mp in conjunction with the tea-pot will cause
us to shrivel up. But I'll guarantee that neither Mrs. Anstey nor Miss
Lynn turned a hair at the sight."

"Rather not! They ate them as if they really liked them--and if that
wasn't a snub to the awful Martin woman--well, she went, anyway, driven
away by our combined vulgarity, I suppose, and we had quite a decent
time when she had gone."

"Well? If Lady Martin was driven from the field, and you were left the
victors, what's the trouble?"

"The trouble is this. Lady Martin, being a spiteful woman, and knowing
perfectly well that Mrs. Anstey meant to teach her a lesson, will lose
no opportunity of spreading the story abroad; and in time it is certain
to come to Rose's ears."

"Ah!" He spoke thoughtfully. "That is it, is it? And Mr. Rose
will--er--resent the tale?"

"You see it's this way." Barry gave way to the impulse to confide in his
friend, to whom all his boyish confidences had been given. "Rose is a
real good sort, and wouldn't for the world let Toni suspect that he
knows he's married beneath him, as the world calls it."

"The world? Ah!" There was a light scorn in the tone.

"Oh, I know--we both know it's all rot, that sort of thing. But still,
as the world goes, one has to remember it; and somehow, although Rose is
genuinely fond of his wife, I doubt whether his love would stand
much--well, ridicule."

"Ah! And I suppose the child did make herself rather ridiculous in her
attempts to welcome a cousin to whom she is doubtless attached."

"It isn't only that." Having once begun, Barry unburdened himself still
further. "You know, although I admire Mrs. Rose immensely, and she's a
ripping kid really, I'm not a bit sure that the marriage will be a
success."

"Why not, Barry?"

"Well, they're unsuited to one another in heaps of ways. Toni is, as I
say, a dear little girl, but she's only half-educated, and not in the
least intellectual. Sharp in her way--the way of a quick-witted
woman--shrewd, and no fool. But you know Rose is rather an exceptional
fellow."

"So I have always understood."

"He's clever, you know--and deep, too. Not one of those fellows who are
always showing off, but really brilliant; and it's rather a dangerous
thing for a shallow woman to marry a man of that sort."

"It's often done, Barry," said the other man quietly.

"Oh, I know, but that doesn't make it any safer. Toni is an out-and-out
good sort, as straight as a die, and a merry,