I
will not be disheartened. I will not be put off by your scornful
candour. What if I were to tell you that you are the only woman I ever
loved?"

"Pray do not. It would transform passive dislike into active hatred. I
should be sorry for that, because," looking at him deliberately, with a
slow scorn, "I think my mother likes you."

"She has honoured me with her confidence, and I hope I shall not prove
unworthy of the trust. I rarely fail to repay any benefit that is
bestowed upon me."

"October nights are treacherous," said Vixen, drawing her cloak closer
around her. "I think we had better go back to the ball-room."

She was shivering a little with agitated feeling, in spite of that
mantle of scorn in which she had wrapped herself. This was the first
man who had ever called her lovely, who had ever talked to her of love
with manhood's strong passion.

The Captain gave her his arm, and they went back to the glare and heat
of the yellow dragons and scarlet griffins. Another Lancer scramble was
in full progress, to the old-fashioned jigging tunes, but Mrs. Tempest
was sitting among the matrons in a corner by an open window.

"Are we ever going home any more, mamma?" inquired Vixen.

"My dear Violet, I have been waiting for you ever so long."

"Why should you leave so early?" exclaimed Captain Winstanley. "There
are half-a-dozen more dances, and you are engaged for them all, I
believe, Miss Tempest."

"Then I will show mercy to my partners by going away," said Violet.
"Are all balls as long as this? We seem to have been here ages; I
expect to find my hair gray to-morrow morning."

"I really think we had better go," said Mrs. Tempest, in her undecided
way.

She was a person who never quite made up her mind about anything, but
balanced every question gently, letting somebody else turn the scale
for her--her maid, her governess, her daughter; she was always trying
to have her own way, but never quite knew what her own way was, and
just managed things skillfully enough to prevent other people having
theirs.

"If you are determined, I will see you to your carriage, and then the
ball is over for me," said the Captain gallantly.

He offered Mrs. Tempest his arm, and they went put into the vestibule,
where the Captain left them for a few minutes, while he went into the
porch to hasten the arrival of the carriage.

"Where were you and Captain Winstanley all that time, Violet?" asked
Mrs. Tempest.

"In the garden