nt? Let's go to the dining-room and drown our
sorrows in strawberry ice. Then we can have a waltz, and try a
vanilla--and a polka, and some lemonade! That's, my idea of enjoying
myself. Come along, while you get the chance!--"

"Oh, Rob, you _are_ greedy!" protested Peggy; nevertheless she rose
blithely enough, and her eyes began to sparkle with some of their wonted
vivacity. There was something strong and reassuring about Robert's
presence; he looked upon things in such an eminently sensible,
matter-of-fact way, that one was ashamed to give way to moods and tenses
in his company.

Peggy began to feel that there was still some possibility of happiness
in life, and on her way to the door she came face to face with Lady
Darcy, who reassured her still further by smiling as amiably as if
nothing had happened.

"Well, dear, enjoying yourself? Got plenty of partners?" Then in a
whispered aside, "The dress looks all right! Such a clever suggestion
of yours. Dear, dear, what a fright we had!" and she swept away,
leaving an impression of beauty, grace, and affability which the girl
was powerless to resist. When Lady Darcy chose to show herself at her
best, there was a charm about her which subjugated all hearts, and, from
the moment that the sweet tired eyes smiled into hers, Peggy Saville
forgot her troubles and tripped away to eat strawberry ices, and dance
over the polished floor with a heart as light as her heels.

One party is very much like another. The room may be larger or smaller,
the supper more or less substantial, but the programme is the same in
both cases, and there is little to be told about even the grandest of
its kind. Somebody wore pink; somebody wore blue; somebody fell down on
the floor in the middle of the lancers, which are no longer the stately
and dignified dance of yore, but an ungainly romp more befitting a
kitchen than a ballroom; somebody went in to supper twice over, and
somebody never went at all, but blushed unseen in a corner, thinking
longingly of turkey, trifle, and crackers; and then the carriages began
to roll up to the door, brothers and sisters paired demurely together,
stammered out a bashful "Enjoyed myself so much! Thanks for a pleasant
evening," and raced upstairs for coats and shawls.

By half-past twelve all the guests had departed except the vicarage
party, and the sons and daughters of the old squire who lived close by,
who had been pressed to stay behind for that