"Never, my dear. I assure you the 'best man' he brought down with him was by far the more curious of the two. But then, you must remember, Sir Penthony had seen my picture." Here Cecil goes off into a hearty burst of laughter. "If you had seen that maid once, my dear, you would not have been ambitious of a second view." "Still I never heard of anything so cold, so unnatural," says Miss Massereene, in high disgust. "I declare I would have broken off with him then and there, had it been me." "Not if you lived with my cousin Amelia, feeling yourself a dependent on her bounty. She was a startling instance of how a woman _can_ worry and torment. The very thought of her makes my heart sore in my body and chills my blood to this day. I rejoice to say she is no more." "Well, you got married?" "Yes, in Amelia's drawing-room. I had a little gold band put on my third finger, I had a cold shake-hands from my husband, a sympathetic one from his groomsman, and then found myself once more alone, with a title and plenty of money, and--that's all." "What was his friend's name?" "Talbot Lowry. He lives about three miles from here, and"--with an airy laugh--"is rather too fond of me." "What a strange story!" says Molly, regarding her wistfully. "Do you never wish you had married some one you loved?" "I never do," gayly. "Don't look to me for sentiment, Molly, because I am utterly devoid of it. I know I suffer in your estimation by this confession, but it is the simple truth. I don't wish for anything. And yet"--pausing suddenly--"I do. I have been wishing for something ever since that old person down-stairs tried to take me back this morning, and failed so egregiously." "And your wish is----" "That I could make my husband fall madly in love with me. Oh, Molly, what a revenge that would be! And why should he not, indeed?" Going over to a glass and gazing earnestly at herself. "I am pretty,--very pretty, I think. Speak, Molly, and encourage me." "You know you are lovely," says Molly, in such good faith that Cecil kisses her on the spot. "But what if you should fall in love with him?" "Perhaps I have done so long ago," her ladyship replies, in a tone impossible to translate, being still intent on the contemplation of her many charms. Then, quickly, "No, no, Molly, I am fire-proof." "Yet any day you may meet some one to whom you must give your love." "Not a bit of it. I should despise myself forever if I once found myself letting my pulse beat half a second faster for one man than for another." "Do you mean to tell me you have never loved?" "Never, never, never. And, indeed, to give myself due credit, I believe the fact that I have a husband somewhere would utterly prevent anything of the sort." "That is a good thing, if the idea lasts. But won't you feel awkward in meeting him this evening?"