"It was hardly delightful at the time, I should imagine," she observed. "But what there is to see I shall be very glad to show you. Will any day suit you?" "Oh, yes, any day," Beatrice Cary assented, speaking almost for the first time. "I have nothing to do here from morning to night." "That will soon change," Lois said, walking by her side. "I am always busy, either playing tennis, or riding, or getting up some entertainment. The difficulty is to find time to rest." "You must be a very much sought-after person," Beatrice observed, in the tone of a person who is making a graceful compliment. The hint of irony, however, was unmistakable. "I am not more sought after than any one else," Lois returned, unruffled. "Every one has to help in the work of frivolity." "I shall be rather out of it, then," Beatrice said coolly. "I am not amusing." "It is quite sufficient to be willing, good-natured and good-humored," Lois answered. They had by this time reached the group under the trees, where Mrs. Carmichael and her companion had already arrived, under the escort of a tall, stoutly built man, who was talking and apparently explaining with great vigor. As Lois entered the circle, he glanced up and smiled at her, revealing a handsome, cheerful face, singularly fresh-colored in comparison with the deep tan of the other men. "That is Mr. Travers," Lois explained. "He is a bank director or something in Madras, and has been on a long business visit north. He is awfully clever and popular, and gets up everything." "Rich, I suppose?" Lois glanced up at her companion. The beautiful profile and the tone of the remark seemed incongruous. "I don't know," she said rather abruptly. "He has four polo ponies. Nobody else has more than two." "Do you calculate wealth by polo ponies, then?" Lois laughed. "Yes, we do pretty well," she said--"that is, when we bother about such things at all. Most people are poor, and if they aren't, they have to live beyond their income, so it comes to the same in the end." "Everybody looks cheerful enough," Beatrice Cary observed. "I always thought poverty and worry went together." "Who is that talking about poverty and worry?" asked a voice behind them. "Is it you, Miss Caruthers? If so, I shall arraign you as a disturber of the peace. Who wants to be bothered with the memory of his empty purse on such a lovely day?" Lois turned with a smile to the new-comer. "No, I am innocent, Captain Stafford," she said. "It was Miss Cary who brought up the terms you object to." "Well, won't you introduce me, then, so that I can express my displeasure direct to the culprit?" The ceremony of introduction was gone through, on Beatrice Cary's side with a sudden change of manner. Hitherto cold, indifferent, slightly supercilious, she now relaxed into a gentleness that was almost appealing.