t not after all accept Carthew, and that
he would not be obliged to bring trouble upon her by telling the
shameful story.

"It will be all the same, as far as I am concerned," he said to
himself, "but I am sure that I could stand her marrying anyone
else; which, of course, she will do before long, better than
Carthew. I hear whispers that he was hard hit at Ascot, though he
gives out that he won. Not that that matters much, but it is never
a good lookout for a girl to marry a man who gambles, even though
she be rich, and her friends take good care to settle her money
upon herself. She evidently suspects that he is at the bottom of
this trick, and she would hardly think so if she really cared for
him. But if she does think so, I fancy that the winning of the
Queen's Cup will cost him dearly.

"I wonder why she has apparently so set her mind on going out with
us tomorrow."

Carthew enjoyed his triumph that evening, loudly expressed his
indignation and regret at the scandalous affair to which he owed
his victory, frankly said that he could hardly have hoped to win
the Cup had it not been for that, and expressed his determination
to add another hundred pounds to the reward offered by the club for
the discovery of the author of the outrage. The men felt that it
was hard on a fellow to win the Cup by the breakdown of an opponent
in that way, and the ladies admired the sincere way in which he
expressed his regrets. He was a good dancer, a good talker, and a
handsome man; and as few of them knew Frank, they had no particular
interest in his misfortune.

He danced only once with Bertha, who said:

"As the hero of the occasion, Mr. Carthew, you must be generous in
your attentions and please everyone."

"I suppose I must obey you, Miss Greendale," he said, "but I had
hoped to have had an opportunity of saying something particular to
you tonight."

"Really?" she answered innocently. "Well, I shall be at home
tomorrow morning, and if you come up about eleven you are sure to
find me."

"Miss Greendale is at the other end of the garden, sir," the
servant said, as he enquired for her the next morning. "She asked
me to tell you if you called that she was there."

With considerable assurance of success, Carthew walked into the
garden. She must know what he wanted to say to her, and he had of
late felt sure that her answer would be favourable when the
question was put. She was sitting on the same bench on which two
days bef