Lady Hampton was wont to declare that the scene was one of the finest she had ever witnessed. Pauline looked at him with that straight, clear, calm gaze of hers, so terribly searching and direct. "Good-by," she said, gravely, and then, utterly ignoring the outstretched hands, she swept haughtily from the room. Lady Hampton did not attempt to conceal her delight at the captain's discomfiture. "Miss Darrell is very proud," he said, laughing to hide his confusion. "I must have been unfortunate enough to displease her." But Lady Hampton saw his confusion, and in her own mind she wondered what there was between these two--why he should appear at the same time to love and to hate her--above all, why she should treat him with such sovereign indifference and contempt. "It is not natural," she argued to herself; "young girls, as a rule, admire--nay, take an uncommon interest in soldiers. What reason can she have for such contemptuous indifference?" How little she dreamed of the storm of rage--of passion--of anger--of love--of fury, that warred in the captain's soul! He was ten thousand pounds richer, but it was as a drop in the ocean to him. If it had been ten thousand per annum he might have been grateful. Ten thousand pounds would discharge every debt he had in the world, and set him straight once more; he might even lead the life he had always meant to lead for two or three years, but then the money would be gone. On the other hand, if that girl--that proud, willful, defiant girl--would but have married him, Darrell Court, with all its rich dependencies, would have been his. The thought almost maddened him. How he loathed her as he rode away! But for her, all this grand inheritance would have been his. Instead of riding away, he would now be taking possession and be lord and master of all. These stables with the splendid stud of horses would be his--his the magnificent grounds and gardens--the thousand luxuries that made Darrell Court an earthly paradise. All these would have been his but for the obstinacy of one girl. Curses deep and burning rose to his lips; yet, for his punishment, he loved her with a love that mastered him in spite of his hate--that made him long to throw himself at her feet, while he could have slain her for the wrong he considered that she had done him. Lady Hampton could not refrain from a few remarks on what she had witnessed. "Has Captain Langton been so unfortunate as to offend you, Miss Darrell?" she asked of Pauline. "I thought your adieus were of the coldest." "Did you? I never could see the use of expressing regret that is not really felt." "Perhaps not; but it is strange that you should not feel some little regret at losing such a visitor." To this remark Pauline deigned nothing save an extra look of weariness, which was not lost upon Lady Hampton. * * * * *