ng that she had
heard this name in connection with something diplomatic, and her guess
that he was in that service was strengthened by his previous remark
about being an ambassador.

"Yes, Lord Donal, if you will cruelly insist on calling me so; but this
cannot take from me the consolation that once, in the conservatory
of the White House, under the very shadow of the President, you
condescended to call me Don."

"You cannot expect one to remember what happened in Washington five
years ago. You know the administration itself changes every four years,
and memories seldom carry back even so far as that."

"I had hoped that my most outspoken adoration would have left
reminiscence which might outlast an administration. I have not found
forgetting so easy."

"Are you quite sure of that, Lord Donal?" asked the girl archly, closing
her fan and giving him for the first time a full view of her face.

The young man seemed for a moment perplexed, but she went on, giving him
little time for reflection. "Have your diplomatic duties taken you away
from Washington?"

"Yes, to the other end of the earth. I am now in St. Petersburg, with
ultimate hopes of Vienna, Princess. I happened to be in London this
week, and hearing you were to be here, I moved heaven and earth for an
invitation."

"Which you obtained, only to find yourself forgotten. How hollow this
world is, isn't it?"

"Alas, yes. A man in my profession sees a good deal of the seamy side of
life, and I fully believe that my rapidly lessening dependence on human
veracity will be shattered by my superiors sending me to Constantinople.
But let me find you a seat out of this crowd where we may talk of old
times."

"I don't care so much about the past as I do about the present. Let
us go up into that gallery, where you shall point out to me the
celebrities. I suppose you know them all, while I am an entire stranger
to London Society."

"That is a capital idea," cried the young man enthusiastically. "Yes, I
think I know most of the people here, at least by name. Ah, here comes
the Royal party; we shall just be in time to have a good look at them."

The band played the National Anthem, and Lord Donal got two chairs,
which he placed at the edge of the gallery, well hidden from the
promenaders by spreading tropical plants.

"Oh, this _is_ jolly," cried Jennie, quite forgetting the dignity of a
Princess. "You told me why you came to the ball. Do you know why I am
here?"