"Sir Charles and Lady Wray, who are intending
henceforth to reside in England, have
returned to the stately Wray mansion in Piccadilly,
where they will be for the season. Our
well-known Governor and his Lady are accompanied
by their niece, the beautiful and accomplished
Miss Jocelyn Wray, only child of Sir
Charles' younger brother, the late Honorable
Mr. Richard Wray, whose estate included enormous
holdings in Australia as well as several
thousand acres in Devonshire. This charming
young colonial has already captivated London
society."

John Steele read carefully this bit of news, and then re-read it; he
even found himself guilty of perusing all the other paragraphs; the
comings and goings, the fine doings! They related to a world he had
thought little about; a world within the world; just as the people who
lived in tunnels and dark passages constituted another world within the
world. Her name danced in illustrious company; here were dukes and earls
and viscounts; a sprinkling of the foreign element: begums, emirs, the
nation's guests. He saw, also, "Sir Charles, Lady Wray and Miss Wray"
among the long list of box-holders for that night at the opera, a gala
occasion, commanded by royalty for the entertainment of royalty, and,
incidentally, of certain barbarian personages who had come across the
seas to be diplomatically coddled and fed.

Folding his newspaper, John Steele turned to his legal papers; strove to
replace idleness by industry; but the spirit of work failed to respond.