er,'
replied Mr. Kingsland with resignation.

'Easier for you to get,' the beauty retorted. 'But did you
hear of the fun we had the other night?--the best joke! We all
put Seaton up to it, and he carried it off well. Dick
wouldn't. Before the dancing began, he went up to Miss Kennedy
and asked her with his gravest face whether she felt
guardian's orders to be binding? And she coloured all up, like
a child as she is, and inquired who wanted to know? So Seaton
bowed down to the ground almost, and said he--

' "I had the honour of asking Mr. Rollo this afternoon,
concerning the drive we spoke of; and he gave me an emphatic
no. And now I am come to you to reverse the decision."

'Well, you should have seen her face!--and "_What_ did he say,
Major Seaton?" she asked. "As near as I can remember," said
Seaton with another bow, "he said, Sir I cannot possibly allow
Miss Kennedy to take any such drive as you propose!" '

'Well?--' said Mr. Kingsland,--'I have heavy wagers out on Miss
Kennedy's dignity.'

'I don't know what you call dignity,' said the beauty,--'I
didn't know at first but she would knock him down for his
information,--she did, with her eyes. And then my lady Duchess
drew herself up as grand as could be, and answered just as if
she didn't care a snap,--"Did Mr. Rollo say that, Major Seaton?
Then I certainly shall not go." '

Mr. Kingsland clapped his hands softly. 'Safe yet,' he said.
'But where did Kitty pick up that name for her?' he added,
turning to his next neighbour. 'You are in the way of such
titles.'

'Kitty won't tell,' the lady answered, an elaborate Queen
Elizabeth. 'Not at present. She found out nobody understood,
but Miss Kennedy does, so now she holds it over Miss Kennedy's
head that she _will_ tell. That is the way she got her before
the glass the other night.'

'The tenderness these gentle creatures have for each other!'
said Mr. Kingsland.

Meantime a bustling crowd had been pouring in and filling the
saloon, and there began to be a cry for silence. The curtain
was down; by whom dropped no one knew; but now it was raised
again by the proper attendants, and the sight of the cool
green little stage brought people to their good behaviour. The
silence of expectancy spread through the assembly.

Behind the scenes there was a trifle of delay.

'My dear child,' Mme. Lasalle whispered to the _ci-devant_ witch
of Endor, 'Mr. Lasalle is in no condition to act with you as
he promised. Ill;