Mrs. Pelham Odin hurried behind the scenes as soon as Mavis' dance was at an end, and hurried the girl away the moment she completed her change of dress. As this was the old actress' usual way of behaving with Charity her action caused no comment. Beyond the fact that several people behind the scenes remarked that Miss Bird had been in unusually good form on this particular night no one troubled about the matter. And indeed why should they, seeing how they had beheld the ballet for more than a hundred nights, and also the dance of Charity Bird? Gerald was delighted, and there was a very merry little supper at Mrs. Pelham Odin's flat that night. Mavis again and again asked her lover if she had done well, and if he was pleased with her. Gerald could only reply with kisses, until Mrs. Pelham Odin merrily declared that she could not remain in the room if they were so affectionate. "And then, child," she added, "we must turn this young man out, for to-morrow I have to be at Mr. Macandrew's wedding." "Cannot I come?" asked Mavis eagerly. "Bless me, child, no! Your presence would bring about the very complication we are desirous of avoiding. Things are going right so far, so do not put them wrong." So the next day Mavis remained in the flat, quite accepted by the servants of the house as Miss Charity Bird, while the real lady who bore that name went with Macandrew and Gerald and Mrs. Pelham Odin to a quiet country church in Essex, where Tod had elected to get married. Gerald was the best man, and Mrs. Pelham Odin gave the bride away in her best theatrical style. None of Tod's relatives were present, for obvious reasons, but as he led his bride down the aisle after the ceremony he grinned to think of Lady Euphemia's wrath did she know what had taken place. "I hope that I have done right," sighed Mrs. Pelham Odin, when looking after the train that bore Tod and his bride away. "I think I have." CHAPTER XIX. SIGNOR VENOSTA. Gerald did nothing until the conclusion of the presumed Charity Bird's engagement at the Belver Theatre. There was no need to do so for the moment, as the scheme to hide her had proved entirely successful, and no one guessed where to look for the much-wanted Mavis. Mrs. Pelham Odin took her to the theatre, waited for her there, and escorted her back again, so that Mavis spoke very little to the people behind the scenes. Gerald often came to supper, and spent much of his time at the Bloomsbury flat. He was supposed to be writing a new book, but in reality he indulged himself with a holiday, to make love to the girl he had so strangely rescued.