light shone
through the thin haze upon gold-topped bottles, plates, napkins, and a
litter of oyster shells and cigarettes. Ida, flushed and excited, was
reclining upon the settee, a wine-glass at her elbow, and a cigarette
between her fingers, while Charles Westmacott sat beside her, with his
arm thrown over the head of the sofa, with the suggestion of a caress.
On the other side of the room, Clara was lounging in an arm-chair, with
Harold beside her, both smoking, and both with wine-glasses beside them.
The Doctor stood speechless in the doorway, staring at the Bacchanalian
scene.

"Come in, papa! Do!" cried Ida. "Won't you have a glass of champagne?"

"Pray excuse me," said her father, coldly, "I feel that I am intruding.
I did not know that you were entertaining. Perhaps you will kindly
let me know when you have finished. You will find me in my study." He
ignored the two young men completely, and, closing the door, retired,
deeply hurt and mortified, to his room. A quarter of an hour afterwards
he heard the door slam, and his two daughters came to announce that the
guests were gone.

"Guests! Whose guests?" he cried angrily. "What is the meaning of this
exhibition?"

"We have been giving a little supper, papa. They were our guests."

"Oh, indeed!" The Doctor laughed sarcastically. "You think it right,
then, to entertain young bachelors late at night, to, smoke and drink
with them, to---- Oh, that I should ever have lived to blush for my own
daughters! I thank God that your dear mother never saw the day."

"Dearest papa," cried Clara, throwing her arms about him. "Do not be
angry with us. If you understood all, you would see that there is no
harm in it."

"No harm, miss! Who is the best judge of that?"

"Mrs. Westmacott," suggested Ida, slyly.

The Doctor sprang from his chair. "Confound Mrs. Westmacott!" he cried,
striking frenziedly into the air with his hands. "Am I to hear of
nothing but this woman? Is she to confront me at every turn? I will
endure it no longer."

"But it was your wish, papa."

"Then I will tell you now what my second and wiser wish is, and we shall
see if you will obey it as you have the first."

"Of course we will, papa."

"Then my wish is, that you should forget these odious notions which you
have imbibed, that you should dress and act as you used to do,
before ever you saw this woman, and that, in future, you confine
your intercourse with her to such civilities as are necessa