Timothy," she replied eagerly. "You have quite
misunderstood me but I should like to come to your party."

Sir Timothy handed over the cards. He rang for a servant and bowed the
others out. Francis he detained for a moment.

"Our little duel, my friend, marches," he said. "After Thursday night we
will speak again of this matter concerning Margaret. You will know then
what you have to face."

Margaret herself opened the door and looked in.

"What have those people been doing here?" she asked. "What is
happening?"

Her father unlocked his drawer once more and drew out another of the red
cards.

"Margaret," he said, "Ledsam here has accepted my invitation for
Thursday night. You have never, up till now, honoured me, nor have I
ever asked you. I suggest that for the first part of the entertainment,
you give me the pleasure of your company."

"For the first part?"

"For the first part only," he repeated, as he wrote her name upon the
card.

"What about Francis?" she asked. "Is he to stay all the time?"

Sir Timothy smiled. He locked up his drawer and slipped the key into his
pocket.

"Ledsam and I," he said, "have promised one another a more complete
mutual understanding on Thursday night. I may not be able to part with
him quite so soon."

CHAPTER XXVI

Bored and listless, like a tired and drooping lily in the arms of her
somewhat athletic partner, Lady Cynthia brought her dance to a somewhat
abrupt conclusion.

"There is some one in the lounge there to whom I wish to speak," she
said. "Perhaps you won't mind if we finish later. The floor seems sticky
tonight, or my feet are heavy."

Her partner made the best of it, as Lady Cynthia's partners, nowadays,
generally had to. She even dispensed with his escort, and walked across
the lounge of Claridge's alone. Sir Timothy rose to his feet. He had
been sitting in a corner, half sheltered by a pillar, and had fancied
himself unseen.

"What a relief!" she exclaimed. "Another turn and I should have fainted
through sheer boredom."

"Yet you are quite wonderful dancing," he said. "I have been watching
you for some time."

"It is one of my expiring efforts," she declared, sinking into the
chair by his side. "You know whose party it is, of course? Old Lady
Torrington's. Quite a boy and girl affair. Twenty-four of us had dinner
in the worst corner of the room. I can hear the old lady ordering the
dinner now. Charles with a long menu. She shakes her head