keeps house for him; but he does not entertain much, I am told, except
during the autumn in Scotland. You need have no hesitation in accepting
this invitation, Miss Byrne. I am a married man, and the father of a
family, and I should only be too delighted if one of my daughters had
such an opportunity."

"Well," said Juliet, "I think I will risk it, and go. I am old enough to
take care of myself, in any case." This she said haughtily, with her nose
in the air. And then, with a sudden drop to her usual manner, she
exclaimed in a tone of gaiety, "What fun it will be!"

"I am sure you will not regret your decision," repeated Mr. Findlay, as
she got up to go. "You won't forget to let Lord Ashiel know, will you?"

"No, I will telephone to him at once. But I will telegraph home too,
of course."

Excitement over this new plan had almost dispelled the earlier
disappointment, and if Juliet's spirits, as she drove back to Jermyn
Street, were not quite as overflowingly high as when she had started
out, they were good enough to make her smile to herself and to every one
she met during the rest of the day, and to hum gay little tunes when no
one was near, and altogether to feel very happy and pleased and
possessed by the conviction that something delightful was about to
happen. She sent off her telegram to Sir Arthur, spending some time over
it, and spoiling a dozen telegraph forms, before she could find
satisfactory words in which to convey her plans with an appearance of
deference to authority. Then she called up the Carlton Hotel on the
telephone, and was much put out when she heard that Lord Ashiel was not
staying there, or even expected.