en too much
tickled. Her car was close by at the time, and for once she'd stopped
chattering, no doubt to see how I would bear the blow she probably knew
was coming. My one satisfaction was to give her _none_! But I hoped for
more later, and got it, as you are going to hear.

I had made a plan for the evening, in case Storm showed up for the
dance. It was quite a simple one. I hadn't given him a special
invitation, as I had the others, and if he took it for granted he was
asked, it was his own fault. I knew that one of the most exclusive women
in society was coming to the dance, Mrs. Sam de Silverley. You may have
known she was on your ship, though it's unlikely you saw her, as she was
badly sick all the way across, I've heard. She's been rather friendly
with me since I came into my money; in fact, I helped to get her the
house she's taken for the summer, not far from the Piping Rock Club. It
belongs to a man I know, a great golfer, in France with the American
Ambulance just now; and it was on my programme for the day to call and
ask her to be nice to my party in the evening. I did call, while the
crowd were having a picnic-lunch, ran the Grayles-Grice to her place,
and stopped long enough for coffee. She's fond of a little gossip, and
knew all about the debacle at Kidd's Pines of course. I gave her a few
picturesque details of P. S. and his exploits on land. Mrs. Sam had
already heard of those at sea. The stewardess and her maid had cheered
the monotony of the voyage by describing the "Stormy Petrel," as it
seems you all called him on shipboard. I let _you_ down lightly; said
that out of charity you'd employed the man to do secretarial work, to
which he was entirely unsuited, but that he was thoroughly at home as
chauffeur. I enlarged a little on his impudence, and remarked that I
shouldn't be surprised if he had the cheek to turn up at the dance,
pretending to be my guest.

"If he does, I have enough influence in the club to see that he is asked
to go," Mrs. de Silverley assured me. And that was exactly what I
wanted. It would be awkward for me, in the circumstances, to have him
put out, I said, but if the club did it, understanding that he was _not_
my guest, I should be grateful.

This was the whole of my original plan, and I carried it out as
intended. But since beginning to work it up, I found I had Miss Patty to
punish as well as P. S. I concentrated my whole mind on my objective
while the Goodrich girls admir