rel, I suppose?"

The moment was passing. Burton laughed--a little hardly, perhaps, but
boisterously.

"Maud's mad with me," he explained. "I thought I could take her out
to-night. Remembered afterwards I couldn't. Say, old man, you're going
it a bit, aren't you?" he continued, shaking his head at his late
employer.

Mr. Waddington held his companion's hand more tenderly than ever.

"At your age," he remarked, severely, "you shouldn't notice such things.
Milly and I are old friends, aren't we?" he added, drawing her to him.

"Well, it's taken a bit of making up my mind to forgive you," the young
lady admitted. "What a pity you can't bring Maud along to-night!" she
went on, addressing Burton. "We're going to Frascati's to dinner and
into the Oxford afterwards. Get along back and make it up with her.
You can easily break your other engagement."

Burton swaggered back to the threshold of the other room.

"Hi! Come along, Maudie!" he said. "I can't take you out to-night but
I'll take you to-morrow night, and I'll stand a bottle of champagne now
to make up for it."

"Don't want your champagne," the young lady began;--"leastways," she
added, remembering that, after all, business was supposed to be her
first concern, "I won't say 'no' to a glass of wine with you, but you
mustn't take it that you can come in here and do just as you please. I
may go out with you some other evening, and I may not. I don't think I
shall. To-night just happens to suit me."

With a last admiring glance at herself in the mirror, she came into the
room. Burton patted her on the arm and waved the wine list away.

"The best is good enough," he declared,--"the best in the house. Just
what you like yourself. Price don't matter just now."

He counted a roll of notes which he drew from his trousers pocket. The
two girls looked at him in amazement. He threw one upon the table.

"Backed a horse?" Maud asked. "Legacy?" Milly inquired. Burton, with
some difficulty, relit the stump of his cigar.

"Bit of an advance I've just received from a company I'm connected
with," he explained. "Would insist on my being a director. I'm trying
to get Waddington here into it," he added, condescendingly. "Jolly good
thing for him if I succeed, I can tell you."

Miss Maud moved away in a chastened manner. She took the opportunity to
slip upstairs and powder her face and put on clean white cuffs.
Presently she returned, carrying the wine on a silver tray, with th