only sit still and wait for it. I really believe John would have jogged along quite contentedly in the dreadful little station I found him in when I married him if I had not gone round and stirred things up.'
'I always wonder,' I put in, 'just exactly how women do use the influence one hears so much about.'
Berengaria smiled in a wise, subtle sort of way.
'As you are not a rival I will give you the clue,' she laughed. 'An ounce of tact and a well placed smile are all the weapons you want. If you happen to have a pair of fine eyes you can use them too; but they are not essential. The tact and the smile will carry you through.'
'Ah, but you must have something to go upon first,' I interrupted. 'You must be charming to start with or the tact and the smile won't work.'
'There I don't agree with you at all,' said Berengaria. 'Acquire tact and a smile, and you can't fail to be charming. To be tactful means to be everything that is desirable, and to get what you want in the nicest possible way. Now look at Mrs. Croydon. She's plain. She's no longer young; she's not even a good conversationalist; she's not even clever beyond having discovered the power of tact and a smile. But just see what she has done. Mr. Croydon is nothing brilliant in any way, yet he has held practically all the coveted posts there are, which nobody dreams for a moment he would have got but for Mrs. Croydon. And how
