t hand; then, after a moment or two, he took the flower from his
left and fixed it in the buttonhole of his coat.

It was a daring thing to do; but he had been--well, not too sparing of
the wine, and his usually pale and impassive face was flushed, and
indicative of a kind of suppressed excitement.

Perhaps he thought that no one would recognize the flower, and probably
no one did--no one, that is, but the earl. His eyes, as they glanced
down the row of men, saw the blossom in its conspicuous place in Sir
Archie's coat, and the earl's face went white, and his thin lips
twitched.

"Have you any wine, Walbrooke?" he asked.

The butler had left the room.

Sir Archie started, as if his thoughts had been wandering.

"Eh? Oh--ah! thanks!" he said.

He took the decanter from the man next him, and filled his glass. The
earl's eyes rested grimly upon the flower for a moment, then, as if with
an effort, he turned to Mr. Gresham and got into talk with him. No man
in the whole world was more ready to talk than the prime minister. The
other men joined in the conversation, which was anything but
political--all but Sir Archie. He sat silent and preoccupied, filling
his glass whenever the decanter was near him, and drinking in a
mechanical way, as if he were scarcely conscious of what he was doing.
Now and then he glanced at the flower in his coat, deeming the glance
unnoticed; but the earl saw it, and every time he detected the downward
droop of the eyes, his own grew sterner and more troubled.

Meanwhile, in the drawing-room, the ladies were sipping their coffee and
conversing in the perfunctory fashion which prevails while they are
awaiting the arrival of the gentlemen.

Lady Wolfer, who had, up to the present, borne her part in the
entertainment extremely well, suddenly appeared to have lost all
interest and all desire to continue it. She seated herself beside the
fire and next the easy-chair into which the duchess had sunk, and gazed
dreamily over the screen which she held in her hand. Some of the ladies
gathered in little groups, others turned to the books and albums, one or
two yawned almost openly. A kind of blight seemed falling upon them.
Nell, who was unused to the phenomena of dinner parties, looked round,
aghast. Were they all going to sleep? Suddenly she realized that it was
at just such a moment as this that she was supposed to come in. She
went up to Lady Wolfer and bent down to her.

"Won't somebody play or