hat he is so sure of me
that he isn't a bit jealous of Don Carlos, and probably thinks I made a
fuss about nothing. Why didn't he half-kill the conceited Spaniard for
daring to make love to me? I should have loved him if he had done
that--yes, even if he got the worst of it, I should have loved him for
trying to give Don Carlos a hiding."

"Don't be absurd, my dear Myra!" protested Lady Fermanagh, laughingly.
"I told you that the love-making of men like Don Carlos should not be
taken seriously, and it was foolish of you to take offence."

"And now, I suppose, he is laughing up his sleeve at me for having
taken him seriously, and thinks he is punishing me by ignoring me for
being such a little prude!" said Myra. "Perhaps I did make rather a
fool of myself, but I intend to get even with him. Yes, I'll get even
with the conceited creature! Do you know what I have decided to do,
aunt? I am going to make love to Don Carlos and make him fall in love
with me in earnest, just to have the satisfaction of turning him down
afterwards and making him feel, and look, a fool."

"For goodness sake don't try to do anything of the sort, Myra,"
counselled Lady Fermanagh. "Don Carlos is very much a man of the
world, and you would be playing with fire. I should judge that he
knows women better than most men. And in any case, my dear, it isn't
safe to trifle with a Spaniard."

"And it isn't safe to trifle with a Rostrevor Don Carlos de Ruiz will
find to his cost," retorted Myra, with a sudden laugh. "My mind is
made up, and I shall start on my conquest to-night."

She took special pains over her toilette that evening, and her maid
found her unusually exacting. She chose a very decollete evening frock
of jade green shot with blue that matched the blue of her eyes but
contrasted beautifully with her red-gold hair, and with it she wore a
necklace of emeralds and turquoises.

"By Jove! Myra, dear, you are looking lovelier than ever to-night!"
exclaimed Tony Standish, admiringly and adoringly, when she went down
into the great hall of Auchinleven Lodge before dinner. "You look
simply wonderful, darling. Wonderful!"

"Thank you for these few kind words, good sir," Myra answered
smilingly, in bantering tones, and dropped a mock curtsey. "I hope Don
Carlos will be equally complimentary. You see, Tony, I am afraid he is
rather vexed with me for complaining to you about him and snubbing him,
so I have decided to let him fall in