"No," she said. "And there is no need of gratitude. I wanted to atone----No, that's not the right word. I wanted to make up to you for the trouble I had, all unconsciously, caused between you and him. And--there was another reason, Drake. Don't get conceited; but I took a fancy to my nephew the first time I saw him." She laughed softly. "And just at present I have no other object in life than the attempt to make him happy." Drake suppressed a sigh. Happy? Oh, Nell, Nell! How vain and foolish all this splendor, now he had lost her! "So you turned my rambling old place into a palace? Well, it was a substantial attempt, and if I am not happy, I shall be the most mulish and ungrateful of men. The place is perfect; it lacks nothing, I should say," he added, as they descended to the hall again. "Only a mistress," thought Lady Angleford; but she was too wise to say so. "You haven't told me who is here," he said, as he watched her pour out the tea which had been laid in a windowed recess from which was an exquisite view of the lawns and the park beyond. "Oh, a host of your friends," she said. "Do you like sugar, Drake? Fancy an aunt having to ask her nephew that! I shall get used to all your fads and fancies presently. There are the Northgates, and the Beeches, and old Lord Balfreed"--she ran through the list, and he listened absently until she came to--"and the Turfleighs." "The Turfleighs?" he said, with something that was almost a frown; and, seeing it, the countess noticed how stern his face had become. "Yes. Lady Luce and her father will arrive to-morrow, just in time for the dance. They are staying at a place near here--the Wolfers'. You remember them? They are coming with her, of course." "Quite a gathering of the clans," he said, as brightly as he could. "It is a long time since Anglemere had such a beau fete. Who is that?" he broke off to inquire. "One of the guests?" Lady Angleford looked out of the window. "I am so near-sighted----" "A tall, thin man, with long hair," he said. "He has just gone round the corner toward the lodge." "That must be the man who is staying at the south lodge," she said. "His name is Falconer, and he is a musician." "A musician staying at the south lodge?" said Drake, with surprise. "Ah, yes! I remember hearing the violin, as I passed the other day." "Yes," said Lady Angleford. "The young fellow the engineers sent down is staying at the lodge with his sister and their friend, this Mr. Falconer. They were to have gone yesterday, when the work was completed; but I thought they had better stay a few days, until after the dance, at any rate, in case anything should go wrong with the electric light. It is such a nuisance if they happen to pop out all of a sudden; and they generally do when there is something on. You don't mind their being here?" He smiled. "Why should I? It was a good idea to keep him. I suppose there is to be a resident engineer?"