Ah! if they knew--if the royal hearts that leaned so kindly toward her even dreamed of what she had been--farewell to her sweet dream of court favor. If the innocent young princess who had professed so much liking for her only ever so faintly suspected one half of the horrible truth, farewell to all kindly words! Why, if the handsome earl, her father, dreamed of it, he would send her adrift at once! She shrugged her white shoulders and said to herself, over and over again, that she must keep her secret. When she was once married, her fortune assured--settled upon her beyond recall--then it would not matter so much. Besides, there were ways out of all difficulties. She held up her white, jeweled hands and looked steadfastly at them. "Smaller, weaker fingers than these have robbed a man of his life," she said to herself. "If the worst comes, I have an example in history that I should know how to follow." And indeed it would have fared badly with any one who stood in the path of Lady Doris Studleigh. There was a great dinner that evening at Hyde House. A Russian grand duke, a German prince, and just the very _elite_ of London were among those present. The Countess of Linleigh was a perfect hostess; and in Lady Doris Studleigh's bright presence there was never any want of brilliancy or wit. It was Lord Charter who mentioned her lover's name. He turned to Lord Linleigh and asked him if he had seen Lord Charles Vivianne lately. Lady Doris was sitting near him, so that she distinctly heard the question and answer. "Lord Vivianne!" replied the earl. "I do not even know him." "I had forgotten," said his questioner, "how long you have been absent from England; of course you would not know him." "It seems to me," said the earl, laughing, "that a whole generation of young men have come into fashion since I left the country. I do not recollect having ever seen Lord Vivianne. Why do you ask me?" "I heard him say how anxious he was to be introduced to you," replied Lord Charter. "I shall be very happy," replied the earl, indifferently. She had listened at the very first sound of that name which she had grown to hate so cordially; all her attention had been fully aroused. "Now for the Studleigh courage," she said to herself, and she listened. The color did not fade from her beautiful face; her lips never lost their smile, nor her eyes their light. When Lord Charter had finished his conversation with the earl, she turned to him in the most winning manner. "Vivianne, did you say? What a pretty name! Is it English?" "Yes," he replied. "Most ladies admire the name and the bearer of it." "Is he a great hero?" she asked, her eyes bright with interest and innocence as she raised them to his face. "Is he a great statesman?" "No," was the reply; "I am sorry to say he is a great flirt." "A flirt!" she repeated, in a voice full of disappointment. "I thought you meant that he was some one to be admired."