"I wonder if it is her dainty smallness," Dudley was musing, away in
his Bloomsbury lodging, feeling still, with a pleasant thrill, the
touch of Doris's small hand on his arm, and seeing again the upward,
confiding expression in her wide blue eyes. "Odd that Hal should be so
far astray in her judgment, when she is usually so clever; but if she
knew her better she would change her mind."

As for Hal herself, she hastily tumbled into bed, still chuckling in
huge enjoyment over her evening.

"Those boys are just dears," was her thought, "and I wouldn't have
missed Lady Bounce for the world. What a good thing Dudley was taken
with paternal affection for that little fool Doris, and I had to have a
chaperone. Heigh-ho! what a scene there will be if he hears about it;
but what's the odds so long as you're happy? And oh dear! what will
Lady Phyllis Fenton say when she finds out"; and once more the even
teeth flashed an irresistible smile into the darkness.





CHAPTER X


It was force of habit chiefly that caused Lorraine, as a rule, to sleep
long and late on Sunday mornings; and it was greatly to her advantage
that for so many months, and even years, no mental anxiety had robbed
her of a splendid capacity to rest. She seemed to have a faculty for
limiting her worrying hours to the daylight, and being able to lay them