CHAPTER XXI. SIR NUGENT EVERSHED. If Cecil had sighed for a life which should be a complete change from the dull round of existence in Brunswick Square, she could not have found any where a more perfect realisation of her desire than was to be found at Pevenshall Place. Here, from the ten-o'clock breakfast to the abnormally late hour at which the last lingerers in the big drawing-room took their reluctant departure, the order of the day was gaiety. Florence devoted herself to one incessant round of amusement, and her visitors seemed nothing loth to follow her example. Amidst the pleasant frivolities of Pevenshall, it was almost difficult to remember that there was any portion of this universe in which "men must work and women must weep," and that reasonable beings were created for any graver purpose than the playing of billiards, the acting of charades, and the composition of _bouts rimés_. Cecil would fain have seen a little more of her old friend, and in some manner renewed the confidential intimacy that had existed between them before Flo's marriage, but Mrs. Lobyer gave her visitor no opportunity for confidential conversation. She was very affectionate; she was full of anxiety for her friend's comfort and enjoyment, but she avoided all chances of a _tête-à-tête_, and seemed to have a nervous terror of being questioned about herself. Perceiving this, Cecil began to fear that Florence Lobyer's life was not entirely happy, in spite of its incessant gaiety. "You had a pleasant tour, I hope, Flory," she said one day when they were alone for a few minutes. "Oh yes, we tore about Europe as fast as express-trains and post-horses could take us, and we spent a few weeks in Paris on our way home. Paris is a nice place for shopping. I believe I wasted a small fortune on the boulevards and in the Rue de la Paix; for Mr. Lobyer made quite a wry face when he saw my bills. We drove in the Bois a great deal, and went to a few nice parties, and ate a good many expensive dinners, and went several times to the opera; where Mr. Lobyer slept very comfortably, and where I amused myself by looking at the diamonds, and mentally comparing them with my own. I only saw two people whose jewelry was worth mentioning, and they were a Russian princess and a French actress. Yes, on the whole, I think we had a very pleasant tour. And now tell me about Mr. O'Boyneville. Are you happy with him?" "Yes, dear, I have every reason to be happy, for he is very kind to me." "And you really like him?" "I really like him very much indeed." This was the nearest approach to a confidential conversation that occurred between Florence and her friend during the first week of Cecil's visit.