"A sweet creature!" whispered his lordship behind their backs, indicating Lady Fitz Rewes. He sighed as he spoke. He could never feel that there was not something deplorable in Sara's physical brilliancy. Her upper-lip that day had a certain curl which he had learnt to regard as a danger-signal. What would she do next? As he sat down at the table and observed the sweep of her eyelashes toward Reckage, a presentiment of trouble clouded the new hopes he had formed for her career. "Who are your strong men now?" asked Harding suddenly, after a moment's contemplation of Reckage, who sat opposite. "Our strong men?" faltered Lord Garrow. "Aren't most of 'em place-hunters and self-seekers?" "You must meet Robert Orange," said Pensée; "Mr. Disraeli believes in Robert Orange." "I never heard of him," observed Sir Piers. "Who is he?" "You may well ask," said Lord Garrow. "He claims to be a de Hausée--on his father's side. Reckage can tell you about him. Many have a high opinion of the fellow, and say that if he will stick to one branch of politics, he may become useful. Personally, I don't call him a man of the world." "Not of our world, perhaps, papa. But there are so many other worlds!" "Sara likes him. A lot of women like him," said his lordship. He was annoyed at her interruption and took his revenge by a feminine thrust. "The hero," said he, "married some mysterious person this very morning. We may not hear so much about him in the future!" "Dear Lord Garrow," said Pensée, "his wife is a friend of mine--she is the most charming person." Sara put out her hand and touched Reckage on the arm. "Do you think," she asked, "that the wife will be an obstacle in his way?" "Who can tell? Of course she has means, and he likes to do everything well." "Speaking for myself," said Harding, "I have always held that a man's career rests rather on his genius than his marriage." "But you, my dear fellow," put in Lord Garrow, testily, "you retired from political life because your theories could find no illustration there." "Pardon me," said Sir Piers, with a grim laugh. "I retired because I had a faultless wife but unfortunately no genius. I shall therefore watch your friend's triumph or failure--for his position would seem to be precisely the reverse of my own--with peculiar sympathy." "Ah! I fear you are rather heartless," exclaimed Sara. "For a man to have gone so far as Orange, and to know that perhaps--I say, perhaps--he can hope no higher because he made a fool of himself about a woman!" "You speak as though it were a romantic marriage--a question of love." "Of course," said the young lady softly. "It is a great passion."