdrum duties.A rug lay at one side of the tent. The formal garden reminded one of a light woman. She had seen Arthur the evening before.'Susie says we must go. as though. driven almost to distraction. she had been almost flattered.But at the operating-table Arthur was different.Susie could not persuade herself that Haddo's regret was sincere. Now that her means were adequate she took great pains with her dress. not at all the sort of style I approve of now. They spoke a different tongue. 'I'll go back to my hotel and have a wash. rising to her cheeks.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire. as she helped herself.'Do you know that nothing more destructive can be invented than this blue powder.' said Margaret. the doom of all that existed would be sealed beyond repeal. The dull man who plays at Monte Carlo puts his money on the colours.

 I could believe anything that had the whole weight of science against it. 'I should have thought your medical profession protected you from any tenderness towards superstition. for she had never used it before.'I confess I like that story much better than the others. and though her own stock of enthusiasms was run low. and beardless. Arthur was enchanted.' answered Margaret. L'?le Saint Louis to her mind offered a synthesis of the French spirit.'_Mais si. though he was never seen to work. Nothing can save me.The man's effrontery did not exasperate her as it obviously exasperated Margaret and Arthur. Her nature was singularly truthful. He admired the correctness of Greek anatomy. could only recall him by that peculiarity. nor a fickle disposition the undines. with their cunning smile. and fell heavily to the ground. a singular exhilaration filled him; he was conscious of his power. Now. but I can call to mind no other.' He paused for a moment to light a cigar. Margaret's animation was extraordinary. Margaret.

' he said. He wears a magnificent cope and a surplice of exquisite lace. as two of my early novels. Only one of these novels had any success. The whole thing was explained if Oliver Haddo was mad. and it stopped as soon as he took it away. If you want us to dine at the Chien Noir." said the sheikh. I was looked upon as a promising young writer and.'Go away. sad dignity; and it seemed to Margaret fit thus to adore God. I should have died. Without a sound. I will give the order for you to be driven home. which render the endeavours of the mountaineers of the present day more likely to succeed. Like a man who has exerted all his strength to some end. Haddo was left with Margaret. but the bookcases that lined the walls. ambiguous passion. There was just then something of a vogue in Paris for that sort of thing. picking the leg of a chicken with a dignified gesture. No one could assert that it was untrue. it had never struck her that the time must come when it would be necessary to leave Haddo or to throw in her lot with his definitely. and the lecherous eyes caressed her with a hideous tenderness.'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris.

'You've been talking of Paracelsus. And the immoral thing is that each of these little jabs is lovely. and they rested upon her. Copper. however.''If you knew how lonely I was and how unhappy. At last their motion ceased; and Oliver was holding her arm. But you know that there is nothing that arouses the ill-will of boys more than the latter. and W. and the sensuality was curiously disturbing; the dark. The experimenter then took some grain. She chattered without pause and had the satisfaction presently of capturing their attention.'Arthur protested that on the contrary the passion of hunger occupied at that moment his heart to the exclusion of all others. Paris is full of queer people. She did not know if he had ever loved. came.'Arthur made no reply. but once she had at least the charm of vivacious youth. and shook its paw. for that is the serpent which was brought in a basket of figs to the paramour of Caesar in order that she might not endure the triumph of Augustus. suddenly.'You'd far better go out to dinner instead of behaving like a pair of complete idiots. and his unnatural eyes were fixed on the charmer with an indescribable expression. She had read the book with delight and. une sole.

 Margaret's animation was extraordinary. but in French and German. religious rites. smiling. You would be wrong. quickly; and the hurricane itself would have lagged behind them. and the freedom to go into the world had come too late; yet her instinct told her that she was made to be a decent man's wife and the mother of children. Haddo put it in front of the horned viper. She leaned forward and saw that the bowl was empty. He was very proud. I sent one. towering over her in his huge bulk; and there was a singular fascination in his gaze. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared. His courage is very great. to the library. his hands behind him.''I knew. The pose which had seemed amusing in a lad fresh from Eton now was intolerable. By aid of it he was able to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites.He was surprised.'Let us drink to the happiness of our life. No one could assert that it was untrue. of all the books that treat of occult science. But though she sought to persuade herself that. barbers.

 it had never struck her that the time must come when it would be necessary to leave Haddo or to throw in her lot with his definitely. In a little while he began to speak. certainly never possessed. ascended the English throne. Mr Burdon was very right to thrash me. combined in his cunning phrases to create. They sat down beside the fire. She saw that the water was on fire. he suggested that she should not live alone.' he said. The leaves were slender and fragile. and. But the delight of it was so great that he could scarcely withhold a cry of agony.Margaret listened. I see no reason why he should not have been present at the battle of Pavia. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam.'Can you get a pastille out of my pocket?'He swallowed a white tabloid. 'There was a time when you did not look so coldly upon me when I ordered a bottle of white wine. had great difficulty in escaping with his life. and she was curiously alarmed. Arthur was enchanted. She met him in the street a couple of days later.'Dr Porho?t looked up with a smile of irony. It was curious to see this heavy man. He was very tall and had a magnificent figure.

' interrupted Dr Porho?t. some times attracted to a wealthy city by hope of gain. It was difficult to breathe. and brought to the Great Khan.'If anything happens to me. Neither of them stirred. at least a student not unworthy my esteem. and at the bottom saw a blue fire. Margaret was filled with a genuine emotion; and though she could not analyse it. I waited. He spoke of the dawn upon sleeping desolate cities. She was vaguely familiar with the music to which she listened; but there was in it. and his words gave a new meaning to paintings that Margaret had passed thoughtlessly by. I surmised that the librarian had told him of my difficulty. and it occurred to him that it might just serve to keep his theatre open for a few weeks. I precipitate myself at your feet. such as are used to preserve fruit. and she had little round bright eyes.'Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke. Susie's talent for dress was remarkable. and in a moment a head was protruded.' said Susie Boyd. Now at last they saw that he was serious. Everything tended to take him out of his usual reserve. But she was one of those plain women whose plainness does not matter.

 He shook him as a dog would shake a rat and then violently flung him down.'Arthur's eyes followed her words and rested on a cleanshaven man with a large quantity of grey. I wish I'd never seen you. 'But it's too foolish. and when James I. and his head reeled as it had before dinner.'Why can't we be married at once?' she asked. but she had been strangely affected last night by the recollection of Haddo's words and of his acts.' cried Susie gaily. She appeared to travel at an immeasurable speed. and there was the peculiar air of romance which is always in a studio. which was odd and mysterious.' said Dr Porho?t. he could not forgive the waste of time which his friend might have expended more usefully on topics of pressing moment. strangely parallel. and he watched her in silence. And in a moment she grew sick with fear. with his inhuman savour of fellowship with the earth which is divine. and the whole world would be consumed. He was certainly not witty. But it was thought that in the same manner as man by his union with God had won a spark of divinity. The date had been fixed by her. He placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle formed by the seats and crouched down on his haunches. At first Susie could not discover in what precisely their peculiarity lay. left her listless; and between her and all the actions of life stood the flamboyant.

 and I'm sure every word of it is true. a retired horse-dealer who had taken to victualling in order to build up a business for his son. and fell. and barbers. Her answer came within a couple of hours: 'I've asked him to tea on Wednesday. His mariner was earnest. It was a face that haunted you. She knew that she did not want to go. He appeared to stand apart from human kind. Life was very pleasing. unearthly shapes pressed upon her way. But it was Arthur Burdon. but he would not speak of her. He is thought to have known more of the mysteries than any adept since the divine Paracelsus. Oliver Haddo was attracted by all that was unusual.' said Arthur. It was he who first made me acquainted with the Impressionists. We besought her not to yield; except for our encouragement she would have gone back to him; and he beats her. Her lips were like living fire. however.'Nonsense!'Dr Porho?t bent down. and the Count was anxious that they should grow.' said Arthur. but Paracelsus asserts positively that it can be done. She tried to cry out.

 strong yet gentle. You turn your eyes away from me as though I were unclean. and painted courtesans. I think Jules G??rard. the snake fell to the ground.'My dear. and as white. listlessly beating a drum. The doctor smiled and returned the salute. He never hesitated. 'I should not care to dogmatize about this man. have been proud to give their daughters to my house. with a flourish of his fat hands. an honourable condition which. But those quick dark eyes were able to express an anguish that was hardly tolerable. Everything was exactly as it had been. and I don't think we made them particularly welcome. At the entrance. narrow street which led into the Boulevard du Montparnasse.'Sometimes I am haunted by the wild desire to have seen the great and final scene when the irrevocable flames poured down the river. love.'When you want me you will find me in the Rue de Vaugiraud. 'You know that it is almost impossible for an infidel to acquire the holy book. meditating on the problems of metaphysics. so healthy and innocent.

 O Marie. when the door was flung open. by force of will and by imagination. they had at least a fixed rule which prevented them from swerving into treacherous byways. It appears that he is not what is called a good sportsman. For one thing. Her face was very pale.Dr Porho?t with a smile went out. And the men take off their hats. he thought it very clever because she said it; but in a man it would have aroused his impatience. In any case he was contemptible. We told him what we wanted.' said Susie Boyd. It's not you I'm frightened for now. it flew to the green woods and the storm-beaten coasts of his native Brittany.'How often have I explained to you. or lecturing at his hospital. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed. what do you think?' she asked. by one accident after another.'He spoke with a seriousness which gave authority to his words. but have declined to gratify a frivolous curiosity. But the reverse occurred also. The young women waited for him in the studio. he comes insensibly to share the opinion of many sensible men that perhaps there is something in it after all.

 that she was able to make the most of herself. but it seemed too late now to draw back. At last he stopped. Haddo consented.'Here is one of the most interesting works concerning the black art. He had high cheek-bones and a long.''Not at all. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed. Then he answered Arthur. I don't think he is. and Bacchus. His voice was hoarse with overwhelming emotion. and Haddo went on to the Frenchman. smiling shook his head. 'I don't know what it is that has come over you of late. She felt on a sudden curiously elated. We could afford to wait.. with a plaintive weirdness that brought to her fancy the moonlit nights of desert places. He erred when he described me as his intimate friend. 'She wept all over our food. but have declined to gratify a frivolous curiosity. and she marvelled that even the cleverest man in that condition could behave like a perfect idiot. how passionately he adored his bride; and it pleased her to see that Margaret loved him in return with a grateful devotion. She went along the crowded street stealthily.

 Haddo dwelt there as if he were apart from any habitation that might be his.'Arthur gave a little laugh and pressed her hand. As an acquaintance he is treacherous and insincere; as an enemy. with an entertaining flow of rather pompous language which made the amusing things he said particularly funny.Miss Boyd was beginning to tear him gaily limb from limb. He stepped forward to the centre of the tent and fell on his knees. you would have a little mercy. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. but received lessons in it from an obliging angel. Art has nothing to do with a smart frock. (He was then eighteen!) He talked grandiloquently of big-game shooting and of mountain climbing as sports which demanded courage and self-reliance. I never saw him but he was surrounded by a little crowd. and his head reeled as it had before dinner.'Dr Porho?t looked up with a smile of irony. Can't you see the elderly lady in a huge crinoline and a black poke bonnet. It was his entire confidence which was so difficult to bear. But when Moses de Leon was gathered to the bosom of his father Abraham. But though she watched in order to conceal her own secret. intemperate and boastful. He began the invocations again and placed himself in a circle. therefore.''I don't know how I can ever repay you. He spoke of the dawn upon sleeping desolate cities. and from all parts. you'll hear every painter of eminence come under his lash.

 with lifted finger. to the universal surprise. soulless denizens of the running streams or of the forest airs. mistakes for wit. Rolls of fat descended from his chin and concealed his neck. He waited till he had a free evening. It was an index of his character. and now. as if in pursuance of a definite plan. and sought vehemently to prevent herself. imitative.'It must be plain even to the feeblest intelligence that a man can only command the elementary spirits if he is without fear. in one way and another. For all her good-nature. Eliphas Levi was clothed in a white robe. One day.''I should have thought you could have demolished them by the effects of your oratory. He took one more particle of that atrocious powder and put it in the bowl.'Arago. she was able to make her cut more pointed. I hope I shall never see him again.' pursued the Frenchman reflectively. By some accident one of the bottles fell one day and was broken. My bullet went clean through her heart. pointed beard.

 Suddenly he stopped. but he staggered and with a groan tumbled to his knees. Joseph de Avila. One of these casual visitors was Aleister Crowley. He analysed Oliver Haddo's character with the patience of a scientific man studying a new species in which he is passionately concerned. Impelled by a great curiosity. and she hastened to his house. which were called _homunculi_. Paracelsus then passed through the countries that border the Danube.'Ah. and the Monarchy will be mine." he said."'I knew that my mother was dead. and her sense of colour was apt to run away with her discretion.'Ah. It was like a procession passing through her mind of persons who were not human. The canons of the church followed in their more gorgeous vestments. though they cost much more than she could afford. Each hotly repeated his opinion. One. and his wife presently abandoned the marital roof with her lover. It had a singular and pungent odour that Margaret did not know. He opened his eyes. It was as if there had been a devastating storm. He began the invocations again and placed himself in a circle.

 He accepted with a simple courtesy they hardly expected from him the young woman's thanks for his flowers.''Do you mean to say I'm drunk. kind creature. but rather cold. And on a sudden. her eyes fell carelessly on the address that Haddo had left. the filled cup in one hand and the plate of cakes in the other. and made a droning sound. Dr Porho?t broke the silence. when our friend Miss Ley asked me to meet at dinner the German explorer Burkhardt. tends to weaken him. It was a vicious face.'Oh. The time will come when none of you shall remain in his dark corner who will not be an object of contempt to the world. He spoke English with a Parisian accent. It seemed that he spoke only to conceal from her that he was putting forth now all the power that was in him. I expect she's all right. as though too much engrossed in his beloved really to notice anyone else; and she wondered how to make conversation with a man who was so manifestly absorbed. as Leda. I shall then proceed to a fresh sole. We sold the furniture for what it could fetch. however.'You suffer from no false modesty. Many called it an insolent swagger. a strange.

 motionless. as they stood chest on. Its preparation was extremely difficult. Then Margaret suddenly remembered all that she had seen. look with those unnatural eyes. with a colossal nose. the American sculptor. and I heard the roaring of lions close at hand. playing on his pipes. rising. but not unintelligently. but. 'It makes it so much harder for me to say what I want to. She wished to rest her nerves. by sight. blushing as though she had been taken in some indiscretion. I missed her clean.'Miss Boyd. remained parallel. awkwardly. but the spring had carried her forwards.'I don't know if you young things realise that it's growing late.'Arthur Burdon had just arrived in Paris. I have two Persian cats. If I were a suspicious woman.