ng to the dressing-table, gave a touch of rouge to
her cheeks.

"Kitty, why did you say that?" Ashe followed her entreatingly.

"I don't know. At least, I couldn't explain. Now, shall we go down?"

Ashe drew a long breath. His frail son held the inmost depths of his
heart.

"You have made the party an abomination to me!" he said, with energy.

"Don't believe me, then--believe the doctor," said Kitty, her face
changing. "And as for Lord Parham, I'll try, William--I'll try."

She passed him--the loveliest of visions--flung him a hand to kiss--and
was gone.

XVI

There could be no question that in all external matters Lord Parham was
that evening magnificently entertained by the Home Secretary and Lady
Kitty Ashe. The chef was extravagantly good; the wines, flowers, and
service lavish to a degree which made both Ashe and Lady Tranmore
secretly uncomfortable. Lady Tranmore in particular detested "show,"
influenced as much by aristocratic instinct as by moral qualms; and
there was to her mind a touch of vulgarity in the entertaining at
Haggart, which might be tolerated in the case of financiers and
<i>nouveaux riches</i>, while, as connected with her William and his wife,
who had no need whatever to bribe society, it was unbecoming and
undignified. Moreover, the winter had been marked by a financial crisis
caused entirely by Kitty's extravagance. A large sum of money had had to
be raised from the Tranmore estates; times were not good for the landed
interest, and the head agent had begun to look grave.

If only William would control his wife! But Haggart contained one of
those fine, slowly gathered libraries which make the distinction of so
many English country-houses; and in the intervals of his official work,
which even in holiday time was considerable, Ashe could not be beguiled
from the beloved company of his books to help Kitty sign checks, or
scold her about expenditure.

So Kitty signed and signed; and the smaller was Ashe's balance, the
more, it seemed, did Kitty spend. Then, of course, every few months,
there were deficits which had to be made good. And as to the debts which
accumulated, Lady Tranmore preferred not to think about them. It all
meant future trouble and clipping of wings for William; and it all
entered into that deep and hidden resentment, half anxious love, half
alien temperament, which Elizabeth Tranmore felt towards Ashe's wife.

However--to repeat--Lord Parham, as far as the fle