d supper I should be glad to go. We have to go on to Dorchester
House, you know."

Jeanne sighed. She had been enjoying herself very much indeed.

"I am ready now," she said, standing up, "but must we go to Dorchester
House? I would so much rather go straight home. I have not had such a
good time since I have been in London."

The Duke offered her his arm, ignoring altogether Count De Brensault,
who was standing by.

"At least," he said, "you will permit me to see you to your carriage."

The Princess smiled graciously. It was bad enough to be ignored, as she
certainly was to some extent, but on the other hand it was good for De
Brensault to see Jeanne held in such esteem. She took his arm and they
followed down the room. The Duke was bending down and talking earnestly
to Jeanne; this surprised the Princess.

"I wonder," she remarked, more to herself than to her companion, "what
he is saying."

De Brensault shrugged his shoulders.

"I do not care," he said. "We will keep to our bargain, you and I. In a
few days it will be my arm that she shall take, and nobody else's.
Perhaps I shall be a little jealous. Who can say? In a little time she
will not mind."

"Remember," the Duke was saying, as he drew Jeanne's hand through his
arm, "that I was very much in earnest in what I said to you just now. I
have seen a good deal of the world, and you nothing at all, and I
cannot help believing that the time when you may need some one's help
is a good deal nearer than you yourself imagine."

"I wonder," she asked, a little timidly, "why you are so kind to me?"

"I accept you upon trust," the Duke said, "for the sake of my friend
Andrew. I know that he lives out of the world, and has not much
experience in judging others, but I do believe that when he has made up
his mind about anybody, he is generally right. Frankly, from what I
have heard, and a little that I know, I am afraid that I should have
been suspicious about even a child like you, because of your
associates. But because I believe in you, I am all the more sure that
very soon you are going to find yourself in trouble. It is agreed,
remember, that when that time comes you will remember that I am your
friend."

"I will remember," she murmured. "I am not likely to forget. Except for
you and Mr. De la Borne, no one has been really kind to me since I left
school. They all say foolish things, and try to make me like them,
because I am a great heiress, but one understa