d she
been so startled when Trevor's name was mentioned? He would watch the
pair to-night. Trevor was not going to take Florence from him if he,
Franks, wished for her: of that he was resolved.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

AT THE RECEPTION.

The guests were all interesting, and the room sufficiently large not to
be overcrowded. Franks seemed to watch Florence, guarding her against
too much intrusion, but at the same time he himself kept her amused. He
told her who the people were. As he did so, he watched her face. She
still wore that becoming colour, and her eyes were still bright. She had
lost that heavy apathetic air which had angered Franks more than once.
He noticed, however, that she watched the door, and as fresh arrivals
were announced her eyes brightened for an instant, and then grew
perceptibly dull. He knew she was watching for Trevor, and he cursed
Trevor in his heart.

"She is in love with him. What fools women are!" muttered Franks to
himself. "If she married a man like that--a rich man with all that money
could give--her literary career would be ended. I have had the pleasure
of introducing her to the public; she is my treasure-trove, my one
bright particular star. She shall not shine for anyone else. That great
gift of hers shall be improved, shall be strengthened, shall be
multiplied ten-thousandfold. I will not give her up. I love her just
because she is clever: because she is a genius. If she had not that
divine fire, she would be as nothing and worse than nothing to me. As
it is, the world shall talk of her yet."

Presently Trevor and his mother arrived, and it seemed to Florence that
some kind of wave of sympathy immediately caused his eyes to light upon
her in her distant corner. He said a few words to his hostess, watched
his mother as she greeted a chance acquaintance, and elbowed his way to
her side.

"This is good luck," he said; "I did not expect to see you here
to-night." He sat down by her, and Franks was forced to seek
entertainment elsewhere.

Florence expected that after the way she had treated Trevor early that
day he would be cold and distant; but this was not the case. He seemed
to have read her agitation for what it was worth. Something in her eyes
must have given him a hint of the truth. He certainly was not angry now.
He was sympathetic, and the girl thought, with a great wave of comfort:
"He does not like me because I am supposed to be clever. He likes me for
quite another