e one else why might not he do the same?

Yielding himself to the charms of a perfect face, a low and modulated
voice and a mind that never mistook flippancy and triviality for wit, he
met her everywhere on common ground, and she wondered why she had not
seen the attractions of this grave, quiet young man long before! Surely
such a conquest--and she was not certain yet that it was achieved--was
worth a half-dozen victories of the insipid and over-easy kind.

An hour later Prescott was with Lucia for a few minutes, and although no
one else was within hearing, their conversation was formal and
conventional to the last degree. She spoke of the pleasure of the
evening, the brave show made by the Confederacy despite the pressure of
the Northern armies, and her admiration for a spirit so gallant. He paid
her a few empty compliments, told her she was the shining light among
lesser lights, and presently he passed out. He noticed, however, that
she was, indeed, as he had said so lightly, the star of the evening. The
group around her never thinned, and not only were they admiring, but
were anxious to match wits with her. The men of Richmond applauded, as
one by one each of them was worsted in the encounter; at least, they had
company in defeat, and, after all, defeat at such hands was rather more
to be desired than victory. When Prescott left she was still a centre of
attraction.

Prescott, full of bitterness and having no other way of escape from his
entanglement, asked to be sent at once to his regiment in the trenches
before Petersburg, but the request was denied him, as it was likely, so
he was told, that he would be needed again in Richmond. He said nothing
to his mother of his desire to go again to the front, but she saw that
he was restless and uneasy, although she asked no questions.

He had ample cause to regret the refusal of the authorities to accede to
his wish, when rumour and vague innuendo concerning himself and Mrs.
Markham came to his ears. He wondered that so much had been made of a
mere passing incident, but he forgot that his fortunes were intimately
connected with those of many others. He passed Harley once in the
streets and the flamboyant soldier favoured him with a stare so insolent
and persistent that his wrath rose, and he did not find it easy to
refrain from a quarrel; but he remembered how many names besides his own
would be dragged into such an affair, and passed on.

Helen Harley, too, showed col