_ was quite unconscious of any reason
for his possible absence. Mary Kingston gave them a keen glance as she
went by, and decided in her own mind that there was more in the
situation than as yet she had understood.

Oliver was playing a bold game. His marriage was fixed for the following
Tuesday. From Mr. Brooke's attitude in general towards the Kenyons, he
felt sure that Caspar would not place them in any painful or perplexing
situation. He would not, for instance, refuse to welcome Oliver to his
house again, if Oliver went in Ethel's company. Accordingly, the young
man put his pride and his delicacy (if he had either--which is doubtful)
in his pocket, and went with his affianced wife to Mr. Brooke's Saturday
evening party.

"For I will see Lesley again," he said to himself, "and if I do not go
to-night I may not have the opportunity. If she would relent, I would
not mind throwing Ethel over--I could do it so easily now that Francis
has disappeared. But I would give up Ethel's twenty thousand, if Lesley
would go with me instead!"

Little did he guess that only on the previous night had he been
recognized and remembered by that missing brother, whose tottering brain
was inflamed almost to madness by a conviction of deliberate wrong; or
that this brother was even now upon his track, ready to demand the
justice that he thought had been denied him, and to punish the man who
had brought him to this evil pass! Wild and mad as were the imaginings
of Francis Trent's bewildered mind, they boded ill to his brother Oliver
whenever the two should meet.

Meanwhile, Ethel's lover, with a white flower in his button-hole,
occupied the whole evening in leaning idly against a wall, and feasting
his eyes on the fair face and form--not of his betrothed, but--of Lesley
Brooke.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

IN MR. BROOKE'S STUDY.

Caspar Brooke's dingy drawing-room looked cheerful enough that night,
filled by a crowd of men and women, and animated by the buzz of constant
talk and movement. It was a distinguishing characteristic of his parties
that they were composed more of men than of women; and the guests were
often men or women who had done something in the world, and were known
for some special excellence in their work. Lesley generally enjoyed
these gatherings very much. The visitors were shabby, unfashionable
people sometimes: they had eccentricities of dress and manner; but they
were always interesting in Lesley's eyes. Literary