Mrs. McBride, with her all-seeing eye, perceived the turn events had
taken. She was full of enjoyment herself; she had quite--almost
quite--decided to listen to the addresses of Captain Fitzgerald,
therefore her heart, not her common-sense, was uppermost this night.

It could not hurt Theodora to have one evening of agreeable
conversation, and it would do Herryman Hoggenwater a great deal of good
to be obstacled; thus she expressed it to herself. That last success
with Princess Waldersheim had turned his empty head. So she called him
and planted him in a safe place by an American girl, who would know how
to keep him, and then turned to her own affairs again.

The Prince was a man of the world, and understood life. So Theodora and
Lord Bracondale were left in peace.

The latter soon moved his chair to a position where he could see her
face, rather behind her still, which entailed a slightly leaning over
attitude. They were beyond the radius of the lights in the bosquet.

Lord Bracondale was perfectly conversant with all moves in the game; he
knew how to talk to a woman so that she alone could feel the strength of
his devotion, while his demeanor to the world seemed the least
compromising.

Theodora had not spoken for a moment after his first speech. It made her
heart beat too fast.

"I have been watching you all through dinner," he continued, with only a
little pause. "You look immensely beautiful to-night, and those two told
you so, I suppose."