cquaintance and put me in a decidedly awkward position. It
was no other than this: Mrs. Hilary Musgrave had definitely informed me
that she did not approve of Lady Mickleham. The attitude is, no doubt, a
conceivable one, but I was surprised that a woman of Mrs. Hilary's large
sympathies should adopt it. Besides, Mrs. Hilary is quite good-looking
herself.

The history of the affair is much as follows: I called on Mrs. Hilary
to see whether I could do anything, and she told me all about it. It
appears that Mrs. Hilary had a bad cold and a cousin up from the country
about the same time (she was justly aggrieved at the double event), and
being unable to go to the Duchess of Dexminster's "squash," she asked
Dolly Mickleham to chaperon little Miss Phyllis. Little Miss Phyllis, of
course, knew no one there--the Duchess least of all--(but then very few
of us--yes, I was there--knew the Duchess, and the Duchess didn't know
any of us; I saw her shake hands with a waiter myself, just to be on
the safe side), and an hour after the party began she was discovered
wandering about in a most desolate condition. Dolly had told her that
she would be in a certain place; and when Miss Phyllis came, Dolly was
not there. The poor little lady wandered about for another hour, looking
so lost that one was inclined to send for a policeman; and then she sat
down on a seat by the wall, and, in desperation, asked her next-door
neighbor if he knew Lady Mickleham by sight, and had he seen her lately?
The next-door neighbor, by way of reply, called out to a quiet elderly
gentleman who was sidling unobtrusively about, "Duke, are there any
particularly snug corners in your house?" The Duke stopped, searched
his memory, and said that at the end of the Red Corridor there was
a passage, and that a few yards down the passage, if you turned very
suddenly to the right, you would come on a little nook under the stairs.
The little nook just held a settee, and the settee (the Duke thought)
might just hold two people. The next-door neighbor thanked the Duke, and
observed to Miss Phyllis--

"It will give me great pleasure to take you to Lady Mickleham." So
they went, it being then, according to Miss Phyllis' sworn statement
precisely two hours and five minutes since Dolly had disappeared; and,
pursuing the route indicated by the Duke, they found Lady Mickleham. And
Lady Mickleham exclaimed, "Good gracious, my dear, I'd quite forgotten
you! Have you had an ice? Do