“Oh, I can’t scold you!” cried his wife. “But, oh, why _did_ you abandon me all day? ’Twas cruel unkind of you, and I dare swear if you’d been here ’twould never have happened; for you’d not see a fellow dicer go wanting for a ten-pound note, my Lord, if I know you! Oh, read that letter, Denis, and you’ll understand. And if it had not been for Lydia’s niece here, admirable girl! who took the pistol out of his very hand in the park, and gave him her employer’s money--oh, if it were not for this noble, clever young woman, where should I be now?” “You needn’t worry about the bill, aunt,” said Pamela, with the perfect composure that compelled that person’s disapproving admiration. “I gave your address to Mr. Bellairs, and, as he will certainly be punctual with repayment, her Ladyship will perhaps kindly allow me to remain until he calls with the money?” There was nothing my Lady Kilcroney would have refused Miss Pounce the younger at that moment, and the milliner’s assistant proceeded to add to her obligations. “If your Ladyship would trust me with the retrimming of Miss Mirabel’s hat meanwhile, I make bold to say I could alter it to your satisfaction----” CHAPTER IV SHOWING STORM WITHIN AND WITHOUT There are some who seem to be destined always to keep on top as the wheel of life revolves; no matter how others may suffer from the law of its relentless motion. My Lady Kilcroney (still in the minds of those who had first known her in her brilliant widowhood “Incomparable Bellairs!”) might be counted among the rare ones who are thus miraculously favoured. Beauty, wit, charm, wealth, rank and the irresistible dash of the born leader she had already possessed; now she had attained to Court favour: she was Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Charlotte! It is scarcely necessary to add that she had become a power in the world; should she choose to exercise her influence on behalf of anyone clever and virtuous enough to profit of it, that person’s fortune might be regarded as safe. So do great planets, following their allotted orbits, carry in their wake lesser stars that bask and shine in a reflected light! In the instance of Miss Pamela Pounce the luminary thus lifted into prominence, possessed a very considerable power of shining on her own account; and, once her position in the hemisphere assured, she required no borrowed brilliancy. In other words, my Lady Kilcroney’s recommendation obtained for Pamela Pounce a new start in life. Madame Mirabel, exceedingly dissatisfied with her head milliner, aware that Madame Eglantine of Paris was growing sleek on the very cream of her rightful British custom, and being moreover much struck with Pamela’s genteel appearance, her manner and her aptitude, was all readiness to oblige so distinguished a client as my Lady Kilcroney, and give the young woman a trial.