portunity of making their adieus in
secret; but in the case of the Honourable William Drayton and the eldest
Miss Lovell I concluded that such tactics were needless, so I waited till
he had shaken hands, and went downstairs with him.

But in the hall Billy suddenly ejaculated, "By Jove! Half a minute," and
ran back up the stairs three at a time. Apparently he found what he had
gone for on the landing, for I did not hear the opening of the drawing-
room door. Then the Honourable Billy redescended with a sober,
nonchalent air.

"Left my gloves behind me," he explained, as he took my arm. "I am
always leaving my gloves about."

I did not mention that I had seen him take them from his hat and slip
them into his coat-tail pocket.

We at the Club did not see very much of Billy during the next three
months, but the captain, who prided himself upon his playing of the
_role_ of smoking-room cynic--though he would have been better in the
part had he occasionally displayed a little originality--was of opinion
that our loss would be more than made up to us after the marriage. Once
in the twilight I caught sight of a figure that reminded me of Billy's,
accompanied by a figure that might have been that of the eldest Miss
Lovell; but as the spot was Battersea Park, which is not a fashionable
evening promenade, and the two figures were holding each other's hands,
the whole picture being suggestive of the closing chapter of a _London
Journal_ romance, I concluded I had made an error.

But I did see them in the Adelphi stalls one evening, rapt in a
sentimental melodrama. I joined them between the acts, and poked fun at
the play, as one does at the Adelphi, but Miss Lovell begged me quite
earnestly not to spoil her interest, and Billy wanted to enter upon a
serious argument as to whether a man was justified in behaving as Will
Terriss had just behaved towards the woman he loved. I left them and
returned to my own party, to the satisfaction, I am inclined to think, of
all concerned.

They married in due course. We were mistaken on one point. She brought
Billy nothing. But they both seemed quite content on his not too
extravagant fortune. They took a tiny house not far from Victoria
Station, and hired a brougham for the season. They did not entertain
very much, but they contrived to be seen everywhere it was right and
fashionable they should be seen. The Honourable Mrs. Drayton was a much
younger and brighter person than