izing what he had before passed by, he
was quite glad to find the girl so young and inexperienced--so modest,
in a sweet way. It was easy, as well as proper enough, to talk to her
unceremoniously without the trouble of being diffuse and complimentary.
So he made himself agreeable, and Theodora listened until she quite
forgot Sir Dugald, and only remembered Sabre, because his big heavy head
was on her knee, and she was stroking it.

"And you were never in London before?" he said at length.

"No, sir," Theo answered. "This is the first time. I was never even out
of Downport before."

"Then we must take you to see the lions," he said, "if Lady Throckmorton
will let us, Miss Theodora. I wonder if she would let us? If she would,
I have a lady friend who knows them all, from the grisliest, downward,
and I know she would like to help me to exhibit them to you. How should
you like that?"

"Better than anything in the world," glowing with delighted surprise.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," she added, quite apologetically.

Mr. Denis Oglethorpe smiled.

"It would be simply delightful," he said. "I should like it better than
anything in the world, too. We will appeal to Lady Throckmorton."

"When Priscilla was in London--" Theodora was beginning a minute later,
when the handsome face changed suddenly as her companion turned upon her
in evident surprise.

"Priscilla?" he repeated, after her.

"How stupid I am!" she ejaculated, distressedly. "I meant to say Pamela.
My eldest sister's name is Pamela, and--and--"

"And you said Priscilla by mistake," interposed Oglethorpe, with a
sudden accession of gravity. "Priscilla is a little like Pamela."

It needed nothing more than this simple slip of Theodora North's tongue
to assure him that Lady Throckmorton had been telling her the story of
his engagement to Miss Gower, and, as might be anticipated, he was not
as devoutly grateful to her ladyship as he might have been. He was
careless to a fault in some things, and punctilious to a fault in
others; and he was very punctilious about Priscilla Gower. He was not an
ardent lover, but he was a conscientiously honorable one, and, apart
from his respect for his betrothed, he was very impatient of
interference with his affairs; and my lady was not chary of interfering
when the fancy seized her. It roused his pride to think how liberally he
must have been discussed, and, consequently, when Lady Throckmorton
joined them, he was no