"No, you must take me back to Mamma." "What, was I only taken aside to be lectured?" "Oh, no," she hastened to assure him, naïvely--it was her first season--"but we have been chatting already fifteen minutes, and that's long enough." "Oh, dear!" he said regretfully, "I thought I'd left Mrs. Grundy at the tea-table." "You are so careless yourself that you forget that others have to be careful. Here comes Lieutenant Kingsland to my rescue. You would not believe it, Lieutenant," she continued, as that officer approached them, "this gentleman considers himself abused because I will not talk to him all the afternoon." "I quite agree with him," said Kingsland, "not that I have ever had that felicity; it's one of my most cherished ambitions." "You're as bad as he is; take me to Mamma, at once." "I'll take you to have some tea. Won't that do as well?" and they moved away. Ten minutes later the Secretary met the Dowager Marchioness of Port Arthur, who bore down on him at once. "Mr. Stanley, have you seen my daughter?" she demanded. "I'm waiting to go home, and I can't find her anywhere." "The last I saw of her she was with Lieutenant Kingsland." "Oh, you _have_ seen her this afternoon, then." This last remark seemed tempered with a little disapproval. "I had the pleasure of fifteen minutes' chat with her," continued the Secretary imperturbably. The Marchioness raised her eyebrows. "At least she said it was fifteen minutes"--he hastened to explain--"it didn't seem as long to me; then Lieutenant Kingsland arrived." "I knew his mother," she said, "he comes of one of the best families in the land." Most young men would have been crushed by the evident implication, but Stanley rose buoyantly to the occasion. "He proposed----" he began. The Marchioness started. "To get her a cup of tea," continued the Secretary, placidly finishing his sentence. "You may escort me to the tea-table," she replied, frigidly, and added: "We leave town to-morrow." "Yes, I know," said her companion, as they edged their way through the crowd. "I'm invited myself." "I should think you would find it difficult to attend to the duties of your office, if you make a practice of accepting so many invitations." "Oh, I haven't accepted," he returned cheerfully. The Marchioness was manifestly relieved. They had by this time reached the tea-table. Lady Isabelle was nowhere in sight. "I do not see my daughter," said her mother severely. "You told me she was here." "Pardon me, I told you that Lieutenant Kingsland offered to get her a cup of tea." "Well." "But they went in the opposite direction." "I won't detain you any longer, Mr. Stanley." The Dowager's tone was frigid. "If my daughter is in Lieutenant Kingsland's charge, I feel quite safe about her. She could not be in better hands." The Secretary bowed and went on his way rejoicing, and his way, in this instance, led him to his lodgings.