do? Both she and Drake were helpless. Nell stood
with downcast eyes, the color coming and going in her face, and Drake
looked from one to the other, half relieved, half in doubt.

"Let us go and sit on that ottoman," said Lady Luce, indicating one in
the center of a group of ladies.

Nell, as she followed, glanced at Drake as if she were asking, "Must I
go?" He made a slight gesture in the affirmative, returning her glance
with one of tender love and trust.

The countess stood at a little distance, watching them, though
apparently absorbed in conversation, and no one would have guessed the
condition of her mind as she saw the two women seated side by side.
Presently she went up to Drake.

"What does it mean?" she asked. "Why has she not gone? Why is she so--so
friendly with Nell?"

Drake shrugged his shoulders with a kind of smiling despair.

"I can't tell you," he replied. "I think she is going to behave
sensibly. At any rate, there is no need for anxiety. I have told Nell
everything. She will trust me."

"Yes; but I wish she had gone," said the countess, in a low voice.

Drake smiled grimly.

"So do I. But she hasn't."

"She is too serene and contented," murmured the countess.

Drake shrugged his shoulders again.

"I know," he said significantly. "But what does it matter? She can do no
harm. Nell knows everything."

"I like the way you say that," said the countess. "But don't leave her."

He nodded as if he understood, and gradually made his way toward the
group among which Luce and Nell were sitting. As he approached, Lady
Luce looked up with a smile.

"I have been telling Miss Lorton that if there is one thing I adore upon
earth, it is a romantic engagement, and that I quite envy her, and you,
too, Lord Angleford! A glamour of romance will surround you for the rest
of your lives. As I have often said to Archie, life without sentiment
would not be worth having. By the way, Miss Lorton, you know Sir Archie
Walbrooke?"

Nell had scarcely been listening, for she had been wondering whether she
could now rise and leave Lady Luce; but at the name of Sir Archie
Walbrooke, she turned with a sudden start, and the color rose to her
face. Lady Luce looked at her sweetly; then, as if she had suddenly
remembered something, exclaimed, in a low voice:

"Oh, I beg your pardon! I quite forgot. How stupid of me!" Then she
laughed softly and looked from Nell to Drake. "But of course you've told
Lord Angleford? It