There was an inebriating danger in this address, which Lady Glenmore was too young and too pure to see; and she listened complacently and unsuspectingly to the perilous flattery, forgetting how the moments flew, and unconscious of the impropriety of her remaining so long absent from the general circle, and in a place so remote from observation. Nor was she aware of the appearance which might attach to her, till a whisper fell on her ear, and, startling, made her arise hastily from her seat. It proceeded from Lord Gascoigne and Lord Baskerville, who stood behind some orange-trees. "Basky," said the latter, arresting his companion by the arm, "we are _de trop_ here," directing his attention to the spot where Lady Glenmore and Mr. Leslie Winyard were. "Upon my word," replied Lord Baskerville, "this is worth all the _fête_ put together." "Hush!" said the latter distinctly; "let us be off: it is not fair." Lady Glenmore looked round, but saw no one: it aroused her, however, to a recollection of the length of time that she had been sitting there, and moving forward on the instant, she said, "We must return to the ball-room." Mr. Leslie Winyard would willingly have detained her, but he felt that it was injudicious to press her to remain when she seemed to have taken alarm; and having himself heard the voices, which he believed to have occasioned Lady Glenmore's sudden departure, he was conscious that some curious intruders had witnessed the fact of his _tête-à-tête_; and he consoled himself for its interruption with the idea that its fame would soon be spread abroad, and in colours far more glowing than the reality. When Lady Glenmore returned to the ball-room, she saw her husband in the midst of Lady Tenderden's _coterie_, enjoying that easy flow of spirits, which, tempered with elegance and refinement of fancy, marked peculiarly the charm of his society. As she approached, he arose and took her hand, and with an expression of pleasure drew her arm through his, as though he had found all that he wanted to complete his enjoyment of the pleasure of the scene. Lady Glenmore, too, seemed delighted; while some of those who witnessed this meeting exchanged significant looks, and whispered remarks upon the cunning duplicity of the one, and the consummate _bonhommie_ of the duped. "It is the best thing," said Lord Baskerville, "that I have seen this many a day:" and by Lord Tonnerre, Lord Boileau, and the rest of that knot of persons, Lady Glenmore was pronounced to be the cleverest woman in the world, her husband the greatest fool, and Leslie Winyard the most fortunate of men.