"Did it? I do not like him because he teases me so with compliments. I dislike many people; he is no great exception." Earle laughed. "It is very unfortunate to admire you, Doris, if admiration brings dislike." They rode home again, while Colonel Clifford turned with a smile to his companion. "That looks like a settled case," he said. "What do you mean by a settled case?" was the irritable reply. "I defy any man to understand his own language in these degenerate days." "A settled case means that, to all appearances the queen of the season, the _feted_, flattered Lady Doris Studleigh is in love with our young poet, the latest London celebrity." "A young poet?--who is he?" for suddenly there flashed into his mind the words Doris Brace had so poetically used to him: "My lover is a gentleman and a poet." At the time he had thought it idle bombast, intended only to heighten her value in his eyes--yet it might have been true. He looked up with unusual interest. "Who is he, Clifford?" he repeated. "I can hardly tell you, except that he is Earle Moray, a great _protege_ and favorite of the Duke of Downsbury, of Lord Linleigh, and of the public in general, for he is a charming writer. He is also member for Anderley--he took his seat last week." "Earle Moray! I am sure I know the name." "Most English readers do," said Colonel Clifford. A sudden flash of light seemed to illuminate his mind. "Earle! Earle! Why that is the name Doris used to murmur in her sleep. She used to dream that Earle was coming--I remember it well. Great Heaven, _it is she_!" "What is the matter?" asked Colonel Clifford; "you look as though you had seen a ghost." "So I have, the ghost of my---- Oh, what nonsense I am talking. So that is the young poet; he is a very handsome man. Lady Studleigh is something like the earl. Is it known who her mother was?" "No. People say that the earl contracted a low marriage before he went abroad, one that he was ashamed to own, therein consists the romance." "What romance?" asked Lord Vivianne, hurriedly. "About Lady Doris. The earl, when he was simply Captain Studleigh, married beneath him, went abroad, leaving his daughter to be brought up by some humble friends of his wife. The romance consists, I suppose, in the sudden change in the young lady's fortune, from comparative obscurity to splendor. It might have been an unfortunate thing for the earl, but that the girl turned out to be beautiful, graceful, intelligent, and well bred." "I have it, by heavens!" cried Lord Vivianne, in a loud voice. "You have _what_?" "A--a fly that has been buzzing round me and teasing me half the morning," he replied, confusedly. "Ah!" said the colonel. "My opinion of you, Lord Vivianne, is not a very complimentary one. I fancy, unless you take better care of your wits, they will leave you. I never saw any one grow so peculiar in all my life. I saw no flies about."