The young man had gone through the performance several times before, and he was in waiting ready to take the tips of the gloved fingers extended to him, and walking over the thick Turkey carpet with the lady to the other end of the room in a way that seemed to endow him with a court suit and a sword, and suggested the probability of the couple continuing their deportment walk to the polished oak boards beyond the carpet, and then after sundry bows and courtesies going through the steps of the _minuet de la cour_. As a matter of fact, Pradelle led the old girl, as he called her, to the seat she occupied at the end of the table, when she condescended to leave her room; the rest of the company took their seats, and the meal began. Harry had tried to ensconce himself beside Madelaine, but that young lady had made a sign to Duncan Leslie, who eagerly took the chair beside her, one which he coveted, for it was between her and Louise, now busy with the tea-tray; and in a sulky manner, Harry obeyed the motion of the elderly lady's fan. "That's right, Henri, _mon cher_," she said, smiling, "come and sit by me. I shall miss you so, my darling, when you are gone back to that horrible London, and that wretched business." "Don't, don't, don't, Margaret, my dear," said Mr Vine, good-humouredly. "You will make him unhappy at having to leave home." "I hope so, George," said the lady with dignity, and pronouncing his Christian name with the softness peculiar to the French tongue; "and," she added with a smile, "especially as we have company, will you oblige me--Marguerite, if you please?" "Certainly, certainly, my dear." "Is that Miss Van Heldre?" said the lady, raising her glass once more. "I beg your pardon, my child; I hope you are well." "Quite well, thank you, Miss Marguerite Vine," said Madelaine quietly, and her bright young face looked perfectly calm, though there was a touch of sarcasm in her tone. "Louise, dearest, my tea a little sweeter, please." The meal progressed, and the stiffness produced by the _entree_ of the host's sister--it was her own term for her appearance--soon wore off, the lady being very quiet as she discussed the viands placed before her with a very excellent appetite. Mrs Van Heldre prattled pleasantly on, with plenty of homely common-sense, to her host. Van Heldre threw in a word now and then, joked Louise and his daughter, and made a wrinkle on his broad forehead, which was his way of making a note. The note he made was that a suspicion which had previously entered his brain was correct. "He's taken with her," he said to himself, as he glanced at Louise and then at Duncan Leslie, who seemed to be living in a dream. As a rule he was an energetic, quick, and sensible man; on this occasion he was particularly silent, and when he spoke to either Madelaine or Louise, it was in a softened voice.