to tell him what ailed her. The
interview was brought to a summary conclusion when the Lady Barbara
reached her aunt's house, for she flung the door to in his face and
left him standing disconsolate on the outside.

XIV.

It was on that night that the Lady Barbara received an ovation at Lord
Grimsby's rout as the belle of London town. Most beautiful she was, in
reality, for the damask roses in her cheeks were dyed with the hot
blood of her heart; her eyes, that were wont to be blue as the noonday
sky, were black as night, and the pomegranates of her lips had been
ripened by passion. Surrounded by courtiers, she flung her favors
right and left with impartial prodigality. All the time her heart was
crying out that she would be avenged for the insult that had been
offered her that afternoon. Harry Ashley, approaching her with
hesitating deference, was joyously received, although to herself she
declared that she loathed him, abhorred him and detested him.

Jack Grimsby, toasting the Lady Barbara for the dozenth time,
exclaimed to his crony:

"'Pon my honor, though, I know not if I envy Lord Farquhart or not.
His future lady seems somewhat unstinting in her favors."

"To me it seems that Lord Farquhart asks but little from his future
lady," laughed the crony.

"Is not that Lord Farquhart now?" asked young Grimsby. "Let us watch
him approach the lady. Let us see if she has aught left for him."

A narrow opening in the court that surrounded Lady Barbara permitted
Lord Farquhart to draw near her. There was a sudden lull in the
chatter that encompassed her, for others beside Jack Grimsby were
questioning what the Lady Barbara had reserved for her future lord.
Possibly the Lady Barbara had drawn a little aloof from her attendant
swains, for she seemed to stand quite alone as she measured her fiance
with her eyes from his head to his feet and back again to his eyes.
And all the while her heart was beating tempestuously and her brain
was crying passionately: "If only he had loved me! If only he had
loved me the least little bit!"

On Lord Farquhart's lips was an appeal to his lady's forbearance, in
his eyes lay a message to her heart, but she saw them not. His face
flushed slightly, for he knew that all eyes were bent upon him. Then
it paled under Barbara's cold glance. For a full moment she looked at
him before she turned from him with a shiver that was visible to all,
with a shrug that was seen by all. And yet, when s