scarcely believe it when Mary brought me his card. By the bye, where is
Mary? I want her to try to take that stain out of my pink silk skirt. I
shall have to wear it to-night."

"I will ring for her directly," the girl answered. "So that was Sir
Leslie Borrowdean, mother! Why did he come to see you again so soon?"

"I haven't the least idea," Mrs. Phillimore announced, "but I thought
it was very sweet of him. It seems all the more remarkable when one
considers the sort of man he is. He's very ambitious, you know, and
devoted to politics."

"Where did you meet him first?" Hester asked.

"It was at the Metropole at Bexhill," Mrs. Phillimore answered. "We
motored down there one day, and Lena Roberts told me that she heard him
inquiring who I was directly we came into the room. He joined our party
at luncheon. Billy knew him slightly, so I made him go over and ask him."

Hester nodded, and seemed to be absorbed in some trifling defect of one
of the keys of her typewriter.

"Does he still ask you many questions about Mr. Mannering, mother?" she
asked, quietly.

"About Mr. Mannering!" Mrs. Phillimore repeated, with raised eyebrows.
"Why, he scarcely ever mentions his name."

She took up a small mirror from the table by her side, and critically
touched her hair.