ty in her dark, still eyes; and even he, knowing
that the great joys of womanhood--the joys of loving and being
loved--were as yet untasted by her, would have held his peace,
murmuring, perhaps, that the days of miracles were not yet passed, and a
daughter of Diana had appeared upon the earth.

The little group, to whom her entrance was something like a thunderbolt,
consisted only of Lord and Lady St. Maurice, and their son, Lord Lumley.
He, although his surprise was the greatest, was the first to recover
from it.

"I am happy to meet you in proper form, Miss Briscoe," he said, bowing,
and then looking into her face with a humorous light in his eyes. "I was
afraid that I should never have the opportunity of telling you that
those fellows met with, at any rate, a part of what they deserved. I saw
them locked up."

She looked at him for a moment with slightly arched eyebrows, and then
suddenly smiled.

"Oh! is it really you?" she exclaimed, holding out her hand, which she
had not previously offered. "I am so glad. I was afraid that I should
never have the opportunity to thank you for your kindness."

"You have met Lumley before, then?" asked Lady St. Maurice, wondering.

"Scarcely so much as that," he answered, laughing. "Don't you remember
my telling you of my adventure in Piccadilly, mother?"

"Yes, I remember. Do you mean that the young lady was really
Margharita?"

She looked at him, and he colored slightly. For the first time he
remembered how enthusiastically he had spoken of the girl whom he had
assisted, and Lady St. Maurice remembered, too, that for several days
afterward he had been silent and distrait. She could not fail to
remember it, for it was the first time she had ever heard Lumley admire
a girl in such terms.

"Yes, it was Miss Briscoe," he answered, keeping his head turned away
from his mother.

"It was indeed I," she admitted. "I don't know what I should have done,
but for your help, Lord Lumley. I am afraid that I should have screamed
and made a scene."

"I can't imagine your doing it!" he remarked truthfully.

"Perhaps not! But I was so surprised, I could not understand it."

"May I remind you that I am completely in the dark as to this little
adventure," Lord St. Maurice remarked pleasantly. "What was it, Lumley?"

"A very simple affair after all. I was in Piccadilly, and Miss Briscoe
here was coming out of some milliner's shop and crossing the pavement to
her carriage."

"Cab!"