ying round at the hem
of my white petticoat--it was a nice new one for the occasion.

"But the strangest thing was that somebody from the Isle of Man flopped
down on me there just as if he had descended from the blue. It was that
little English boy Drake, who used to come to the catechism class, only
now he is one of the smartest and handsomest young men in London. When he
came up and announced himself I am sure he expected me to expire on the
spot or else go crazy, and of course I was trembling all over, but I
behaved like a rational person and stood my ground. He looked at me as
much as to say, 'Do you know you've grown to be a very fine young woman,
and I admire you very much?' Whereupon I looked back as much as to reply,
'That's quite right, my dear young sir, and I should have a poor opinion
of you if you didn't.' So, being of the same opinion on the only subject
worth thinking about (that's me), I behaved charmingly to him, and even
forgave him when he carried off my white rose at the end.

"Mr. Drake has a friend who is always with him. He is a willowy person
who owns sixteen setters and three church livings, they say, and wears
(on week days) a thunder-and-lightning suit of clothes--_you_ know, a
pattern so large that one man can't carry the whole of it and somebody
else goes about with the rest. His name is Lord Robert Ure, and I intend
to call him Lord Bob, for, since he is such a frivolous person himself, I
must make a point of being severe. I danced with him, of course, and he
kept telling me what a wonderful future Mr. Drake had, and how the
Promised Land was before him, and even hinting that it wouldn't be a bad
thing to be Mrs. Joshua. Fancy Glory making a tremendous match with a
leader of society! And if I hadn't gone to that hospital ball no doubt
the history of the nineteenth century would have been different!

"They are going to take me next week to something far, far better than a
ball, only I must not tell you anything about it yet, except that I keep
awake all night sometimes to think of it. But thou sure and firmest
earth, hear not my steps which way they walk!

"It's late, and I'm just going to cuddle in. Good-night! My kisses for
the aunties, and my love to everybody! In fact, you can serve out my love
in ladles this time--being cheap at present, and plenty more where this
is coming from.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you what happened when we returned to the hospital!
It was shockingly late, and t