He was a quiet man who kept an orderly house, and if people could not manage to be in before midnight he did not care for their custom. After grumbling a bit, Dick remembered that the pubs closed at eleven, and as he did not know anyone in the town there would be no temptation to stay out. Williams, who had been attentively examining Kate, said that he was going down to the theatre, and asked if he should have the luggage sent up. This was an inconvenient question, and as an explanation was impossible before the hotel-keeper, Dick was obliged to wish Kate good-bye for the present, and accompany Williams down to the theatre. She took off her bonnet mechanically, threw it on the table, and, sitting down in an armchair by the window, let her thoughts drift to those at home. Whatever doubt there might have been at first, they now knew that she had left them--and for ever. The last three words cost her a sigh, but she was forced to admit them. There could be no uncertainty now in Ralph's and his mother's mind that she had gone off with Mr. Lennox. Yes, she had eloped; there could be no question about the fact. She had done what she had so often read of in novels, but somehow it did not seem at all the same thing. This was a startling discovery to make, but of the secret of her disappointment she was nearly unconscious; and rousing herself from the torpor into which she had fallen, she hoped Dick would not stop long away. It was so tiresome waiting. But soon Miss Leslie came running upstairs. 'Dinner has been ordered for five o'clock, and we've made up a party of four--you, Dick, myself, and Frank.' 'And what time is it now?' 'About four. Don't you think you'll be able to hold out till then?' 'Oh, dear me, yes; I'm not very hungry.' 'And I'll lend you anything you want for to-night.' 'Thanks, it's very kind of you.' Kate fell to wondering if her kindness had anything to do with Dick, and with the view to discovering their secret, if they had one, she watched them during dinner, and was glad to see that Mr. Frank Bret occupied the prima donna's entire attention. Soon after dinner the party dispersed. 'You'll not be able to buy anything to-night,' Dick said, and Kate answered: 'Leslie said she'd lend me a nightgown.'