Tony said nothing. He could think of no excuse, but remembering what Violet had mentioned he shrank from the encounter. The good‐natured committee‐man’s meaning had been perfectly plain to him, and he knew that he could save the girl the unpleasantness of being met with chilly aloofness or undue familiarity. His disposition was also a kindly one, and the decision that she must be left to fight her own battles caused him a little flush of confusion. As it happened, she saw it, and a portentous sparkle showed in her dark eyes. Tony noticed this, and remembered that weak complaisance had once placed him under the thumb of keeper Davidson. He did not mean to repeat the blunder, and his fears made him slightly venomous. “I think you have met Mr. Anthony Palliser already, Miss Clavier,” said his companion. Tony knew that every eye in the room was upon him, and that his words would not be lost, but he felt he could not afford to be gracious, and while he hesitated the girl rose up and made him a little curtsey with quiet ironical insolence. “I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Palliser—once or twice,” she said in a voice that was intended to reach the rest. Tony stood still a moment fingering his watch chain, and looking down at her with something his masculine companion had never seen there before in his face. It almost suggested vindictive cruelty, but he murmured a conventional word or two that was scarcely audible, and passed on with the slightest of inclinations. There was also a little silence when he went out, and the color faded a trifle in Miss Clavier’s face, leaving her cheeks alone red, while a gleam that implied a good deal crept into her eyes. Tony, however, sang brilliantly when his turn came a few minutes later. He had at last made a decided stand, and felt a trifle exhilarated by the novelty of it. Still, he was without stability, and it was much against his wishes that, wandering about between the songs after spending some time with Nettie Harding, he met Miss Clavier again. He had just seated himself upon the sloping bank of turf not far from the stage when he became aware that a seat above him was occupied, and glancing round at a sound saw the girl looking down on him. Then he would have turned away, but she stopped him with a little derisive laugh. “Get up, Tony, and come and sit beside me,” she said. Tony rose, but noticing that one or two colored lights which hung from the branches of a copper beech above them rendered the seat visible stood still. “To be frank, I would sooner be excused,” he said. “After the little exhibition in the green‐room it’s a trifle difficult to understand why you want me.” “You deserved it! A word or two wouldn’t have cost you anything, and I wanted you to keep those boys away.” “One would have fancied that you were quite capable of fighting your own battles.”