"No, Mr. Foster," said Marie. "You just stay here, and don't listen."

The two women disappeared behind the portière, and a faint giggle,
soon suppressed, came through the portière from Marie.

I obeyed her orders, but as I had not the advantage of knowing a
single person in that outer room, I took myself off for a stroll, in
the hope of encountering Rosetta Rosa. Yes, certainly in the hope of
encountering Rosetta Rosa! But in none of the thronged chambers did I
discover her.

When I came back, the waiting-room for prospective crystal-gazers was
empty, and Emmeline herself was just leaving it.

"What!" I exclaimed. "All over?"

"Yes," she said; "Sullivan has sent for me. You see, of course, one
has to mingle with one's guests. Only they're really Sullivan's
guests."

"And what about me?" I said. "Am I not going to have a look into the
crystal?"

I had, as a matter of fact, not the slightest interest in her crystal
at that instant. I regarded the crystal as a harmless distraction of
hers, and I was being simply jocular when I made that remark.
Emmeline, however, took it seriously. As her face had changed when
she first saw me in the box at the Opera, and again to-night when she
met me and Marie Deschamps on my arm, so once more it changed now.