Shyly but eagerly the girl assented, and richly rewarded was
she in her own estimate by what the visitor had to tell. More
gossip of court, of the lesser world of fashion, and of the
theatre, he retailed: how the king walked and looked, of the
rivalry between Mrs. Barry and Mrs. Baddeley, of Charles Fox's
debts and eloquence, of the vogue of Cecilia Davis, or
"L'Inglesina." To Janice, hungry with the true appetite of
provincialism, it was all the most delicious of comfits. To
talk to a man who could imitate the way the Duke of
Gloucester limped at a levee when suffering from the gout, and
who was able to introduce a story by saying, "As Lady Rochford
once said to me at one of her routs--" was almost like
meeting those distinguished beings themselves. Janice not
merely failed to note that the man paid no heed whatever to the
land they strolled over, but herself ceased to give time or
direction the slightest thought.

"Oh!" she broke out finally, in her delight, "won't Tibbie
be sorry when she knows what she's missed? And, forsooth, a
proper pay out for her wrong-doing it is!"

"What mean ye by that?" questioned Evatt.

"She deserves to have it known, but though she called me
tattle-tale, I'm no such thing," replied Janice, who in truth
was still hot with indignation at Miss Drinker, and wellnigh
bursting to confide her grievance against her whilom friend
to this most delightful of men. "Doubtless, you observed
that we are not on terms. That was why I came off without
her."