of herself and her friend as they sat
side by side. As a rule, it was pure pleasure to realise her own fair
looks; but for the moment they were of no importance, whereas poor dear
Cecil had a lover to please, and there was no denying Cecil was not
looking her best! Her expression was frowning and dissatisfied. She
had taken off her veil in the hall and her hair was disarranged;
compared with the fashionable groups round the other tables, she looked
suddenly shabby and insignificant, her little attempts at decoration
pitifully betraying the amateur hand.

"Oh, dear me, why _won't_ she smile? She looks quite pretty when she
smiles. I'll hold her before a mirror some day and show her the
difference it makes. Ten years disappear in a flash! Now what in the
world had I better be--agreeable and chatty, or cold and stand-off?
I'll do anything to please her, but it _is_ hard lines having our
afternoon spoiled, and being sulked at into the bargain. Cakes,
please--lots of sweet, sugary cakes! Won't that do, Cecil? We can have
bread-and-butter at home!"

"Cecil! Cecil! Her name is Mary. Why do you call her Cecil?" cried
the Major quickly, looking from one girl to another. Claire fancied
there was a touch of suspicion in his voice, and wondered that he should
show so much interest in a mere nickname.

"Because she is `Rhodes,' of course."

For a moment his stare showed no understanding, then, "Oh! that fellow!"
he said slowly. "I see! It's a pretty name anyway. Beats Mary to
fits. Mary is so dull and prosaic. Too many of them about. One gets
sick of the sound."

"Is that intended for me by any chance?" asked Cecil in her most acid
tones, whereupon the Major cried, "Oh! Put my foot in it that time,
didn't I?" and burst into a long guffaw of laughter, which brought on
him the eyes of the surrounders.

Claire's interest had already been aroused by a little party of two men
and two women who were sitting at a table in the corner of the room, and
who were, to her thinking, by far the most attractive personalities
present. The men were tall, well set up, not especially handsome in any
way, but possessing an unmistakable look of breeding. One of the women
was old, the other young, and it would have been hard to say which was
the more attractive of the two. They were quietly but very elegantly
dressed, handsome furs being thrown back, to show pretty bodices of
ninon and lace.

When Major Carew gave that lou