He drew a chair near her and bent toward her, lowering his voice and speaking in an impressive tone quite unusual with him. To the casual observer it might well have seemed that they were carrying on a desperate flirtation; but every now and then he paused absently, and presently he rose almost abruptly and went into an anteroom. An antique table with writing materials stood in a recess. He wrote something rapidly on a half sheet of note paper, and placing it inside a book, laid the volume on the pedestal of a Sevres vase standing near the table. When he left Nell, Lady Wolfer crossed over to her. "Sir Archie has been amusing you, dear?" she said, casually enough; but the smile which accompanied the remark did not harmonize with the unsmiling and anxious eyes. "Oh, yes," said Nell, laughing. "He has been talking the most utter nonsense." "He--he is very strange to-night," said Lady Wolfer, biting her lip softly. Not to innocent Nell could she even hint that Sir Archie had taken more wine than was good for him. "He has been talking utter nonsense to me. Did you notice the flower in his coat?" "No," said Nell, with some surprise. "Why?" Lady Wolfer laughed unnaturally. "Nothing. Yes! Nell, I want you to get that flower from him. It--is a bet." "I--get it from him?" said Nell, opening her gray eyes. Lady Wolfer flushed for a moment. "It is only a piece of folly," she said. "But--but I want you to get it. Ask him for it--he cannot refuse. Oh, I can't explain! I will, perhaps; but get it!" She moved away as Sir Archie reappeared in the doorway. He came straight up to Nell. "I think I'll be off," he said. "Some of the others have gone already." He went toward Lady Wolfer as if to say "Good night," but, with the skill which every woman can display on occasion, Lady Wolfer turned from him as if she did not see him, and joined in the conversation which was being carried on by the duchess and Lady Angleford. "I've come to say good night, Lady Wolfer," he said. She met his gaze for a moment. "Good night," she said, in the conventional tone. He bowed over her hand, looked at her with an intense and questioning gaze for an instant, then left her and came back to Nell. "Oh, I've forgotten!" he exclaimed, half turning as if to rejoin the group he had left; then he hesitated, and added: "Will you be so kind as to give Lady Wolfer a message for me?" "Yes, certainly," said Nell, rather absently; for she was wondering how she could ask for the flower, on which her eyes were unconsciously fixed. "Thanks! You are always so kind. Will you tell her, please, that the book she wants is on the Sevres pedestal, just behind the vase. She will want it to-night." Nell nodded. "I won't forget," she said. "Are you going to take that poor flower into the cold, Sir Archie?" She blushed as she asked the question; but he was too absorbed in the fatal game of passion to notice her embarrassment.