"Very well. I shall see, and I only hope I shall be wrong. Seriously, Beauchamp, it would be in every way the silliest things of the kind you could do. Neither you nor I can afford to make any mistake of that sort, and you much less than I, for you would be the last, man to make the best of such a mistake once committed. I know all about Miss Laurence. I like her, and she interests me, and it is not only on practical grounds I warn you, though you know I value those sufficiently." "You certainly do," he remarked, satirically. "Well? I am not ashamed of doing so," she answered calmly. "But suppose you are `proof,' as you think, Beauchamp, that doesn't say that child is, does it? And I am getting to feel differently about that sort of thing. I suppose it is a sign of advancing years." "It certainly is a sign of something very extraordinary," he replied, "to find you, of all people, pitying the weakness of your sex. Something must be going to happen to you, I am afraid." Through the light bantering tone in which he spoke, Roma detected a certain ill-concealed triumph and satisfaction; the very things she least wished to see. "I have made a mistake," she said to herself, "and done more harm than good." But aloud, she only remarked quietly--"You are determined to misunderstand me, Beauchamp, but I can't help it." She rose, as if to end the conversation, but before she had time to move away, Mrs Dalrymple and Eugenia, followed by an elderly gentleman, came up to where she was standing. Eugenia was the first to speak. "I am going, Miss Eyrecourt," she said simply. "Papa," with a pretty, affectionate glance at the tall, thin, grey-haired man beside her, "papa has come for me. I wanted to say good-night to you, because I fear I shall not see you again." The words were addressed to Roma, but the "papa" and the glance which seemed to say, "my father is not a person to be ashamed of, you see," were evidently intended for the benefit of some one else--some one else, who came forward with marked, rather over-done empressment, hardly waiting for Roma's cordial "yes, I am sorry to say it must be good-bye as well as good-night," to be spoken, before he exclaimed regretfully, "Going so early, Miss Laurence? I was quite counting on another dance." "It will have to be another evening, I am afraid," said Mrs Dalrymple; "all our friends seem to be bent on deserting us early to-night. But I must not scold you, Mr Laurence; it is very good of you to have come for Eugenia yourself. You must be so tired. I can't thank you enough for letting Eugenia join us, and the next time it must be little Sydney too. Oh, by-the-bye, I must introduce you gentlemen--Captain Chancellor, Mr Laurence, let me introduce you to each other."