.
--Shakespeare.

Bluebell had not visited her mother for three weeks. One Saturday Freddy
had a sore throat and would not let her out of his sight, keeping up an
incessant demand for black-currant jelly and fairy tales, and the next
week a heavy fall of snow made walking impossible. She now very often
shared the gaieties of the others. Mrs. Rolleston took great interest in
Bluebell's career. She thought it by no means improbable that Sir Timothy
should have provided for her in his will, or, indeed, that he might any
day acknowledge her; and though she took her out, and let her dance to
her heart's content, kept faithful watch to prevent any undesirable
flirtation.

So the kind-hearted lady was a good deal disturbed at seeing Jack
Vavasour, who came of an extravagant and far from wealthy family, first
in the field. After the manner of love-lorn subalterns, he haunted and
persecuted the fair object of his affections, who cared nothing about
him, and treated him as a child does its toys, sometimes pleased with
them, and at others casting them indifferently aside.

And all the time Bertie was gaining greater influence over her. But even
Cecil, whose eyes were keen, was never able to detect any evidence of a
secret understanding between them.

He regularly asked her for one valse only when they went to balls;
indeed, he could not do less. Cecil, of course, could not hear what they
talked about _then_.

There is a dreamy, intoxicating valse of Gung'l's, which he always made
her keep for him when it was played. It was a small piece of selfish
romance, for well he knew that charmed air would ever hereafter be
haunted with associations of him. How many more "stolen sweet moments" he
found in the day must be left to the reader's imagination. But stolen
they were; for Du Meresq knew Cecil's disposition, and was far from
wishing to break with her, though "why should he spare this little girl
with the chestnut hair, and the love in her deep-blue eyes?" And Bluebell
no longer shrank from being underhand. It did not strike her in that
light now. She thought of nothing but Bertie, who was so different before
the others, that she learnt to look forward to their brief chances of
being alone as much as he did. And Du Meresq, with ingenious sophistry,
expatiated on the charm of keeping their delicious secret to themselves,
uncommented on by the cold and unsympathetic.

Thus Bluebell, from being a lively, i