“Oh, well, if you really are repentant, you may have the next instead,” said the lady, releasing her cavalier with a nod. “It’s going to begin, so come along--I hate to miss even a bar.” “But--Lady Joseline”; and he looked at Joseline, resolved that he would not desert her. “Oh, _she_ will be all right! Here comes Colonel Wildairs, only too pleased to take her off your hands”; and before Major Doran could remonstrate, the tall, masterful lady had carried him away. “I am delighted to step into his shoes, Lady Joe,” declared the gallant officer, who was keenly alive to the fact that he was escorting the beauty of the evening--a beauty, too, who had no honour in her own home. “I see you know Doran,” he added, as they made their way into the ball-room. “Yes.” “He is a good sort. I knew him in Natal; he did very well in the mounted infantry--a nailing rider.” “Oh, he rides well,” she assented, as she watched him dancing with his captor. “And is able to keep fine horses; he is rich.” “Oh, no, indeed.” “Sorry to contradict, but he is a wealthy man; an uncle in America left him tons of dollars. I’m surprised he stays in the service; but money is useful everywhere. It was rather amusing the way Miss Gussie carried him off; perhaps she will manage it for good and all!” Joseline was enjoying the scene; the fact was written in her speaking eyes, and brilliant colour, also she was aware that many glances followed her; she knew that she was discussed and admired. The knowledge that she was a success restored her shattered self-confidence; her spirits rose to their former pitch, and her heart throbbed with alternations of hope and fear. Mr. Ulick!--_Ulick!_ Oh, she could hardly believe that she had seen him and spoken to him! Old recollections came surging through mind and memory, and beating in her brain; everything connected with that poignant, uncertain, happy, and agonised time was coming back. Joseline realised that she was unchanged. Was he? As she stood beside a pillar, surrounded by a little court, which now included Colonel Wildairs and Sir Harry, distributing smiles and “Ah, sures,” and “I don’t rightly knows” among her circle, all the time she was in a state of seething impatience; a voice was muttering, “Will he come back? Shall I see him again to-night? Yes”--he had effected his escape, and joined the group. Her face kindled and looked radiant as their eyes met, and he said-- “Lady Joseline, I have come to carry you off to supper.” Was it but an excuse to release her? No; they proceeded towards the supper-room in real earnest, (followed by the attentive observation of the crowd,) where he secured a little table and the services of a brisk waiter. “I’m not a bit hungry,” she protested, refusing several proffered delicacies. “But I am,” he said, “and I hope you will keep me in countenance. Let me help you to some of this salmi. My cousin, Freddy Barre, and I motored over here, thirty miles, after dinner.” “That was a long way.”