commented on her as he saw her drive away.

"She has a nice, flat, straight back, that woman," he remarked to Lady
Maria. "What is her name? One never hears people's names when one is
introduced."

"Her name is Emily Fox-Seton," her ladyship answered, "and she's a nice
creature."

"That would be an inhuman thing to say to most men, but if one is a
thoroughly selfish being, and has some knowledge of one's own character,
one sees that a nice creature might be a nice companion."

"You are quite right," was Lady Maria's reply, as she held up her
lorgnette and watched the cart spin down the avenue. "I am selfish
myself, and I realise that is the reason why Emily Fox-Seton is becoming
the lodestar of my existence. There is such comfort in being pandered to
by a person who is not even aware that she is pandering. She doesn't
suspect that she is entitled to thanks for it."

That evening Mrs. Ralph came shining to dinner in amber satin, which
seemed to possess some quality of stimulating her to brilliance. She was
witty enough to collect an audience, and Lord Walderhurst was drawn
within it. This was Mrs. Ralph's evening. When the men returned to the
drawing-room, she secured his lordship at once and managed to keep him.
She was a woman who could talk pretty well, and perhaps Lord Walderhurst
was amused. Emily Fox-Seton was not quite sure that he was, but at least
he listened. Lady Agatha Slade looked a little listless and pale. Lovely
as she was, she did not always collect an audience, and this evening she
said she had a headache. She actually crossed the room, and taking a