"Yes. But I told you tonight, because I--because you were so kind, I
felt I should like to have you know."

Kind! Yes, I had been too kind. But if by putting out my foot I could
have crushed every hope of his for the future--every hope, that is, in
which my stepsister Diana Forrest had any part--I would have done it,
just as I trample on ants in the country sometimes, for the pleasure of
feeling that I--even I--have power of life and death.

I swallowed hard, to keep the sobs back. I'm never very strong or well,
but now I felt broken, ready to die. I was glad when I heard the music
stop in the ballroom.

"There!" I said. "The two dances you asked me to sit out with you are
over. I'm sure you're engaged for the next."

"Yes, Imp, I am."

"To Di?"

"No, I have Number 13 with her."

"Thirteen! Unlucky number."

"Any number is lucky that gives me a chance with her. The next one,
coming now, is with Mrs. George Allendale."

"Oh, yes, the actor manager's wife. She goes everywhere; and Lord
Mountstuart likes theatrical celebrities. This house ought to be very