costly jewels, the waving plumes, the sweeping satins, and
thought of Dora's plain, pretty dress. A softened look came into
his eyes, as he pictured his shy, graceful wife. Some day she,
too, would walk through these gorgeous rooms, and then would all
admire the wisdom of his choice. So the heir of Earlescourt
dreamed as he watched the brilliant crowd that began to fill the
ball room; but his reverie was suddenly broken by a summons from
Lady Earle.

"Ronald," said she, looking slightly impatient, "have you
forgotten that it is your place to open the ball? You must ask
Miss Charteris to dance with you."

"That will be no hardship," he replied, smiling at his mother's
earnest manner. "I would rather dance with Miss Charteris than
any one else."

Lady Earle wisely kept silence; her son went up to Valentine and
made his request. He danced with her again and again--not as
Lady Earle hoped, from any unusual preference, but because it
gave him less trouble than selecting partners among strange young
ladies. Valentine understood him; they talked easily, and
without restraint. He paid her no compliments, and she did not
seem to expect any. With other ladies, Ronald was always
thinking, "What would they say if they knew of that fair young
wife at Eastham?" With Valentine no such idea haunted him--he
had an instinctive belief in her true and firm friendship.

Lady Earle overheard a few whispered comments, and they filled
her heart with delight. Old friends whispered to her that "it