licity of evening clothes, in which the despotism of fashion curbs
all vagaries of fancy. More than one feminine critic smiled involuntary
approval of the handsome young sailor, whose easy, slightly
unconventional manner, though singular, was not unattractive.

He had been told off to take Lady Geraldine Vane in to dinner, and went
to renew acquaintance with her at once. She was dressed in a cloud of
blue tulle, and wore a heavy white wreath on her hair, which was very
light. Complexion she had none. She was pale without being fair. Her
features were irregular, lips thin, with projecting teeth, and eyebrows
scarcely apparent at all. Yet these defects were partly redeemed by one
sole attraction, a pair of large, light eyes, with a great deal of heart
in them. They could glisten with affection and brighten with interest,
and were the faithful mirrors of a modest, sensitive, and naturally
amiable disposition. But Harry thought her, dress and all, the most
colourless object, and longed to offer even a damask rose to break the
cold, sickly effect.

There was another young lady present, of a very different type to Lady
Geraldine,--not exactly pretty, but evidently aiming at being _chic_. Her
dress was of the latest fashion, and in a slightly audacious style,
likewise the arrangement of her hair. She had a pretty, neat figure, and
a way of seeing everything through half-shut eyes. This was Harry's
cousin Kate.

Perhaps it would be too much to say he was very fond of this young
damsel; but, at any rate, he was delighted to find her there. "She is
such a jolly girl in a house!" he said to himself.

Kate, then a finished coquette of ten, used to try her hand at flirting
with the big schoolboy; and when she had him in a state of helpless
adoration, and all his pocket-money was gone in presents to her, would
turn him off in favour of his particular friend, who was spending the
holidays at Bromley Towers. The two boys blacked each other's eyes in
consequence; but the capricious fair only remarked that "they had made
such frights of themselves, the sooner they went back to school the
better."

As they grew up the intimacy continued. Kate would make use of him as an
escort, and allow him to kiss her as a cousin. She also confided to him
her love affairs, which at first made him very angry, but afterwards he
sometimes suspected their veracity.

Harry could not help watching her at dinner. He saw the amused face of
her neighbour,