uation is such that it is counted to him as
an added charm. The boring times I have had listening to prosy accounts
of his trials and adventures, when I have wanted to discuss a hat! And
then at last he was coming home, the ball was arranged so that he should
be there, I expected him to dance half the night with me: it was the
least he could do, considering how I had suffered for him; and behold he
hides upstairs, and creeps down to sit on balconies with another girl!
Wretch! Why on earth could they not have introduced him to me, instead
of to you?"

"You were not sitting by your lone, a dejected wallflower, while your
partners gorged in the supper-room. I was. We took pity on one
another, and determined to talk, not dance."

"And pray, what did you talk about?"

Again Vanna's lip gave a quick, involuntary twitch.

"Different things. He told me that he had just returned to England, and
spoke of foreign countries--his adventures--"

"Oh, but this must be stopped!" Jean shook her head with would-be
solemnity. "The Mortons have advertised him sufficiently in advance; he
really cannot be allowed to be egotistical on his own account. I shall
take him in hand. I shall say to him gently but firmly, `My excellent
youth, your biography has already run through many editions. Let it
rest. Variety is refreshing for mind as well as body. Allow your
thoughts to stray for a moment to some one besides your wonderful self.
Think, for example, of _Me_!'"

She waved her hand in dramatic fashion as she spoke, flashing a
mischievous glance at her friend, her face a-sparkle with mischief.
Jean's vivid young beauty seemed ever to be asserting itself in fresh
phases, so that even those who lived in the same house and looked upon
her every day of their lives were continually evoked to fresh
admiration. As in watching the movements of an exquisite child, moments
of satiety seemed impossibly remote.

Vanna thought with a leaping pulse: "How he will love her!" and smiled
back tenderly into the glowing face.

How soon, and in what fashion would the dramatic meeting take place?
She was possessed with an immense curiosity to forecast the events of
the next few days. Robert Gloucester would not, she was convinced, be
content to wait upon chance, but having been vouchsafed a glimpse of his
treasure, would not rest until he had furthered the acquaintance. In a
light, unsuspicious manner it was evident that Jean's expectation had