"The very breath of Iago, filling my ears and firing my heart with the architectural details of her coveted 'castle in Spain.' Glenbeigh is her cousin. The ladder of his preferment is set up before my eyes, and his Excellency springs up the rounds, from Governor to Senatorship, thence to a place in the Cabinet, certainly to an important foreign embassy; where, in the eternal fitness of things, somebody, somebody with tender brown eyes like a thrush's, and the voice of a siren, and the red lips of Hebe--will be invited to reign as l'ambassadrice! If I am not as mad with jealous despair as Othello, attribute my escape either to a sublime faith in your adorable constancy and incorruptibility, or to my own colossal vanity, fatuous beyond absolution." He pressed her arm closer to his side, and covered with one hand the gloved fingers resting on his sleeve; then added: "You must permit me to congratulate you upon your beautiful toilette to-night. The harmony of the dress, and the grace of the wearer leave nothing to be desired. Although debarred the pleasure of dining with you, I had hoped to enter, at least, with the coffee, but the freight train upon which I returned, was delayed; and I had no choice but to await your arrival here." He indulged so rarely in verbal compliments, that she flushed with profound gratification at flip fervor of his tone. "I am glad you like my dress, to which your roses lend the loveliest garniture. I was not aware that X--could furnish at this season such superb La France buds. Where did you find them?" "They travelled several hundred miles, for the privilege of nestling against my Leo's heart." Spartan thieves are not the only heroic sufferers who smile and make no moan, clasping close the hidden fangs ravening on their vitals. "As you mentioned in your note that very important business had called you unexpectedly away, I hope your mission proved both pleasant and successful." A shadow drifted over his countenance, like that cast by some summer cloud long becalmed, which sets sail before a sudden gust. "Only a modicum of success to counterbalance the disagreeable features of a journey in a freight train caboose." "Why do you hazard that dangerous schedule, instead of waiting for the passenger express?" "Business exigencies narrow the limits of choice; moreover, had I waited for the express, I should have missed the coveted pleasure of this meeting with you. The rosy glamour of happy anticipation conquers even the discomfort of a freight caboose." Did she suspect that some sullen undercurrent of intense feeling drove these eddying foam bells of flattery into the stream of conversation; or was her reply merely a chance ricochet shot, more accurately effective than direct fire?