"So I hear," said Dick. "But you seem to have taken the cake to-night, old man. They told me that you created a perfect furore, whatever that is. Anyway, Mrs. Hawksley and the rest came down with the most exciting account of your triumph. Seriously, Falconer, I congratulate you. I won't say that I prophesied your success long ago, because that's a cheap kind of thing to say; but I always did believe you'd hit the bull's-eye the first time you got a chance; and you've done it." "I think they were pleased," said Falconer. "His lordship and the rest of the swells ought to be very much obliged," remarked Dick. "You've given eclat to his dance. Observe the French again? There is no extra charge." "His lordship was extremely kind," said Falconer, "and his thanks more than repaid me for my poor efforts. I don't wonder at his popularity. I've always heard that the higher the rank the simpler the manners; and Lord Angleford is an instance of it. My acquaintance with the nobility is extremely limited----" "Ditto here," said Dick. "Though the young lady on your arm has lived in marble halls, and hobnobbed with belted earls and lords of high degree. But I'm glad to hear that this one is affable." Falconer laughed. "Affable is the wrong word; it means condescension, doesn't it? And Lord Angleford was anything but condescending. He might have known me for years, if one judged by the tone of his voice and manner; and, as I said, I'm more than repaid." "Well, I'm glad to hear he made a favorable impression on you," Dick said. "I haven't had the pleasure of making his acquaintance yet; but I shall probably see him before I go. But your success doesn't end here, Falconer. I'm told that you are going to play at Cleavemere Court. By George! if you knock them there as you did here--which, of course, you will do--your fortune's made. The duchess has no end of influence, and you'll be paragraphed in the papers, and get engagements at the houses of other swells, and before we know where we are, we shall see 'Senor Falconer's Recitals at St. James' Hall,' advertised on the front page of the _Times_. And serve you right, old man, for if ever a man deserved good luck, it is you. Eh, Nell?" "Yes, yes," said Nell. "And did you see his lordship, our all-puissant earl, my child?" "Yes," she said, beginning to tremble--but, indeed, she had been trembling all through the conversation. How should she be able to get away from the house--the place which belonged to Drake? "Yes, I saw him. Dick, did a man--a man with a slight figure something like yours--pass you just before we came up?" "No," he said. "Are you sure? He must have passed by you." "A figure like mine, did you say? Yes; I'm quite sure he didn't. I have too keen an eye for grace of form to let such a figure pass unnoticed." "It may have been a servant or one of the guests," Falconer said. "Oh, draw it mild!" remonstrated Dick. "Do I look like a flunkey or a groom? What is it you think you have seen?"