t of entertaining their friends in a
hotel. They contentedly suffered days of discomfort, and turned out
every room in the house to gain the desired effect. In the present case
the floors of the two great drawing-rooms, which ran the entire length
of the house, were covered with a white waxed cloth, while the walls,
with their treasures of water-colours, miniatures in cases, and old
brass sconces, made a picturesque background to the scene. Leading out
of the second drawing-room was a spacious conservatory, in which seats
were placed, on which the guests could rest in comparative coolness and
quiet between the dances, while the conservatory itself gave access to a
balcony hung with coloured lanterns.

Vanna sat beside the door of the first dancing-room, and saw with a sigh
of relief that the hands of a clock near at hand pointed to half-past
twelve o'clock. Only half an hour more and the evening would be over,
for Jean, with her usual tact, had suggested an early return, and at one
o'clock the two friends had agreed to meet and make their adieux
together.

Thank Heaven for that! But the half-hour that remained promised to be
unusually long, for, mindful of her early departure, Vanna had refused
to fill her programme beyond a certain point, and now supper
arrangements had upset the sequence of dances, substituting for the
printed items a number of extras, for which she had made no engagements.
She had all a normal girl's hatred of the part of wallflower, and was
contemplating a retreat upstairs, when the daughter of the house
suddenly approached and addressed her by name:

"Miss Strangeways, is it possible that you have a dance to spare? I
have a truant here who has just made his appearance, and expects me to
find partners at this hour of the night. He doesn't deserve any mercy,
but if you could take pity upon him, it would be very noble."

Vanna looked past the speaker and beheld a tall, spare man, with a
sunburnt face, out of which a pair of brown eyes smiled at her with the
frankness of a lifelong friend, rather than a complete stranger. It was
impossible not to smile back, and it was with a reviving thrill of
interest that she held out her programme, saying laughingly:

"My partners for the regular dances are busy eating boned turkey, while
I am left lamenting. I am not engaged for the extras."

"Ah! that is fortunate! Let me introduce you, then, in due form. Mr
Gloucester--Miss Strangeways... You a