"No. Is he really?--and Lady Errington?" "Oh, she's in the country. But Errington seemed as if he wanted waking up, so I brought him to town with me." "By the way, how is Lady Errington?" "Very much changed--and for the better. My prophecy concerning the incomplete Madonna has come to pass. She is a mother now, and adores her child." "Indeed! And is she going to adore her child for the rest of her life?" asked Otterburn, flippantly. Eustace shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose so. She certainly can't adore her husband. Guy is a real good fellow, as I've always maintained, but no woman in the world would put him on a pedestal." "Poor Errington! Is he as fond of his wife as ever?" "Fonder, if possible." "Then I pity him!" said Macjean, emphatically--"I pity any man who gives his heart to a woman to play with." "Yet that is really what you propose to do with yours." "Not at all. I am going to ask Miss Sheldon to be my wife once more. If she accepts me, well and good, as I've no doubt we'll make an exemplary married couple. But if she refuses--well, I'm not going to wear my heart on my sleeve by any means. There is always Laxton, Africa, and good shooting." "All of which will console you for the loss of the woman you profess to adore. What a prosaic idea!" "A very sensible one, at all events," retorted Macjean, with a grim smile. "I've no fancy to play shuttlecock to any woman's battledore. Oh! there is Errington talking to our fair hostess." "Or rather, our fair hostess is talking to Errington." "Precisely. You shouldn't have led this unfortunate fly into the spider's parlour, Gartney." "Why not?" replied Eustace, superciliously. "I assure you the fly is all right. It is not rich enough for Mrs. Spider Veilsturm to seize on. She only cares for opulent flies." "I'm afraid I can't take your view of the situation, seeing what I now see." Gartney, moved by a sudden curiosity, looked sharply at Cleopatra, who was certainly putting forth all her fascinations towards Guy, and that gentleman, who had apparently forgotten his wife for the moment, was talking rapidly to her with a flushed face and considerable earnestness. Eustace was puzzled at this, and frowned amiably at the pair. "Now what the deuce is that for?" he muttered to himself. "I certainly did not ask her to fascinate him, and she has no reason to do so. Humph! Perhaps Fate is once more interfering. If so----Well, Otterburn?" But Otterburn had disappeared, and Eustace found that his place was taken by Dolly Thambits, attended by Mr. Jiddy, both gentlemen watching Mrs. Veilsturm over Gartney's shoulder. "Ah! how do you do, Thambits?" said Gartney, taking no notice of the Jiddy parasite. "I'm quite well," replied Dolly, whose mild face wore anything but a pleasant expression. "I say, who is he--the chap talking to Mrs. Veilsturm? He came with you, didn't he?" "Yes; that is Sir Guy Errington, my cousin and very good friend."