It was, no doubt, solely in pursuance of this purpose that, a few days later, he added his initials, with a wry face of resignation, to a subscription list, proposing that the bachelors of the station should give a ball on the third of June. He had not seen the inside of a ballroom for years: but since the season seemed marked for strange experiences, this one might as well be included with the rest. And in the meantime, this inconsistent misogynist slept little, smoked inordinately, and spent the greater part of his leisure at Terah Cottage. Perhaps this also was part of the cure! Desmond noted the fact, not without an occasional spark of annoyance. For all his magnanimity, the man was masculine to the core; hot-blooded, and still very much a lover at heart. But pride and a boundless trust in the woman he had won had withheld him as yet from serious comment. Lenox dined with them on the night of the dance; and came armed with programmes, at Honor's request. "Are you going to give me my share before we start?" he asked, as they shook hands. "If I do, will you try to dance?" He laughed abruptly. "Not I. It would be a sight to make angels weep! I shall take you right away from the whole thing, and talk to you--that's all. Is that good enough?" "Quite good enough!" He scanned an open programme with perplexed interest, as though it were an Egyptian hieroglyph. "How long do each of these things last?" he asked, with evident amusement. "About twelve minutes, with the pause." "What's the good of twelve minutes? Can't I have them in batches, three at a time. Or would that be going quite out of bounds?" Honor laughed. . . . "I'm afraid so! Though it would be far nicer. But I will give you one 'batch,' and two isolated ones; and that's a generous allowance, I assure you." "Thanks.--I suppose Desmond takes you in to supper?" "Yes. It's a standing engagement! Why don't you ask Miss Maurice?" There was a moment of silence. "We are not intimate enough for that," he answered, with a bad imitation of unconcern; and Honor wondered, as she had done before now, wherein lay the key to a curiosity-provoking situation. But just then Desmond joined them; and no more was said. The moment they entered the ballroom Lenox was aware of his wife,--the focal point in a circle of men, distributing her favours with a smiling impartiality that was, in itself, a delicate form of coquetry, while Garth stood sentinel beside her, with an unmistakable suggestion of 'No Thoroughfare,' which he could assume to a nicety; and which Lenox noted with a curse at the restrictions imposed upon civilised man.