ny other person
thinking; but he was used to Nina's proud and wayward moods; so he
merely went on to tell her that there was nothing, after all, so very
solemn in the ceremony of drinking from a loving-cup; and then he asked
her whether she ought not to call Miss Girond, for it was about time
they were going down to the theatre.

Of course the forthcoming dinner that Mr. Lehmann was about to give at
the Star and Garter created quite a stir behind the scenes, where the
routine of life is much more monotonous than the people imagine who sit
in the stalls and regard the antics of the merry folk on the stage.
There were all kinds of rumors and speculations as to who was going with
whom, as to the number and quality of the visitors, and as to the
possibility of the manager presenting each of his lady-guests with a
little souvenir in honor of the occasion. So when Lionel was summoned to
Miss Burgoyne's room one evening, he was not surprised to find her begin
to talk of the following Sunday.

"Will you make yourself some tea, Mr. Moore?" she said, from the inner
room. "There's some cake on the top of the piano. Then you can bring a
chair to the curtain, and I'll talk to you--for I'm not quite finished
yet."

He drew a chair to the little opening in the curtain, where he could
hear what she had to say, and answer, without any indiscreet prying.

"I am at your service, Miss Grace," said he, lightly.

"How are you going down to Richmond on Sunday?" she asked at once.

"By train, I suppose."

There was a moment's silence--perhaps she was waiting for him to ask a
similar question.

"Lord Denysfort is going to drive down," said the voice in the inner
room.

"Lord Denysfort!" he said, contemptuously. "What she is the attraction
now? I don't like that kind of thing; it gets the theatre a bad name.
If I were Lehmann, I wouldn't have a single stranger allowed in the
wings."

"Not unless they were your own friends," said the unseen young lady,
complacently. "Now I know you're scowling. But I believe you are quite
wrong. Lord Denysfort is simply a business acquaintance of Mr.
Lehmann's--there are money matters between them, and that kind of thing;
and when he was asked to be present at the dinner, it was quite natural
that he should offer to drive some of us down. You have no particular
detestation of lords, have you? What has become of the tall, handsome
young man you brought to us at Henley--the lazy man--and didn't he come