"Oh, she won't do that. I told her not to breathe the words 'medical student.' It would be enough to keep him away. A man does not go out to afternoon tea with the prospect of being waylaid on the threshold of the drawing-room by an advanced woman who invites him to 'forget sex.'" But Mona was not listening. "It is so schoolgirl, so undignified! I would not stoop to ask a mere acquaintance not to repeat something I had said." But now it was Lucy's turn to fire up. "And suppose she does repeat it?" she said. "Is it a crime to say one wants to meet a good and clever man, who is years and years older than one's self? If it is a crime, I can only say your influence over me for the last three years has been less elevating than I supposed. You have a perfect right to be inconsistent, Mona; but if you expect me to be inconsistent at the same moment, and on precisely the same lines, you might give me a little warning!" CHAPTER LVI. A LOST CHANCE. "Dr Dudley, let me introduce you to Miss Maclean." Almost any hostess would have effected that introduction under the circumstances. Ralph and Mona were the two people in the crowded little drawing-room who made their presence felt; who, unconsciously to themselves, suggested grave reponsibilities on the part of their hostess; therefore by all means let them entertain each other. Mona bowed, as she would have done to a stranger, and Dudley seated himself by her side. Without a moment's hesitation he began to discuss a book that lay on the table, and never had Mona admired his gift of utterance more. It was not that he said anything peculiarly brilliant, but he talked so easily and fluently that even she could not tell whether his self-possession was real or assumed. She would have been in less doubt on the subject, perhaps, if she had trusted herself to meet his eye when he entered the drawing-room. As it was, she was determined not to be outdone, so for nearly half an hour the stream of conversation ran lightly on. At length several people rose to go, and, in the slight stir this involved, Ralph and Mona were left alone and unnoticed for a moment, in the oriel window. In an instant the conversation ceased and their eyes met. "Dr Dudley," Mona said impulsively, in a very low voice, "what have I done?" The same honest eyes as of old--the eyes that had smiled and deceived him. "Done?" he said coldly, with an accent of surprise. "Nothing whatsoever. I was under a stupid misapprehension as to the terms on which we stood; but I have long since seen my mistake. That is all." He was annoyed with her for opening the subject there and then,--forgetting that women cannot always choose their opportunities,--but even as he spoke, his lips quivered; a terrible struggle was concealed beneath the calmness of his manner. One word more from her might have dragged aside the flimsy veil; but she, too, had her pride.