misfit maid
by
Elizabeth Bailey

Elizabeth Bailey grew up in Malawi, returning to England to plunge into the
theatre.  After many happy years 'tatting around the reps', she finally
turned from 'dabbling' to serious writing.  She finds it more satisfying for
she is in control of everything: scripts, design, direction, and the
portrayal of every character!  Elizabeth lives in Surrey.

Chapter One the sensation came of stark disbelief.  But Lord Dela garde was
only aware of blankness invading his mind.  To steady himself, he carefully
gripped the mantel with neatly manicured fingers.  Resting his other hand on
his hip, he examined the offending apparition seated on the gilded chair at
the other side of the fireplace, so boldly confronting him in his own front
parlour.

She did not look like the daughter of an Earl.  The green pelisse and a
glimpse of some dark stuff gown beneath were frankly dowdy, and no female of
distinction would be seen dead in such a bonnet.  Poke-fronted and unadorned,
its bilious mustard hue framed an unremarkable face, out of which a pair of
grey eyes regarded him with an unblinking gaze that was, in his present
delicate state, singularly unnerving.

What she had said seemed so incomprehensible that he wondered if perhaps his
ears had deceived him.

"I don't think I quite understood you.  Once again, if you please."

"Certainly."  Her voice was clear and light, and free from any trace of
consciousness.  I require you to arrange my debut.  "

"You require me... to arrange your debut," he said  slowly, aware that the
words must make sense, if only he could shake off this feeling of unreality.

"Yes, I thought that was it."

"It was," she agreed, adding in a matter-of-fact way,

"So that I may be settled in life."

"Settled..."  He put a hand to his head, conscious of a slight ache.  There
was, he supposed vaguely, a faint hope that the entire scene was a figment of
his imagination.  Perhaps he had not really been roused from his bed at a
hideously early hour, been obliged to scramble into his clothes and come
downstairs--unfortified by anything more substantial than a few sips of hot
chocolate--to be faced with an unorthodox visit from a female of unknown
origin, who threw at him this preposterous demand.  She required--required!
--him to arrange her debut.

Yes, he must be dreaming.  Or else last night's imbibing had unhinged his
brain, subjecting him to this extraordinary hallucination.  It spoke again,
rousing Dela garde from his abstraction.

"You are not dreaming," it said.

Dela garde had not been aware of speaking aloud.

"I must be," he protested, 'or else I have run mad.  "

The hallucination looked him over with a wide-eyed innocence belied by its
next words.

"It is more likely that you are suffering from a morning head.

Be assured that my appearance here has nothing to do with the liquor in which
you overindulged last night.  "

Dela garde blinked, and regarded her with rising indignation.

"Are you insinuating that I was inebriated?"

"Weren't you?"

"No, I was n--' He broke off, resolutely shutting his mouth.  Why was he
responding to such a question?  He glared at the girl.

"Even if I was, it is no possible concern of yours."

"No," she agreed, taking the wind out of his sails.

 "Then what possessed you to mention it?"  he demanded belligerently.

"To help you."

"Help me?"  Blank again.

"To show you that you are neither mad, nor dreaming," she explained.

This time Dela garde put both hands to his swimming head.

"We seem to be going round in circles," he complained.

"There is nothing complicated about the matter, as you will realise when you
are more yourself."

Which, Dela garde reflected, might not be for some little time.  He began to
wish he had not allowed his valet's disapproving comments to pique his
interest.  The young female, Liss had reported in fastidious tones, had
announced herself to be one Lady Mary Hope, and had declared that she would
not leave the premises until she had seen Lord Dela garde.

"Why the devil did Lo wick let this female enter the house in the first
place?"  Dela garde had demanded, bleary- eyed.

It appeared that it was the porter, new to the Viscount's service, who had
taken this fatal step.  To his lordship's irritable inquiry as to why the
butler had not then shown her the door, the valet had replied haughtily, "The
young female having been allowed in, my lord, and taking up a peculiarly
intransigent attitude, expressing herself in such terms as no real lady--' He
had caught himself up, and coughed delicately.

"Suffice it, my lord, that even Mr Lowick did not feel he could force her
to leave without laying violent hands upon her.  Which, my lord, he was loath
to do, in the remote contingency that her claim of identity might be proven."

Which it was not, Dela garde remembered suddenly.  He  frowned at the girl.

"How can I be certain that you are indeed Lady Mary Hope?"

"Who else should I be?"  she countered.

"How the devil should I know?"  retorted Dela garde, pardonably annoyed.

"You might be anyone.  An adventuress... a schemer, imposter--I have no idea."

"Hum dudgeon!"  snorted his visitor in a most unladylike way.

"As a member of the peerage, you know well enough who is who.  I am obviously
related to the Earl of Shuriand, if I am a Hope."

"If you are," Dela garde retorted, stressing the 'if.

"And if you are Lady Mary, I suppose you to have been fathered by
Shuriand--or his predecessor.

But I have yet to see proof of your identity.  "

"Oh, if that is all," came the airy response,

"I can furnish you with proofs enough very easily."

"Well, where are they?"

"I can readily bring them--after we have settled everything."

Was that a hint of challenge in her eye?  Dela garde made an effort to shake
off his creeping lethargy and take control of this absurd situation.  Was he
to be intimidated by an impertinent chit?  He did not think so.

"My good girl, there is nothing to settle," he told her in his loftiest tone.

"If this is some sort of trickery, you have mistaken your man.

Whether you are, or are not, Lady Mary Hope, I have not the remotest
intention--' "Pray do not let us waste any more time on that matter," she
interrupted impatiently, not in the least crushed.

"You had as well accept my identity without further ado.  However, I dare say
it will be wisest for you to address me as Maidie--for everyone who knows me
well uses my pet name--which will help to make people believe us to be very
well acquainted."

"I have no desire to make anyone believe it," objected  Dela garde, refusing
to avail himself of this permission.  "And I am far from accepting your
identity."

"I can't think why.  You must see very well that I am indeed Lady Mary."

"I see nothing of the kind," declared Dela garde, losing what little patience
he had.

"All I see is a strange young female, who comes to my house--at, I may add,
the most unseasonable hour--' " It is past ten o'clock!  "

'--unseasonable hour, I say, for visiting.  And while we are on, the subject,
it may interest you to know that any female with the smallest pretension to
gentility would not dream of visiting a gentleman--' "She would if she had my
circumstances."

'--in his own house, which, if you were indeed Lady Mary Hope, you would be
quite aware is the height of impropriety.  "

"I am aware of it," Maidie said, 'although I have never been able to
understand why.  "

"It is obvious why," Dela garde snapped.

"Quite apart from the damage to your reputation, you are alone and
unprotected."

"Do you mean to assault me?"

"Of course I don't mean to assault you!"

"Then why are we discussing it?"

"Oh, good God!"

Unable to decide which of several infuriated utterances to make first,
Dela garde paced about for a moment or two until he remembered what he had
begun to say.  He turned on the girl.

"All this is quite beside the point.  What I have been trying to impress upon
you is that it is utterly unheard of for a complete stranger to walk
unannounced into a gentleman's residence and throw a ridiculous demand at his
head."

 Maidie raised her brows.

"What is ridiculous about it?"

Dela garde threw up his hands.

"If you can't see that, then you are the one who is mad--which I am beginning
to suspect is indeed the case.  Arrange for your debut, indeed!  Even if I
had any idea of doing so--which I emphatically do not--it would be quite
impossible."

"Why?"

"Because I am not equipped to do so.  What were you thinking of?  That I
should launch you from this house?"

"Why not?"

"Why not!"  Dela garde felt an almost irresistible urge to clutch at his hair.

"You don't mean to say you really were thinking of such a thing?

Good God, girl, I am a bachelor!  You need a respectable female to sponsor
you--a chaperon.  "

Maidie sank back in her chair.

"Is that all that is troubling you?  You need have--' " No, it is not all!  "

'--no further concern," she said calmly, ignoring his interruption.

"I have thought of all that.  I have brought my own duenna.  She is your
cousin, so there can be no impropriety in us both staying in your house."

"Staying in my!"  -- For a moment or two, Dela garde regarded her
speechlessly.  Then he sank into the chair on the other side of the fireplace
and dropped his head in his hands.

Maidie watched him with interest.  He was not at all what she had expected.

She had anticipated that there might be a trifle of explanation required, but
not to have her identity called in question.  Why Lord Dela garde should make
such a piece of work about a simple matter she failed to comprehend.

He did not look obtuse.  Quite the contrary.  One might not call him
handsome, but it was a strong countenance-- if a trifle jaded at present; she
could not think he had  always such a pallor--with a firm line to the jaw, a
straight nose and a broad brow from which dark locks waved back into a long
crop.  Whether the dishevelled look of this style was deliberate, or due to
the gentleman's current state, Maidie could not say.  He certainly had the
air of a man of fashion.  She knew little of such things, it was true, but
even to the untutored eye, there was an unmistakable elegance to the cut of
the cream breeches and the blue coat.

From the point of view of appearances, he would certainly do, and his
establishment was eminently suited to her purpose.  A house in the best part
of town, with a deliberate decor influencing even this small room, the
simplicity of which impressed her.  Nothing elaborate.  Warmshaded wallpaper,
its apricot picked out in the faint stripe of the cushioned seats.  Maidie
approved the slim lines of the furniture, the plain brown carpet, and the
sparse decoration to the mouldings about the fireplace.

She was less satisfied to have discovered Lord Dela garde to be a creature of
uncertain temperament.  It did not augur well for her plans.  But it was
possible that he was not always so.  Had her timing, perhaps, been
unfortunate?  He had been abed on her arrival, and had kept her waiting quite
forty minutes--really, could one take that long to dress?  --and the traces
in his face of a late and dissipated night had been evident to the meanest
intelligence.  Even Great-uncle had become crotchety of a morning after
indulging too freely in his favourite port.  Perhaps Lord De- la garde might
respond more readily if his head were not aching so badly.

Maidie leaned forward a little, and addressed him in a tone of solicitude.

"Shall I send for some coffee?"

Dela garde started.  God, was she still here?  For a brief moment of silence,
in which he had allowed his seething brain to subside a little, he had almost
succeeded in forgetting her unwelcome presence.  Dropping his hands, he 
gripped the wooden arms of his chair and braced himself to look at her again.

What had she said?

"Coffee?"

"I would strongly advise it.  My great-uncle used to say that it was the best
cure for your sort of condition."

Dela garde opened his mouth to consign her great-uncle to the devil, and
instead drew a steadying breath.  Be calm, he told himself resolutely, be
calm.

"I do not want any coffee," he said carefully.

"I assure you--' " No!  " A pause, then pointedly,

"Thank you."

She relaxed back.

"As you wish."

Resolutely, Dela garde sat up.

"Now then.  Lady Mary, let us be sensible."

Come, this was an advance, decided Maidie eagerly.  He had used her name at
least.

"Indeed, I wish for nothing better."

"What you wish for is quite out of the question," Dela garde returned.

"Surely there must be some other person than myself more properly suited to
the task of bringing you out?"

Maidie resolutely shook her head.

"There is no one.  You, Lord Dela garde, are my nearest male relative--other
than Shurland--and it is nothing less than your duty."

"But I don't know you from Adam!  As for being your nearest male relative, I
have no recollection of even the remotest connection with the Hopes."

She raised her brows.

"Who said anything about the Hopes?  The relationship is on my mother's side.
She was one of the Burloynes."

"I have never heard of them," said Dela garde, not without relief.

"Which proves they can have nothing to do with the Dela garde family."

Maidie clicked her tongue.

"Did I say so?"

"You said..."  Dela garde began, and paused, realising  that she had set his
mind in such a confusion that he could no longer untangle one thing she had
said from another.  "It matters little what you said.  The point is--' " The
point is," she cut in, 'that even if you refuse to recognise the
relationship, you cannot escape the obligation."

Dela garde stared at her with a good deal of suspicion.  What new ploy was
this?

"What obligation?"

Maidie shifted in her seat and produced the reticule that had been hidden
under her pelisse.  Searching within it, she brought forth a folded sheet of
yellowed parchment, upon which he glimpsed the remains of a broken seal.
Maidie got up and held it out to him.

"This will explain it."  As he rose automatically to take it from her and
open it out, she added,

"It is from your mother.  You see there the name of Mrs Egginton, to whom it
is addressed?  She lived nearby and very thoughtfully befriended me, and sent
to Lady Dela garde after my father died.  You will notice that Lady Dela garde
promises to lend me countenance when I should at last come out."

Dela garde ran his eyes rapidly down the sheet.  It was indeed a letter
written by his mother to this effect, for he recognised the hand.  But what
obligation did this constitute?

"What possible reason could this Egginton woman have for choosing to batten
upon my mother?"

"Your mother was born Lady Dorinda Otter bum, was she not?"

"Yes, but--' " Well, then.  The Burioyne connection comes through the Otter
bums.  So you see, we are related.  "

Dela garde saw nothing of the sort.  The name of Burioyne had no meaning for
him, although he had to admit to unfamiliarity with all the ramifications of
his mother's  family.  But he was not going to waste time finding them out.

"The relationship," he said firmly, 'if there is any-- which I take leave to
doubt--must be remote in the extreme.  " He was still studying the letter.

"What is this offer my mother mentions to send someone to live with you?"

"But I told you that my duenna is your cousin.  Have you not been listening?"

Dela garde found himself contemplating the desirability of boxing her ears.

He restrained himself with difficulty, and once more bade himself be calm.

"Lady Mary, while it may prove to be out of my power--regrettably!--to
repudiate some sort of relationship with you, allow me to draw to your
attention that this letter is over ten years old.  Moreover, my mother has
been in her grave these many years."

"I know that," agreed Maidie patiently, 'and therefore the obligation
devolves upon you.  " She retrieved the letter and pointed to one sentence.

"You see here that your mother even states that you may be counted upon to
aid the project."

"Good God, girl, I was barely eighteen at the time!"  He thrust away,
throwing up a protective hand as if she might threaten him.

"Take the wretched thing away before I rip it to shreds!  It has no bearing
on the case.  I knew nothing of the matter then, and I wish to know less of
it now.  In any event, my circumstances hardly make me a suitable person to
lend you countenance.  And if you think it escaped me that you mentioned
Shurland when you gave me this cock-and-bull tale of being your nearest male
relative, you are mistaken.  So answer me this, if you please: why cannot he
bring you out?"

"Because he is dead," stated Maidie doggedly.

"He can't be dead," protested Dela garde, pacing in some agitation.

"He only took over the title a year or so ago."

 "I meant my great-uncle, the fifth Earl," she explained.  "He was my
guardian."

"Then why didn't he arrange for your debut?"

"Because he was eccentric."

"Evidently it runs in the family."

Maidie merely gazed at him with her wide-eyed look.  She folded the letter
and replaced it in her reticule.  She then reseated herself and looked up at
him again.  As calmly as if she owned the place!  Dela garde eyed her in
frustrated silence for a moment or two.  He had half a mind to ring for Lo
wick and have him forcibly remove the wretched female, but he supposed such a
course was ineligible.  He was, after all, a gentleman.  But he was not going
to accede to her nonsensical demand.

He resumed his post by the mantelpiece.

"What about this female who befriended you, the Egginton woman?"

"She died, too."

"She would!  Well, the other one, then."

"Which other one?"

"Your duenna.  Don't dare try to kill her off as well, because you have
already threatened to bring her to live here."

For the first time, a smile broke across Maidie's face, and she laughed.

"What, poor Worm bring me out?  Why, she has no connections, apart from you.
She is one of your poor relations.  I dare say your mother had it in mind to
settle her, poor thing, when she suggested that the Worm came to me."

Dela garde was so surprised by the change that a smile wrought in her
countenance that he forgot to ask for an explanation of this odd name.  It
was a countenance alight, the dowdiness given off by her unfashionable
apparel fading into the background.  He did not realise that he was staring
until the smile vanished and Maidie's brows rose again, widening her eyes.

 "Are you thinking that there might be some other female relative I could
turn to?  I assure you there is not.  I am wholly dependent upon you."

This snapped his attention back to the matter at hand, and he frowned.

"No, you are not.  You have no real claim upon me at all.  If all you say is
true, then the charge of you falls not upon me, but upon Shurland.  And don't
tell me he cannot bring you out, because I know very well he is married."

Maidie put up her chin.

"Well, I do tell you so.  The plain truth is that Adela cannot abide me, and
I cannot abide her."

"Is Adela his wife?"

"Yes, she is, and we quarrelled."

"I wonder why I am not surprised."

"Besides," continued Maidie, unheeding,

"Adela treated me abominably until I came of age.  Only then, as if nothing
had happened, she began fawning all over me, and determining to bring me out."

"Then why the devil," demanded Dela garde, exasperated, 'have you come to me?
"

"Because," stated Maidie in steely tones,

"I am determined never to marry Eustace Silsoe."

Dela garde's head began to reel again.

"Who in the world is Eustace Silsoe?

Why should you marry him if you don't want to?  "

"He is that hateful woman's brother.  Nothing will do for her but that he
should succeed with me, and that is all the reason she has for offering to
bring me out."

"Just one moment," begged Dela garde, sitting down again.

"Are you telling me that you are trying to involve me in this preposterous
and impossible scheme you have concocted, when you have a perfectly
acceptable alternative, only so that you can escape a marriage you don't
want?"

 "Yes," Maidie said, as if there was nothing at all out of the way.

"But--' Words failed him.

"Adela and Eustace think they can trap me, but I am going to spike their
guns," she went on in a tone of gritty determination.

"And you are to help me.  I have thought it all out.  We will say that you
are my trustee, and that I cannot marry without your consent."

Dela garde rose again.

"We will say nothing of the kind.  The whole enterprise is unnecessary, as
well as ridiculous.  I will' have nothing whatsoever to do with such a
masquerade."

He sounded so determined that Maidie began to fear, for the first time, that
her mission might be in vain.  Consternation filled her, showing in her face
as she got up again and took a hasty step towards him.

"But you must," she uttered desperately.

"Your mother promised me."

"My mother, as I have pointed out, is dead."

"Which is why I have come to you."

Dela garde threw up a warning finger.

"We are going in circles again."

Maidie came a step closer, reproach filling the wide- eyed gaze.

"Lord Dela garde, I never dreamed you would refuse me!"

"Then you must be off your head--as I would be were I to agree to participate
in this monstrous scheme," he aver red, retreating from her.

"But I am depending on you!"

"Well, don't," he advised in a harassed sort of way.

"You will have to think of something else."

"It is such a little thing to do for me."

"Little!"

"And you will be well compensated, I assure you."

 "For living with you?  Impossible!  I dare say I should count myself
fortunate not to end in Bedlam!"

The door opened, and a glance over his shoulder showed him a welcome
interruption.  Entering the room was an elderly lady, fashionably attired in
a demure version of the season's new high-wasted gowns, a figured green
muslin with half-sleeves overlaid with a light woollen shawl of darker hue.
A lace-edged cap like a turban bedecked with ribbons and feathers did not
quite conceal her hair, which was dark like Dela garde's, though streaked
through with grey.  She held herself well, and Maidie immediately noted a
resemblance to the Viscount in her softer features, although she looked to be
readier to laugh.

Dela garde seized upon her gratefully, uttering in despairing accents,

"Aunt he's, thank God!  Kindly inform this lunatic female that I cannot
possibly lend her countenance and become her fraudulent trustee."

"Gracious, what in the world do you mean?"  demanded this lady in astonished
accents, looking from him to Maidie and back again.

"Who is this?  What is she doing here?  Is she alone?"

"My own questions exactly," asserted Dela garde, 'and if you can get any more
sense out of her than I did, you may call me a dunderhead.  "

Maidie found herself the target of two pairs of eyes, the one popping with
questions, the other registering a grim satisfaction.  She drew a resolute
breath, thrusting down the most unpleasant feelings engendered by Lord
Dela garde's persistent rejection.  She refused to be put off.  She had come
this far.  She was not going to be turned away from her purpose now.  A
sudden thought struck her.  If this lady was Dela garde's aunt, and she was
already living in the house, then there must be an end to Dela garde's
scruples.

"But this is excellent!"  she uttered, with characteristic  frankness,
moving forward to grasp the elder lady's hand.  "You are his aunt?"

"Great-aunt," amended the other, surprise in her voice.

"And you live here!"  Maidie turned enthusiastically to Dela garde.

"I don't understand why you were making such a fuss.  What possible objection
can there be to my living here in these circumstances?"

"There is every objection.  Besides, my aunt does not reside here.  She is
here only on a short visit."  He added on a note of sarcasm,

"Sorry as I am to disappoint you."

"But you may prolong your visit, may you not?"  asked Maidie eagerly of the
other lady.

"I cannot think that the business will take very long.  Indeed, I hope it
won't.  I am as eager to remove back to the country as Lord Dela garde is to
get rid of me.  But I won't go back before I am settled."

"You see?"  Dela garde said, crossing the room to take up his post at the
mantelpiece again.

"Mad as a March hare!"  He looked across at Maidie.

"You are wasting your time.  You need not think that my aunt, who is bound to
be shocked by your conduct, will support you.  She will undoubtedly advise me
to send you packing."

"I can speak for myself, I thank you, Laurie," announced the older woman
firmly.

Her attention caught, Maidie's glance went from Dela garde to his aunt, who
was studying her with some interest.  She stared back boldly, thinking hard.
Dela garde seemed to be adamant, she was making no headway there.  But hope
was reviving fast.  If she could only bring this lady round to her side!  She
was not, she told herself, a schemer.  Not like Adela, not in the true sense
of the word.  Only what else could she have done?  She would have preferred
to set up house on her own.  It was what she had planned to do, with Worm as
chaperon.  But that scheme would not do, as she had been brought to realise.
She had been  obliged to fall back upon convention, and for that she needed
help.  It had not entered her head that her designated assistant would
decline to give that help.  Now what was she to do?  She made up her mind.

Addressing herself to Dela garde's aunt, she said,

"I have not properly introduced myself.  I am Lady Mary Hope, daughter of the
late John Hope, fourth Earl of Shurland; and great-niece of the late Reginald
Hope, fifth Earl of Shurland, and my erstwhile guardian.  I am related to
Lord Dela garde through my mother, who was a Burloyne."

"Have we any relations called Burloyne, Aunt?"  asked Dela garde.

"You ought to know.  She claims it comes through the Otter bums."

The elder lady nodded.

"It does, indeed.  Although it is some few generations back."

"I thought as much.  Far too remote to be of consequence."

Maidie brightened.

"Are you an Otter bum, then, ma'am?"

"I am Lady Hester Otter bum.  Dorinda--that is, Dela garde's mother--was my
niece."  To Maidie's relief.  Lady Hester smiled and touched her arm with a
friendly hand.  "What is it you want, child?"

Drawing a breath, Maidie plunged in again.

"I want Lord Dela garde to arrange my debut."  ' For a moment.  Lady Hester
looked at her with almost as great a blankness as had Dela garde.  Then, to
Maidie's bewilderment, she burst out laughing.

Lord Dela garde's reluctance to oblige her was at least comprehensible.  But
this?  She watched as the elder lady betook herself to Dela garde's lately
vacated chair and sat down.

"Forgive me," she uttered, as soon as she could speak, 'but that is the
funniest idea I have heard in years.  "

"I don't see why," Maidie said, pained.

 "Nor do I," agreed Dela garde, regarding his aunt with disfavour.

"What the devil do you mean by it.  Aunt he's?"

Lady Hester bubbled over again.

"The picture of you, Laurie, in the role of nursemaid to an ingenue.  Really,
it does not bear imagination!  What in the world possessed you to think of
such a thing, child?  Laurie has no more notion of how to steer a young girl
through the social shoals than the man in the moon."

"There is no man in the moon," Maidie said, vaguely irritated.

"This is typical," commented Dela garde, gesturing towards her.

"Her whole conversation consists of non- sequitur statements."  To Maidie, he
added, "We know there is no man in the moon.  What is that to the purpose?"

Maidie tutted.

"It is a foolish expression, which only shows how little people know of the
cosmos."

Both Lady Hester and Dela garde stared at her.  Maidie eyed them both back,
frowning.  Had she said something out of the way?  She knew she had been too
little in company to appreciate the niceties of etiquette.  Adela was always
complaining of her lack of social graces.  There had been some spite in that,
but perhaps there was more ground for the complaint than Maidie had thought.
Well, it mattered little.  She had scant interest in society, and if only she
could get this business over and done with, she would not be in need of
social graces.

"May we return to the point of this discussion?"  she asked, her tone a
trifle frigid.

"By all means," said Lady Hester amiably.

"Do tell me why you hit upon poor Laurie for the task of introducing you."

"It was not by chance, you know."  Maidie dug once more into her reticule,
and brought out the letter, which she gave to Lady Hester.

"This is from Lady Dela garde."

"Thank you.  Do sit down, child."

 Thus adjured, Maidie resumed her former chair as Lord Dela garde walked
across and took a seat on a little sofa that faced the fire.  She eyed him
surreptitiously, aware that he was watching her.  Not, she dared say, with
any degree of approval.  Not that she wanted his approval.  If there had been
any other option open to her, she would have felt much inclined to abandon
her scheme, for she was sure he was going to prove difficult.  He was
evidently a man used to having his own way, and all too likely to give her a
great deal of trouble.

The thought faded from her mind as Lady Hester came to the end of the letter
she was reading, and spoke.

"It is Dorinda's hand, I can vouch for that."

"I never doubted it," said Dela garde.

"I hope I can recognise my own mother's handwriting.  What of it?  You have
not heard the half of this ridiculous story.  Here is this female--' " Lady
Mary, you mean," interpolated his aunt.

"If she is Lady Mary--' " Oh, I think there can be no doubt of that.  "

"Thank you," put in Maidie gratefully.

"I cannot think why he would not believe me."

Dela garde almost snorted.

"Because your conduct hardly tallies with the title."

"Laurie, do be quiet!"  begged Lady Hester.

"Let the child tell her tale in her own way."

"Her tale is imbecilic.  She does not wish to marry some fellow or other, and
has thus fled her natural protector to come here and demand that I bring her
out, on the pretext of that letter.  A more stupid--' " Hush!  Let her speak.
"

Maidie threw her a grateful look, and launched once more into an explanation
of her difficulties and the ingenious solution she had worked out.  Unlike
her great- nephew, Lady Hester listened without comment, and even  managed
to keep Dela garde from bursting out until Maidie had finished.

Only then did she speak.

"I think I understand.  There are one or two matters I should like to
clarify, however.  The exact relationship between us is readily discovered."

"Readily discovered?"  echoed the Viscount, incensed that his great-aunt
should give the time of day to the chit's nonsensical scheme.

"If you hunted it down through half the family tree, I dare say.  Besides, I
am sure there must be a dozen other males closer related to her than I am
myself."

"But none of them, my dear Laurie, is a viscount."

Maidie found herself the sudden recipient of a suspicious look from his
lordship, and a questioning one from Lady Hester.  What were they at now?

"Why should that weigh with me?"  she asked forthrightly.

"I am an Earl's daughter."

"And may look as high as you please for a husband?  I wonder just how high
you are looking to go."

Regarding Lady Hester frowningly, Maidie shrugged.  "His rank is immaterial.
It is not that which will determine my choice.  I only meant that my title is
bound to make it easier for me to find someone willing to marry me."

"Undoubtedly," agreed Lady Hester affably.

"Tell me, Lady Mary, why do you wish to be settled in life?"

A sigh escaped Maidie, as the picture of her self- imposed future formed
itself in her mind.

"To tell you the truth, I had as lief not be--married, I mean.  But when
Eustace began plaguing me with his attentions, and then Adela must needs try
to hint me into accepting him, I began to see what awaited me if I chose to
remain single."

An odd look crossed Lady Hester's face.

"Well, I do not ask why you wished to remain single, for that I can readily
understand.  I am single myself.

But what was it that you feared?  "

 Maidie shifted her shoulders in a gesture of discomfort.  "To be the object
of incessant suits for my hand.  Once word of the legacy got out, I could see
there would be no peace for me.  So I thought the best solution would be to
find myself a complaisant husband, who would not object to my continuing
interest in other matters, and so end the nonsense at once."

Lady Hester was regarding her keenly.

"What legacy?"

"Oh, I discovered when I came of age that my mother's fortune had been
settled upon me."

"Indeed?"

"Yes, which is why Adela suddenly changed her behaviour towards me."

"I imagine she might," came the dry comment.

"Of course I was glad to have such an independence," pursued Maidie, 'for it
made it possible for me to make my own choice of occupation, rather than
become a companion.  "

"A companion!  Good gracious, why should you wish to?"

"I didn't wish to.  Only I previously thought that it would have been my one
path to escape from working as an unpaid drudge to Adela.  But I was forced
to recognise that the very independence that offered me freedom also made me
a target for gentlemen seeking to marry well."

Lady Hester was now looking very thoughtful indeed.  Was she beginning to
understand the motives that drove Maidie?  Dela garde, on the other hand, was
still frowning heavily, she noted.  He caught her eye, and got up.

"Interesting though this history may be.  Lady Mary, it makes no difference
to--' " Laurie!  "

"What is it.  Aunt he's?"

"Pray sit down again.  It happens that I find this history extremely
interesting."  She turned to Maidie as Dela garde  reluctantly reseated
himself.

"Let us re-examine this question of our relationship."

"But you have already admitted that the Burloynes are related to the Otter
burns," Maidie protested.

"Yes, but I am a little uncertain of your mother's parentage.  I did hear
that one of the Burioyne cousins married Shurland, now I think of it, but I
don't recall which one.  If memory serves me, there were three Burioyne
brothers of my generation.  Their father married into the Otter bum family,
through one of the daughters of my own great aunt."

Dela garde blinked.

"You are very well informed.  Aunt he's."

"One likes to keep abreast of these things."  She sounded casual, but Maidie,
when the elder lady turned back to her, was surprised to encounter an
extremely penetrating glance.

"Which of those three brothers was your grandfather Burioyne, child?"

"The second one, Brice."

"Indeed?"  A long sigh escaped Lady Hester, and she sank back into her chair.

"Well, well.  Brice Burioyne's granddaughter.  And no male relatives."

"No, for all the Burloynes are dead now, and I have no uncles or male
cousins."

"Except Shurland," put in Dela garde stubbornly.

"But I have told you--' Maidie began.

"Enough!"  broke in Lady Hester.

"Do not fall into a pointless dispute.

Now, my dear Mary--if I may call you so?  "

"Oh, please don't," begged Maidie instantly.

"No one ever calls me Mary--except Adela, and that was only to annoy.  My
great-uncle Reginald, when he found himself saddled with the care of me,
dubbed me Maidie, and so I have remained."

 "Very well then, Maidie, if you wish it.  Tell me about this Adela.  She
sounds a most unpleasant sort of woman."

Maidie wrinkled her brow.

"I would not describe her as unpleasant," she said, trying to be fair.

"Her manner is no more objectionable than Lord Dela garde's, for example."

Dela garde's infuriated glance raked her.

"I am obliged to you, ma'am."

Lady Hester laughed.

"She is nothing if not direct, Laurie.  I don't suppose she means to insult
you."

"Why should he care?  Besides, he has said worse of me."

"And you don't give a fig, I dare say?"  smiled Hester.

Maidie lifted her chin.

"I am not come here to gain his good opinion."

"No, you are come here to gain my services," said De- la garde.

"Not that I have the slightest expectation of your adopting a conciliatory
manner!

What I wish to know is, what was Shurland doing while this Adela was
constraining you to marry her brother?  "

"Yes, why did you not appeal to him?"  asked Lady hester.

"I did," Maidie told them flatly.

"His answer was that, between us, my great-uncle and myself had wasted his
inheritance, and I would get no assistance from him."

"Wasted his inheritance?"  echoed Dela garde.

"On what, pray?"

"It does not signify," Maidie said hurriedly.

"The truth is that it would suit him very well for my money to come into his
family, even at one remove.  Were I to marry another, he could not hope to
get any share of it."

"He is scarce likely to gain directly from his brother-in- law's marriage,"

objected Lady Hester.

"No, but I am sure that he and Eustace have reached some sort of agreement on
the matter, for there would otherwise be no reason for him to lend his
support to Adela's scheme."

 "But what drove you to take this drastic action, child?  Not that I blame
you, but Adela could hardly force you into matrimony with her brother.  And
she did, I think you said, offer to bring you out."

"Yes, she did."  Contempt entered Maidie's voice.

"It was only for appearances' sake.  She was afraid of what people might say
of her, if it was seen that I married her brother without choosing him from
among a number of others.  And Eustace himself did not wish to figure as a
fortune hunter."

"Then why in the world did you not allow her to bring you out, and then
choose another?"  demanded Lady Hester.

Maidie stared at her in frowning silence for a moment.  Such a course had
never even occurred to her.  If it had, she would certainly have rejected it
out of hand.  She lifted a proud chin.

"I may not be well versed in the etiquette obtaining in fashionable circles,
but I assure you, ma'am, I am not without a sense of honour."

She thought Lady Hester looked amused, but her tone was apologetic.

"I had no intention of putting up your back, child.  Are you suggesting that
to have accepted a Season from Lady Shurland would have put you under an
obligation?"

"Yet you are trying to put me under a false obligation," cut in Dela garde
swiftly.

"It is not false!"  Maidie retorted indignantly.

"If I had not your mother's letter, I would not have involved you at all.  In
any event, this has nothing to do with being put under an obligation to
Adela."

"Then what?"  asked Dela garde, finding himself intrigued by the workings of
the wench's mind.

"I am not a cheat!"  Maidie exclaimed.

"I would not pretend to one thing and mean another.  Such conduct may suit
Adela.  It would not suit me.  If I was prepared to marry  Eustace, what
need was there for a Season?  But I am not willing to many him.  It would
scarcely be honourable in me to dupe Adela into thinking I might do so, and
allow her to bring me out only in order that I could find someone else.  No,
no.  I must arrange it for myself, or I had better not wed at all."

"But you are not arranging it for yourself," Dela garde pointed out.

"You are expecting me to arrange it."

"And so you shall," broke in Lady Hester Otter bum cheerfully.

"What?"

"My dear Laurie, you will hardly be outdone in the matter of honour, I should
hope!  It is not the part of a chivalrous man to leave poor Maidie to her
fate.  Besides, I know it must be an object with you to accede to your
mother's wishes.  I cannot think you will do otherwise than make it your
business to set Lady Mary's feet upon the social ladder."

Chapter Two Q^yys^Q 1 emporarily silenced by the shock of his great-aunt's
perfidy, Dela garde watched in a daze as Lady Hester Otterbum ushered the
visitor out.  With disbelieving ears, he heard her encouraging the wretched
female to return, bringing with her the duenna and all their trunks from the
Maddox Street inn where she had left them.  No sooner had the front door shut
behind Maidie, than his lordship came to himself with a start.

"Have you taken leave of your senses.  Aunt he's?"  he demanded furiously, as
that lady walked back into the parlour.

"I don't think so," replied his great-aunt mildly.

"Well, I do!  What the devil possessed you to invite her back here?  If you
imagine that I am to be coerced into acceding to the wench's idiotic request,
you may think again."

"Then you will be a great fool!"  she told him roundly.

He stared at her.

"I beg your pardon?"

"My dear Laurie, if you cannot see what is right under your nose, I declare I
wash my hands of you!"

"I wish you would," he retorted, incensed.

"Do, pray, stop talking in riddles.  Aunt."

 To his surprise, she eyed him with a good deal of speculation for a moment.

Then she smiled.

"Gracious, I believe you really don't know!"

"Don't know what?"

Lady Hester laughed at him.

"How to bring a girl out, of course.  No matter.  You will learn fast, I dare
say."

"But I have no desire to learn it," Dela garde stated, in some dudgeon.

"What is more, I am not going to do so."

"Oh, yes, you are.  I have quite decided that."

"You have decided it?  Thank you very much indeed.  Give me one good reason
why I should allow myself to have this hideous charge foisted on to me."

"I might give you several," said his great-aunt coolly, 'but one will
suffice.  You are far too hedonistic and idle.  "

Dela garde fairly gasped.

"I am what?"

"I have long thought that the life you lead is ruinous.  You have no
responsibility, and nothing to do beyond consulting your own pleasure.  It
will do you good to exert yourself and think of someone else for a change."

"Oh, will it?"  retorted her great-nephew, stung.

"Then allow me to point out to you that if--if!--I agree to this preposterous
idea--' " Don't be silly, Laurie!  Everything is settled.  "

'--it is not I who will be exerting myself.  It may have escaped your notice.
Aunt, but it is usual for debutantes to have a female to bring them out.  "

"Quite right," said Lady Hester comfortably.

"I shall do that."

"Not in this house!"  objected Dela garde.

"Besides, you cannot do so.  For one thing, you have no longer any position
in society--' " That can readily be remedied.  "

'--and for another, your health is unequal to the strain of a London Season.
"

"Nonsense, I have never been better!"

 "What is more," pursued Dela garde, ignoring these interpolations,

"I have not invited you to remain here above the few days you intended."

Lady Hester suddenly clapped her hands together.

"That reminds me!  I have not brought near enough with me for a whole Season.
My abigail will have to go down to Berkshire at once.  Oh, and you will have
to open up all the saloons.  We cannot receive morning callers in the
drawing- room, and if we are to give a ball--' " A ball!  Let me tell you--'
"Or, no.  It is too late to secure a suitable date.  A small party, perhaps,
and meanwhile we will introduce Maidie quite quietly--' " You cannot
introduce her in any way at all!  " Dela garde interposed, in considerable
disorder.

"Good God, I will not be sponsor to a lady looking as Maidie does!  I should
lose all credit with the world."

"You are very right," agreed Lady Hester, laying an approving hand on his arm.

"Her appearance will not do at all.  I had not thought of it in all this
excitement.  She must be properly dressed.  I shall see to that at once.
Maidie cannot object to acquiring new gowns.  You need have no fear, Laurie.
I will make sure she does not disgrace you."

"If her conduct today is any indication of her company manners," Dela garde
said bitterly, 'there is little hope of preventing that.  "

But Lady Hester was not attending.

"We will not make too obvious a stir, I think, for that may defeat the
purpose.  A soiree at the start of next month will serve admirably.  At
first, though--' " Aunt Hester!  "

'--we shall make it our business to call upon all the leading hostesses.

As Maidie's sponsor, you will of course accompany us.  "

 "If you think I am going to dance attendance on that cursed wench morning
after morning--' " Laurie, what am I thinking of?  " interrupted his great-
aunt, unheeding.

"The servants!  We shall never manage with this skeleton staff.  You must
send to Berkshire immediately.  Or, stay.  Lo wick may go down himself and
make all the necessary arrangements."

"Aunt he's--' " Gracious, there is so much to be done!  I must see Lowick
immediately.  He and I will put our heads together, and--' "Aunt he's, will
you, for God's sake, attend to me?"

She stopped in mid-stride, and looked at him with an air of surprise.

"Yes, Laurie?"

"Aunt he's, stop!"  he uttered desperately.

"I will not--I have no intention-- Oh, good God, I think I am going mad!
Aunt he's, if you bring that wretched girl to live here, I promise you I
shall remove!"

"Nonsense.  Move out of your own house?  Besides, we need you."

"We!"  he said witheringly.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Why?"  A trill of laughter escaped Lady Hester, as she made for the door.

"My dear Laurie, I have your interests wholly at heart, believe me.  Do not
be taken in by Lady Mary talking lightly of an " independence".  Brice
Burloyne was a nabob."

"What has that to do--' But Lady Hester was gone.

Dela garde stood staring at the open door, mid-sentence and open-mouthed,
hardly taking in the significance of her last utterance.

"I do not believe this is happening," he muttered.

Was his life to be turned upside down in a matter of hours?  He cursed the
ill-timing that had brought his great aunt on a visit just at this moment.
She was invariably content to remain in residence on his estates at Dela garde
Manor, where she had lived, courtesy of his mother's generosity, since before
Laurence had been born.

Her criticism rankled.  Idle and hedonistic, indeed!  Was he any more so than
any other of his class?  And what the devil had she meant by saying that he
had no responsibilities?  Was he not landlord to a vast estate?  To be sure,
he employed an agent to administer the lands, and his steward could be relied
upon to keep all smooth in his absence.

Was that the burden of her complaint?  That he was absent from Berkshire for
a good part of the time?  Good God, one could not be expected to kick one's
heels in the country all year round!  Who did not spend the Season in town?

Another thought struck him, and his eye kindled.  If this was a dig at his
continued bachelorhood!  -- To be sure, he had to marry some day.  The line
must be carried on.  But there were Dela garde cousins enough for the
succession to be in no immediate danger, even were he not in the best of
health.  Nor was he reckless in his sporting pursuits, which might put him in
danger of accident.  In fact, he took sufficient account of his
responsibilities not to merit that criticism in the very least!

What the devil should possess her to say such an unhandsome thing of him?

Aunt he's was not wont to criticise, and he strongly suspected that she had
made that up on the spur of the moment.  A ploy to push him into agreeing to
sponsor that dreadful girl.  Well, he had not agreed!  What whim should take
Aunt he's to rush to the wretched female's aid, he was at a loss to
understand.

What had she said?  Brice Burloyne was a nabob?  One of these Indian
fortunes?  Oh, good God!  And he was to figure as trustee, heaven help him!

No doubt the creature would expect him to ward off fortune-hunters on her
behalf.  A vision of his hitherto ordered and pleasant existence rose up,
and he could swear he saw it shatter.  No!  No, he would not be coerced.

Striding to the bell-pull, he tugged it fiercely, and then marched out into
the hall just as a footman came quickly in through the green baize door at
the back.  Already he discerned an air of bustle about the house, for Lady
Hester's abigail was hurrying up the stairs, accompanied by one of the maids,
and the stout housekeeper, pausing only to bob a curtsy to her master as he
came out of the parlour, set her foot on the bottom stair and began to puff
her way up.

"Where is Lo wick?"  Dela garde demanded of the footman.

"Mr Lo wick has gone upstairs to confer with her ladyship, my lord."

"Oh, he has, has he?  Well, go up and bring him down here to me.  And send
for Liss at once!"

"I am here, my lord," said his valet, entering the hall from the green baize
door, as the footman ran up the stairs.  Liss had apparently held himself
ready, for he was burdened with several articles of clothing.

"My coat, Liss!  My hat!"

"Both here, my lord."

Dela garde allowed his valet to help him into the greatcoat, and seized his
hat.  He was standing before the hall mirror, placing the beaver at a rakish
angle on his head, when his butler came hurrying down the stairs.

"Ah, Lo wick," Dela garde said, turning.

"Listen to me!  If that female should return here, you will--' " Lady Mary,
my lord?  " interrupted the butler.

"You need have no fear, my lord.  Her ladyship has given me very precise
instructions.  All will be in readiness to receive her."

"But I don't want you to receive her!"

The butler bowed, and permitted himself a tiny avuncular smile.

"Her ladyship has explained that you are a trifle put out by the
inconvenience, my lord."

"Put out!"

"It is very natural, I am sure, my lord.  I understand that there is an
obligation which your lordship is determined to honour."

Dela garde gazed at him.  Devil take it!  Aunt he's had neatly outgeneralled
him.  Working on the principle, he dared say, that it was never of the least
use to try to keep things from the servants.  No doubt she would have the
entire household duped in no time at all, everyone working to thwart him.

How the devil was he to refute the obligation now, without appearing churlish
or dishonourable?

"So she has drawn you in, has she?"  he muttered balefully.

The butler gave him a puzzled look.

"I beg your pardon, my lord?"

"Never mind."  He received his cane from the valet with a brief word of
thanks, and turned back to his butler.

"Low- ick, I am going out."

"Yes, my lord.  You need not fear that every courtesy will not be extended to
the young lady, my lord.  The housekeeper is even now receiving her
instructions to arrange for Lady Mary's accommodation."

"I do not wish to hear anything about it!  Let me out!"

"But will your lordship not take breakfast first?"  asked the butler, opening
the front door for him.

"The only breakfast I require is of the liquid variety-- and potent!"  He
started out, and then paused, turning on the top step.

"And if Lady Hester should enquire for me, inform her that I have left this
madhouse, never to return!"

Maidie, meanwhile, ensconced in the Hope family coach with her abigail in
attendance, was congratulating herself on the outcome of her mission.  To be
sure, there had been a dreadful moment when she had doubted her ability to
bring it off, but the entrance of Lady Hester Otter burn had changed all
that.  She was heartily glad of it, for she was now certain that, left to
himself, Lord Dela garde would have repudiated her.  It was fortunate that
Lady Hester had been visiting just at this moment, for failure did not bear
thinking of!

What in the world would she have done?

Not having made any contingency plan--for how could she have guessed that
Dela garde would dislike it?  --she might have found herself at a loss.  She
supposed she would either have had to retreat to the Sussex house which was
no longer her home, or to have continued on to the Shurland town house and
revealed herself to Adela and Firm in, neither of whom had the least idea
that she was in London.  No, she would not have done that.

Nothing would have induced her to gratify Adela with a show of willingness.

But she was not, she remembered with a resurgence of emotion, obliged to do
either of those things, thanks to Lady Hester Otter burn deciding, for
whatever reason, that she wished Dela garde to meet his obligation--and it was
an obligation!  Maidie had seen quite enough of Lady hester to guess that
she possessed sufficient influence over her great-nephew to ensure that she
had her way.

Arrived at the Coach and Horses where she had passed the previous night,
Maidie lost no time in relaying the story of her success to her duenna.

It had not been with Miss Ida Wormley's unqualified approval that she had set
forth that morning.  Indeed, having kept up an incessant discourse against
the scheme throughout the two-day coach journey from the Shurland estates at
East Dean--to which Maidie had paid not the slightest heed--the Worm, greatly
daring, had made a final attempt to prevent her from going at all.

"I do wish you would not, Maidie," she had begged, almost tearfully.

"It would be the most shocking' imposition, and I do not know what his
lordship will think of you."

"It does not matter what he thinks of me.  Worm," Maidie had declared
impatiently.

"Do stop fussing!  Unless you would have me wed Eustace Silsoe, after all?"

"No, no, I am persuaded he could not make you happy," had said Miss Wormley,
distressed.

"And after the manner in which Lady Shurland has behaved towards you, I
cannot blame you for wishing to seek another way."

"Well, then?"

"But not this way, Maidie!  To beard Lord Dela garde in his own home!  He must
think you dead to all sense of decorum.  And what he will think of me for
allowing you to behave in this unprincipled way, I dare not for my life
imagine!"

"Have no fear.  Worm," Maidie had soothed.

"I will make it abundantly clear to his lordship that the scheme is mine, and
mine alone.  Do not be teasing yourself with thoughts of what he may think of
you, but set your mind rather to the programme of how we are to go on once we
are installed in his house.  You will be obliged to take me about, you know,
for we cannot expect Lord Dela garde to chaperon me.  It would be most
improper."

But Miss Wormley had been in such a fever of anxiety that she had been unable
to set her mind to the resolution of anything.  Besides, as she had several
times informed her charge, she had no idea how to set about such a programme
since she had never moved in fashionable circles.  Maidie knew it, and did
not hesitate to set her mind at rest as she related her doings at the
Dela garde mansion in Charles Street.

"I must thank heaven for Lady Hester," sighed Miss Wormley, setting a hand to
her palpitating bosom, and sinking down upon the bed.

For want of something to distract her mind, she had been engaged, when
Maidie returned with her abigail in tow, in collecting together those of
Maidie's belongings that were scattered about the bedchamber they had shared
at her insistence, for she could not reconcile it with her duty to allow her
charge to sleep alone in the chamber of a public inn in the heart of the
capital.

"But was not his lordship very much shocked?"  she asked presently.

"Oh, yes," said Maidie carelessly, removing her hat and smoothing the unruly
bands that had held her hair tightly concealed under it.

"But I took no account of that."

"No, I should have known you would not," agreed her duenna mournfully.

"The large portmanteau, Trixie."  Rising again, she directed the abigail how
to pack her mistress's clothing.  Her own accoutrements were already neatly
stowed in the smaller receptacle.  Then she turned again to Maidie, adding,

"You never take account of me, after all."

She spoke without rancour.  A colour less female of uncertain age.  Miss Ida
Wormley had become inured, after near eleven years, to the knowledge that her
influence over Lady Mary Hope was but sketchy.  She suffered a little in her
conscience, which led her to overcome a natural timidity and speak out,
whenever she felt her principles to be at odds with Maidie's conduct.

But, despite the fondness with which she knew her charge regarded her, she
could not flatter herself that her advice and protestations were attended to.

"But I thought perhaps you might attend to Lord Dela garde."

"Hum dudgeon!"  snorted Maidie indelicately.

"You know very well, dear Worm, that Great-uncle counselled me never to allow
myself to be impressed by rank."

"Yes," agreed Miss Wormley, repressing a desire to disabuse her charge of her
unshakable faith in the wisdom of the deceased fifth Earl's counsel.

"In any event," Maidie pursued doggedly,

"Dela garde is only a viscount."

"Only!"  sighed Miss.  Wormley.

"But he's ever so fashionable, m'lady," put in Trixie suddenly.

"Ain't that right.  Miss Wormley?"

"Oh, yes.  Lord Dela garde is always finding a mention in the Court sections
of the London journals, and I recognised his name often in your great-uncle's
copies of the Gentlemen's Magazine."

"Yes, and in them scandal pages often and often!  Breaking hearts left and
right.  Abed here, abed there--' Trixie!"

"Is that true?"  asked Maidie, interested.

"Has he had many such associations?"

"You must not ask me, Maidie!"  uttered the Worm, blushing.

"Trixie should not have spoken.  It is all nasty gossip."

"But is it true?"  persisted Maidie, unheeding.

"I can readily believe it, for he is certainly personable."

"Is he, m'lady?"  asked the maid, awed.

"What is he like?"

"He is tall and dark, and very cross!"

"Now, Maidie--you should not!  I am sure Lord Dela garde must be all that is
amiable--even if it is true that his name has been linked with a number of
fashionable... oh, dear, I did not mean to say that!"

"It does not signify.  You are bound to think well of him, Worm," said
Maidie, 'for you are more closely related to him than I.  For my part, I find
him excessively temperamental.  I only hope he may not take it into his head
to interfere in my concerns.  My dependence must be all upon Lady Hester.  "

It seemed, when the party arrived back at the Charles Street house, that her
dependence was not misplaced.  She was touched by the enthusiasm of Lady
Hester's greeting, and noted, with a rush of gratitude, that her champion
encompassed Worm in the warmest of welcomes.

"You and I, my dear Miss Wormley, must sit and enjoy a comfortable cose in
the not-too-distant future.  We call ourselves cousins, that much I know, but
I am hopeful of pinpointing the exact relationship if we exchange but a few
of our respective forebears."

"Oh, Lady Hester, you are too good," uttered Miss Wormley, quite overcome.

"And your kindness to dear Maidie--' " Nonsense," said Lady Hester, brushing
this aside.  " Come now, let me guide you to your chambers.  "

There was a bevy of servants busy about the transfer of the many trunks and
boxes from Maidie's carriage into the house, but they stood aside for her
ladyship and her guests to pass.  Pausing only to give some final instruction
to her coachman, who was waiting in the hall, Maidie followed her hostess,
throwing a word of thanks to the various attendants who were bearing her
belongings upstairs.

Rooms were in the process of being prepared, and Maidie, having traversed
two nights of the grand staircase and a couple of narrow corridors to arrive
there, was delighted to discover that her allotted chamber had a southern
aspect.

"Oh, is that a little balcony?"  she exclaimed, moving to a pair of French
windows.

"The veri est foothold only," said Lady Hester.

"It opens on to the gardens, however, so you may use it to take a breath of
fresh air now and then."

Maidie was not attending.  She was tugging at the bolts, and had pulled them
back and dragged open the windows before Lady Hester could do more than
protest that she would let in the cold.  Miss Wormley, who might have
concurred, was distracted by the arrival of the luggage, and at once made it
her business to inform the servants which pieces should remain in this room.

"This will do excellently," Maidie said with approval, for the balcony
extended out for quite two feet, and must be double that in width.  Yes, she
could set up here easily, and have an excellent view.  Stepping on to the
balcony, she looked up at the sky and ran her eyes around the horizon.

On the second floor of Dela garde's house, there was some little disturbance
to the eye line from the tops of the surrounding buildings.  The attics would
have been better, but it was a temporary inconvenience.  At least she might
continue her work.  She had been afraid that it would have been interrupted
altogether.

Turning back into the room, she directed Trixie to close the windows again,
and looked around for a suitable table.  Ah, yes.  That little whatnot over
on the other side of the four-poster bed.  It looked to be free of odds and
ends.  She might lay her charts on top, and keep it at her elbow.

"The room is to your liking, then?"  asked Lady Hester.

Maidie turned to her.

"It will serve very well, thank you."  She thought she read amusement in the
elder lady's eyes, and wondered if she had not been quite polite.

"I mean, it is very nice indeed."

"Miss Wonnley should be accommodated next to you, I thought," Lady Hester
said, leading the way to the adjoining room as soon as Maidie had put off her
pelisse and bonnet.

Maidie noted that her ladyship's glance ran swiftly over her plain stuff
gown, and settled for a moment on her tightly banded hair.  She put up a
self-conscious hand to smooth it, and could not but be relieved that Lady
Hester made no comment.

The room next door was almost as well appointed as Maidie's own, and Miss
Wormley lost herself in a stuttering speech of thanks, which Lady Hester
kindly dismissed.  Her own room, as she showed them in case Maidie should be
in need of her, was in an opposing corridor on the other side of the house,
but his lordship, it appeared, occupied one of the two principal bedchambers,
the only ones located on the first floor along with several saloons.

"The other will be for his wife, when Laurie finally decides to gratify us
all and make his choice."  As she led the way downstairs again, and into the
drawing-room that abutted the dining-room.  Lady Hester added,

"I dare say that if Dorinda had not died, she would have hustled him into
matrimony years ago, though not without a battle of wills.  She was as
strong-minded as Laurie himself, was Dorinda.  I suppose I should have made
more of an effort with him in her stead, but you may have noticed that
Dela garde is a difficult man to push."

Yes, she had noticed, Maidie thought.  He was a difficult man, she suspected,
in every circumstance.  But her interest in his possible marriage was, to say
the least of it, tepid.  Now, in any event.  Had he had the good sense to
marry earlier, no doubt her campaign would have met with less resistance.
She felt it to be typical of him that he had remained a bachelor, as if he
had known that it must aid him to thwart her.

They were soon installed in the drawing-room, a pleasant apartment done out
in cream and straw to the walls and mantel, and to the cushioning of the
light finely turned sofas and chairs that characterised Chippendale's designs.

"And now, my dear Maidie," pursued Lady Hester, when they were all partaking
of a dish of tea, 'we must make some plans.  I thought, as a first step, that
when you have had an opportunity to relax a little, we might make a visit to
one of the discreet dressmaking establishments.  "

"Discreet?"  repeated Maidie.

Miss Wormley murmured something indistinguishable but, beyond directing a
brief questioning look at her.  Lady Hester took no notice.

"I do not suggest a trip to Bond Street just yet, for I know you will not
wish to appear where we may give rise to comment--at least, not until you
have been officially presented to some of our more prominent hostesses."

Maidie's brows went up.

"What you mean.  Lady Hester, is that I am at present dressed too
unfashionably to be seen."

Lady Hester burst out laughing.

"You are very frank!  I was trying to be diplomatic."

Maidie shrugged.

"I prefer plain speaking.  Besides, even had I not been made aware of my
shortcomings in dress by Adela, I have sense enough to know that I cannot be
so careless if I am to appear in society."

"Lady Mary has never been one to concern herself over her appearance,"

said Miss Wonnley, hurrying into speech.  "And--and she has decided views of
her own."

This became apparent, when the three ladies presently arrived at the quiet
premises in Blooms bury which housed the creations of Cerisette, a French
modiste who had set up in business but three years since, on her escape from
the troubles in Paris.  Informed that the young lady was about to make her
debut, Cerisette first directed their attention to a series of made-up gowns,
all created in the now popular muslins with high waists, and all of them
without exception, Maidie noted, in the palest of hues, whether sprigged or
plain.  She gazed upon the display, which was predominantly white, with a
scattering of pastels, and resolutely shook her head.

"No, no.  These will not do at all!"

"My dear Maidie," protested Lady Hester, coming up to her and eyeing the
offending garments with a frowning countenance, 'these are very suitable.

All young females are accustomed to wear only the most modest of gowns when
they are just out.  What in the world is wrong with them?  "

Maidie drew a breath.

"It is not the styles, ma'am.  I will be as modest as you please, only I
cannot and will not wear anything made up in pastels."

She saw the doubt in Lady Hester's face, and knew that the moment had come.
She drew a breath, and told herself she was being ridiculous.  What did it
matter what Lady Hester thought?  Or anyone else, come to that?  But it would
not serve.  In everything else, she might shrug off criticism or rebuke, but
this was her one point of vulnerability.

"What is it, child?  What troubles you?"

For answer, Maidie went to one of the long mirrors with which the salon was
furnished, and, with a tremble in her fingers which she could not control,
once again removed her mustard-coloured bonnet.  She looked at her own face,
sighed deeply, and reached up to remove the pins that held the offending
tresses in place.

"What in the world...?"  began Lady Hester.  But she was not attended to.

"Worm, take these, if you p-please," Maidie uttered nervously, handing the
pins to her duenna, who was hovering at her elbow.  She took the rest of them
out, and dragged her fingers through the mass of curling locks that, loosed
from their moorings, sprang up about her face, forming a virulent ginger
halo.  She stared at her reflection in the acute misery that always attacked
her when she obliged herself to look at it, and then turned, in a good deal
of trepidation, but unsurprised to encounter the startled look in Lady
Hester's countenance.  But it was not she who spoke first.

"Bon dieu!"  came from Cerisette, who was standing stock-still, staring
blankly at that extraordinary head of hair.

Tears started to Maidie's eyes, and she felt the arm of her duenna come
about her.  Lifting her chin, she winked the hint of wetness away, and stared
defiantly into Lady Hester's face.

"My poor child!"  said that lady gently.

"It is not nearly as bad as you think."

"It is p-perfectly h-horrid," Maidie uttered unsteadily.

"I look just like a marmalade cat!  And when L-Lord Dela garde sees it, he
will undoubtedly show me the d-door."

Lady Hester's eyes danced, but she refrained from laughing.

"He will do no such thing, I promise you.  Besides, we will have you looking
altogether respectable before he has an opportunity to see it."

A faint surge of hope lit Maidie's breast.

"Can--can anything be done about it?"

"Assuredly."

"There now, you see, my love," said Miss Wormley comfortingly.  But it was
she who whisked her handkerchief from her sleeve, and fiercely blew her nose.

"A good cut will make all the difference," Lady Hester said bracingly.

"How fortunate that you have kept the length!  We will have my own old
coiffeur to you this very day."

"You don't feel that I should do better to keep it the way I have been
doing," Maidie suggested, with unusual diffidence.

"Not that I care what anyone thinks of my appearance," she added hastily, and
with scant regard for the truth, for in this aspect she was as sensitive as
any young female, 'but we must not forget that my object is to attract.  "

"No, we must not forget that," agreed Lady.  Hester, with an amused look.

"Should we not keep it hidden?"  Maidie asked, too anxious to notice the hint
of laughter.

"It is far less noticeable when it is tightly banded to my head."

"Ah, but I have always found it to be an excellent thing to make a virtue of
necessity.  You will not, I know, wish to dupe any likely candidates for your
hand into thinking that you are other than yourself."

"Oh.  Er--no, of course not," agreed Maidie, with less than her usual
assurance.

"Since we must needs expose it, then," pursued Lady Hester, with only the
faintest tremor in her voice, 'let us by all means make the very best use of
it that we can.  I know that you will feel very much more confident once you
see that it can be made to look quite pretty.  "

Maidie was doubtful, but she bowed to Lady Hester's superior knowledge.

Besides, she found the whole matter of her hair so distressing that she knew
her judgement on the subject to be unsound.

"It is all the fault of my great-uncle Reginald," she said candidly, reviving
a little of her usual spirit.

"I know he could not help bequeathing me his hair, but as he was the only one
of his family to catch it from my great- grandfather, it does come through
him.  I dare say he did not intend it, and it is the only thing he gave me
for which I have any regret."

"His lordship was very fond of dear Maidie," confirmed the Worm helpfully.

"But he saw nothing amiss with the colour of her hair, did he, my love?"

"Yes, but he was a man.  It made no difference to him."

"It need not be a problem to you, Maidie," Lady Hester assured her.

But Cerisette did not agree.  When the customers turned to her once again,
she broke into voluble protestation.  Had she known in the beginning that
mademoiselle was possessed of this so strong a head, assuredly she would not
have shown her the pastels.  Mademoiselle had shown good sense to refuse
them.  She could not risk her reputation  upon mademoiselle appearing in
anything but white.  Fortunately, for the debutante, white was comme il faut.

"Well, it is not comme il faut for me," declared Maidie stubbornly.

"I

cannot possibly wear white.  " , In that case, returned Cerisette, drawing
herself up, she could not possibly assist mademoiselle.

"Dear me," said Lady Hester haughtily.

"Then we shall take our custom elsewhere."  Turning to Maidie, she smiled
warmly upon her, murmuring reassuringly,

"Come, child.  I will not have you offended by this creature's whim.  Do not
allow her to upset you.  These French modistes are prone to take pets for the
least little thing."  , But Maidie had turned mulish.  She might be self-
conscious about her hair, but she was not going to be driven ignominiously
from Cerisette's door.  She resisted Lady Hester's attempt to sweep her away.

"One moment, if you please, ma'am."  She turned to the modiste.

"Perhaps you are not aware, madame, that I am the daughter of the late Earl
of Shurland.  I am also extremely wealthy.  Since I require an entirely new
wardrobe for the Season, you might reflect on how much my custom could enrich
you."

She was glad to see the shock gather in the woman's face, and turned on her
heel to march out before she could reply.  Not much to her surprise, the
modiste ran after her with a mouthful of apologies.

Maidie cut them short.

"It makes no matter.  Find me some gowns of suitable colours, and we shall
say no more about it."

The modiste made haste to comply.  Clapping her hands, she scattered her
assistants with a stream of instructions as Maidie turned back to Lady
Hester, whose face was alight with laughter.

"Maidie, you are abominable!  Don't you know that it is the height of bad
taste to parade your rank and wealth?"

 "So it may be," said Maidie, unrepentant, 'but that it is effective, you
will scarcely deny.  "

"Her great-uncle, you must know," put in Miss Wormley with diffidence, 'was a
trifle eccentric.  I am afraid he imbued her with some very improper notions.
"

"Hum dudgeon!"  said Maidie.

"Great-uncle may have been as eccentric as you please, but I must be ever
grateful for his teachings.  He could not abide shams, and nor can

I.  "

"Well, let us not fall into a dispute over him," said Lady Hester pacifically.

"Instead, we must bend our minds to the problem of gowning you appropriately."

In the event, despite the new enthusiasm of Cerisette, it was Maidie and Lady
Hester between them who selected the gowns most suited to her colouring.
Maidie opted for a muslin of leaf-green, and a silk of dark blue.  But her
clever mentor bespoke a crepe gown of pale russet that picked up highlights
in her extraordinary hair, and muslins both of peach and apricot that
enhanced the brightness above.

But when Lady Hester and the modiste seized upon a pale lemon gown all over
silver spangles, Maidie balked again.

"Nothing would induce me to wear such a thing!"

"But you must have something suitable for a ball," protested Lady Hester.

"That is as may be, but I refuse to parade around in a garment that would be
better employed upon the stage.  It looks fit for a fairy--and I am certainly
not that."

To everyone's astonishment, including her own, she fell in love instead with
a creamy muslin gown covered in huge sprigs of lacy black.  Despite the
protestations of her elders that the decolletage was positively unseemly, she
insisted on trying it.

"I am obliged to admit that it looks magnificent," con ceded Lady Hester,
watching Maidie twirl before the mirror.

"It does take attention away from your hair," offered Miss Wormley in a
doubtful tone.

"It is hardly the garb of a debutante, but I dare say Maidie will not care
for'- that."

She was right, Maidie did not care.  If something could indeed be done about
her hair, she began to think that she might not fare so very ill, after all.

"I never thought I could look so well," she marvelled.  Drawing a breath, she
turned confidingly to Lady Hester.  "I do begin to have a real hope of
finding a man willing to marry me."

"My dear Maidie," came the dry response, 'there was never the least doubt of
that.  With your fortune, there will be no shortage of suitors, even had we
made no change at all in the matter of your dress.  "

Maidie fixed her with that wide-eyed gaze.

"Then why are we doing all this?"

Lady Hester burst into laughter.

"How can you ask me?  For the purpose of bringing Laurie to heel.  We cannot
do without him, and he can have no objection to be seen with you looking like
this."

"Which is as much as to say," guessed Maidie, with a glint in her eye that
boded no good to the absent Viscount, 'that he would not be seen dead with me
otherwise!  "

It was not until the early evening that Dela garde put in an appearance.  He
strode into the drawing-room where the ladies had gathered before dinner, and
stopped short, staring.  Maidie, unable to help herself, had jumped up on his
entrance, and now stood rooted to the spot, her heart unaccountably in her
mouth.

She was arrayed in the dark blue silk.  It had long, tight sleeves, and its
folds fell simply from the high waist, but  Maidie became acutely aware that
its cut across the bosom was slightly lower than it should be.  Though this
was as nothing to the anxiety that gripped her as she recalled her exposed
locks.  Until this moment, she had believed that the cleverly wielded
scissors in the hands of a master had worked wonders.

The thatch of ginger had been considerably thinned, a deal of it combed
forward to fall in curling tendrils about her face.  The rest, behind a
bandeau of blue velvet from which two dark feathers poked into the air, fell
lightly upon her shoulders, with some few ordered ringlets straying down her
back.

In vain did Maidie remind herself that she cared nothing for his lordship's
opinion.  In vain did she recall the budding resentment she had experienced
upon Lady Hester's ill-considered revelation.  The stunned expression in his
face robbed her of all power over her emotions, until she realised that he
was staring, not at her deplorable hair, but at her costume.

Dela garde found his tongue.

"What the devil is that?"

"Laurie!"

"Have you all gone stark, staring crazy?"  He turned a fulminating eye on his
great-aunt.

"What do you call this?  She is supposed to be making her debut.  Only look
at that neckline!  And feathers!"  he uttered in a voice of loathing, his eye
rising to Maidie's head.

"She looks like a matron with a bevyful of brats in her train, instead of..."

His voice died as he caught sight of her hair.  For a moment he gazed in
blankest amazement, the fury wiped ludicrously from his face.

"Good God!"  he uttered faintly at length.

Quite unable to prevent herself from reaching up to cover what she might of
her horrible locks, Maidie burst out,

"He hates it!  I knew he would."

"It is certainly startling," he conceded.  He might have been looking at a
stranger!

"Well, you cannot hate it more than I do myself," Maidie stated, resolutely
bringing her hands down and gripping her fingers together.

"You may be thankful you were spared seeing it before it was styled."

A short laugh escaped him.

"Yes, I think I am."

Maidie shifted away, and he moved around her, his eyes riveted to the
extraordinary hair.  Who would have believed it?  Such a little dowd as she
appeared this morning--and now!  He tried to recall the impression he had
formed of an unremarkable countenance, but the colour of that head was so
very remarkable that he could not recover it.  She turned to face him again,
and he could not repress a grin at the sulk exhibited in her features.

Maidie flushed.

"It's well for you to laugh.  I dare say you think it excessively funny.  But
I must live with it."

"So, it would appear, must I," he returned smoothly.

"Well, it is no use supposing that I can get rid of it," Maidie said, goaded.

"I have tried before now, and it does not help in the least."

"You tried to get rid of it?"  repeated Dela garde, amazed.

"She did," aver red Miss Wormley.

"She cut it all off."

It was a new voice to the Viscount, and he turned quickly in her direction.
One glance at the faded countenance and the discreet grey gown told him
exactly who she must be.  Moving to her chair, he held out his hand.

"You are Lady Mary's duenna, I think?"

"Miss Wormley, Dela garde," confirmed Lady Hester.  "Our cousin, you know."

"Ah, yes.  How do you do?"

Miss Wormley had risen quickly to her feet, and now grasped his hand,
murmuring a series of half-finished sentences, from which Dela garde was
unable to untangle the references to his supposed kindness from her hopes
that he had taken no offence.  He cut her short with a word of dismissal.

"But you don't mean," he went on, 'that Lady Mary really did cut off her
hair?  "

Miss Wormley nodded vigorously.

"Indeed, she did.  She must have been thirteen at the time."

"Worm, don't!"

"But I wish to hear it," said Dela garde, a hint of amusement in his tone, and
a smile for the duenna.

Miss Wormley succumbed.

"She appeared at the dinner table one evening, quite shorn to pieces.  She
might almost have taken a razor to her head, except that it was cut too
raggedly for that.  I was very much shocked, but Lord Shurland could only
laugh."

"Yes!"  said Maidie bitterly.

"I have never forgiven Great-uncle Reginald for that.  Ever since I have kept
it strictly confined--until today.  And I wish very much that I had not
allowed Lady Hester to persuade me to do otherwise."

Dela garde rounded on her.

"My good girl, don't be stupid!  For God's sake, take off that ridiculous
bandeau, and let me see it properly!"

"She will do no such thing."  To Maidie's relief.  Lady Hester rose and came
to stand beside her protegee.

"Leave the child alone, Laurie.  You can see she is distressed."

These words caused Dela garde's glance to move to Maidie's face.  She looked
not distressed, but decidedly mutinous.  As well she might!  What the devil
was Aunt he's playing at, to dress the girl in this fashion?  His eyes raked
her from head to toe and back again.  It was not so much the style of the
gown as the bandeau and feathers--and the colour.  There was something--yes,
repellent!  --in the combination of dark blue and silk.

Almost he preferred the dowd.  This look of sophistication, of mature
womanhood, he found distinctly disturbing.

He became aware ofMaidie's wide-eyed gaze upon him, in it both question
and--doubt, was it?  He frowned.

"I didn't mean to offend you."

She put up her chin.

"It would take more than your disapproval to offend me.  It is immaterial to
me what you think of me."

"Is it, indeed?"  said Dela garde, instantly up in the boughs.

"Then allow me to point out that it was not I who sought to place you under
my sponsorship.  But, since you will have it so, you had better learn to take
account of my opinion."

Maidie's brows drew together.

"Well, I will not.  I have not asked you to interfere beyond what I specify."

"Oh, indeed?"  returned Dela garde dangerously.

"And what precisely do you specify?  I may remind you that I have not yet
agreed to do anything at all."

"Then why am I here?"

"You are asking me?  How the devil should I know?"

"Oh, tut, tut!"  interrupted Lady Hester, laughing.

"Do the two of you mean to be forever at loggerheads?"  She turned
apologetically to the duenna, who was looking distressed.  "Miss Wormley,
pray pay no attention.  If you had been here this morning and heard them
both, you would think nothing of this plain speaking between them."

"But Maidie must not--it is quite shocking in her..."  The Worm faded out as
her charge's inquiring grey gaze came around to her face.  Daunted, but
pursuing, she took up her complaint again.

"It is not becoming, Maidie, when his lordship has been so magnanimous as
to--' " But he has not, Worm," interrupted Maidie, moving to resume her seat
in a chair next to her duenna's.

"It is Lady Hester who asked me to come.  Lord Dela garde has not ceased to
object--quite violently!--and he has been far from magnanimous."

"Oh, no doubt it is churlish of me," uttered Dela garde in dudgeon, 'to
object to my house being invaded, my peace being disturbed, and my life
turned upside-down merely to accommodate the whims of a pert female who has
not even the courtesy to make the matter a request.  She demands--or, no, it
was required, was it not?  --that I' should arrange her debut.  If anyone can
give me a reason why I should be magnanimous after that, I shall be delighted
to hear it.  "

Silence succeeded this tirade.  Dela garde, having discharged his spleen,
looked from one to the other in growing bewilderment.  The Worm looked
crushed.  If Aunt he's was not on the point of laughter, he did not know his
own relative.  As for Maidie herself--was that a hint of apology in her eyes?
Before he could quite make up his mind, Maidie spoke.

"It is--it is quite true," she said, in a gruff little voice.  "I had not
thought of it in quite that way.  I suppose I need not blame you for being so
horrid."

Dela garde was conscious of a peculiar sensation--as of a melting within him.
Thrown quite out of his stride, he directed the oddest look upon her, and
began,

"Maidie, I--' She cut him short, rising swiftly to her feet.

"No, it is for me to speak now."  With difficulty, she overcame a rise of
emotion that she did not recognise.

"I have been selfish.  If you feel that you cannot bear to accommodate me,
even for a little time, I shall quite understand."

Before Dela garde could gather his bemused wits at this wholly unlooked-for
turn of events, the door opened to admit a footman.  Fleetingly, Dela garde
wondered at his butler's absence, but his attention was caught by the man's
words, which had nothing, as he might have expected, to do with dinner.

"Lord and Lady Shurland," announced the footman.

Chapter Three Q^z^s^Q A sharp-featured brunette walked quickly into the
room, followed more ponderously by a portly gentleman some years her senior.
Both were in morning dress, and clearly in a state of some agitation.  Lady
Shurland cast one swift glance around, caught sight of Maidie, and flung out
an accusing finger.

"So, it is true!  Mary, how could you?"

Maidie looked briefly at Dela garde's frowning countenance, and drew an
unsteady breath as she turned to face the woman.  She had anticipated this
invasion.  It was not to be supposed that Adela and Firm in would acquiesce
in her schemes.  Only, must they arrive just at this moment?  Nothing could
have been more unfortunate.  A prey to hideous indecision, she stepped
forward.  But before she could speak.  Lady Hester intervened, rising and
moving forward with hand held out.

"Good evening.  Lady Shurland.  We have not met, I think.  My name is Lady
Hester Otter bum."

Dela garde watched the woman turn abruptly to his aunt, and shot a look at
Maidie.  He saw dismay in her face.  Did she suppose that he meant to send
her packing?  It was a heaven-sent opportunity to do so.  There could be
little doubt that the Shurlands had come to claim her.  He looked again to
where Lady Shuriand had perforce 'halted.  So this was the female whose
machinations Maidie sought to avoid.  He had never admired angular women.

Besides, she looked to be ill-tempered, darting killing looks at Maidie even
as she exchanged greetings with Aunt he's.  His attention was drawn by the
current and sixth Earl of Shuriand, with whom he was slightly acquainted, and
who was evidently labouring under suppressed emotion.

"You will forgive this intrusion, I trust," he said, addressing himself to
Dela garde.

"We had been on an outing of pleasure for the day, and returned home to be
met with the extraordinary intelligence, culled from my coachman, that Lady
Mary had arrived in town and was even now staying in your house.  You may
imagine our consternation.  We lost no time in setting forth to discover for
ourselves if this were indeed the case."

"And now that you have discovered it," said Dela garde, his tone so bland that
Maidie's eyes flew to his face, 'what do you propose to do about it?  "

"Why, take her home, of course!"  burst from Adela.

"Oh?"  said Dela garde.

"But what if she does not choose to accompany you?"

"She will do as she is told," Shuriand announced curtly, and turned to his
quarry.

"This flight of yours, Maidie, was quite unnecessary.  I do not know with
what purpose you have thrust yourself upon Lord Dela garde, but--' " I have
done it so that he may bring me out," said Maidie, breaking in without
ceremony.

"Mary!"  gasped Lady Shuriand in a horrified tone.

"Do you tell me that you have had the effrontery to--to--' " Yes, I have.
But you may be easy, Adela.  " For she meant to add that Dela garde had
refused to be imposed upon.  She was given no opportunity to do so.

"Lord Dela garde, I am mortified!"  burst from Adela.  "She is dead to all
sense of shame!"

"I believe she is," Dela garde agreed mildly.

"And after I have shown every willingness to bring her to town myself.  How
could you, Mary, treat me so shabbily?  To leave your home while we were
absent, without a word said!  And then to throw yourself upon the mercy of a
stranger, as though we had behaved ill towards you.  I do not know how you
can look me in the face!"

Maidie was looking her very boldly in the face, an expression of distaste on
her own countenance.

"Pray do not put on these airs for the benefit of Lady Hester and Lord
Dela garde, Adela.  I have already told them what your motive was in offering
to bring me out."

"Oh, I have no doubt that you have done your best to blacken me," uttered
Adela in a tone of deep reproach.  "You will not be satisfied until you have
made me an object of censure in the eyes of society."

"Dear me," put in Lady Hester calmly.

"In what way, my dear ma'am?"

"Everyone will think that I was too mean and selfish to bring her out.  It is
quite untrue.  I have done everything in my power to do the best for her--in
despite of her every attempt to make an enemy of me.  Only see how she repays
me!  Sneaking behind our backs in this unkind way."

"Adela, leave this to me," said her lord, and turned again to Maidie.

"I

shall refrain from discussing the evils of your conduct in this company,
Maidie, but I desire that you will at once stop behaving in a fashion which
even you must recognise to be reprehensible in the extreme.  If, as I am
informed, you have indeed taken up residence in this house--' "Pray do not
speak to me as if I were a schoolgirl, Firmin," interrupted Maidie.

"You have no authority over me."

"On the contrary.  As Head of the Family, I must consider myself responsible
for you."  He swung,^ without warning, upon Maidie's unfortunate duenna.

"And if any further proof was needed.  Miss Wormley, of your total
unfitted ness to have the care of Lady Mary--' " I will not have you turn on
Worm!  " Maidie warned, flying to the shrinking duenna's defence.

"You may say what you wish to me, Firm in, but you may not berate my dearest
Worm."

"Oh, Maidie, pray--' uttered Miss Wormley, clutching at her bosom in an
ineffectual way.

"You must not!  It is perfectly true that-- Oh, dear!"

"Do not be alarmed.  Worm.  You are not to blame."  Maidie crossed the room
as she spoke, and perched by Miss Wormley's chair, putting a protective arm
about her.

"Poor Worm implored me not to come, and she was even more shocked at my
conduct than Lord Dela garde himself."

"Oh, Lord Dela garde!"  uttered Adela, pouncing on this and throwing out a
hand towards the Viscount.

"What can I say?  How can I sufficiently apologise?"

"I see no reason for apology," said Dela garde coldly, eyeing her with a hint
of hostility.

"You can scarcely be held accountable for Lady Mary's actions."

"It is excessively tolerant in you, sir," gushed Adela.  "But it will not do.
I know, none better, how little Mary has been taught of the conventions
governing the conduct of young females of her class, and I cannot but feel
myself put to the blush by the way she has behaved."

"It does you credit, my dear Lady Shurland," put in hester, bringing
Dela garde's frowning gaze to bear on her mischievous features.

He noted the telltale twinkle in her eye, and raised questioning brows.

What was she about now?  She could not seriously be taking the part of a
female whom he was himself rapidly taking in dislike?

"Few ladies would be so unselfish," pursued Lady Hester  in a kind voice,
'as to offer to sponsor a female so lost to all sense of what is fitting.  I
would not blame you if you chose to give up the notion of bringing Maidie
out.  "

So that was it!  Dela garde was shaken by an inward laugh.  Still, from what
he had seen of Adela Shurland, Aunt he's was wasting her time.  It would not
work.

"Whatever my feelings might be, I conceive it to be my duty," said Adela
virtuously, and not much to Dela garde's surprise.

"I must hope to prevail upon her to conduct herself with more
circumspection."  She added waspishly, "Of course, it is no surprise to me
that Miss Wormley was unable to prevent you from behaving in this
inconsiderate way, Mary."

"She has no control over the girl whatsoever," said her spouse.

"From what I have been privileged to see, I should not think she ever has
had.  But perhaps she will care to explain why, if she did not approve of
Lady Mary's antics, she did not see fit to inform me of what was in the wind."

"Oh, I could not!"  broke from the tearful duenna involuntarily.

"I mean, it would not be--' " Of course you could not," said Maidie
reassuringly.  " Really, Firm in, how can you be so stupid?  As though Worm
would do anything so shabby as to betray me to you.  "

"Naturally not," returned Adela sarcastically.

"It is too much to expect that she might remember who is her employer."  She
then turned on her husband.

"I told you to send her packing.  I warned you how it would be.

But no, you never listen to me.  I might as well have spared my breath.  "

"Adela, be silent!"  snapped her lord, reddening.  He turned to his hosts
with an air of apology.

"My wife is in great distress.  I trust you will make allowances."

"For my part," said Lady Hester, turning to cast a conspiratorial wink at
Maidie before addressing the Earl,

"I

 am willing to make every allowance.  Indeed, Shurland, I do most strongly
advise you to leave the child with me.  It is clear that she is in pressing
need of guidance, and a woman of my years, who has been about the world, is
far less prone to be distressed.  I do sincerely sympathise with Lady
Shurland, and shall be happy to take this irksome charge off her hands.  "

Maidie listened to this speech with mixed feelings.  She had known Lady
Hester rather less than a day, but it did not need that quick little wink to
tell her what her new friend was about.  But Lady Hester did not know Adela.
Maidie did.  She was determined, and there was no hope of her voluntarily
giving up the notion.  There!  She was arguing already.  And Firm in was on
her side.  Not that she cared what either of them thought.

There was only one thing that could induce her to leave.  She had not thought
that she cared for his opinion either, but if Dela garde chose to encourage
the Shurlands to take her away!

She looked across at him and found him watching her.  Their eyes met.

Maidie, unaccountably breathless all at once, could tell nothing from his
expression.  Indeed, she forgot even to try to read it, making instead the
interesting discovery that his eyes were as dark as his hair.  She was
vaguely surprised that she had not noticed it before.  It occurred to her to
wonder why in the world he was still unwed.  She could only conclude that
those females whose interest had been aroused--not a few, she was
persuaded--had discovered too quickly how disobliging and cross was his
nature.

Then, as though to give her the lie, Dela garde abruptly smiled at her.

Maidie blinked, stared at him in foolish disbelief, and was annoyed to feel
herself flushing.  He must have seen it, for his smile grew, and he lifted an
expressive eyebrow in mute question.  To Maidie's intense relief, he then
turned away, stepping into the continuing discussion.

tfgv

"Nothing could be further from my mind," Adela was saying, 'than to allow
Maidie to burden you, dear ma'am.  Come, Shurland," she said, turning
purposefully to her husband,

"Maidie has trespassed enough.  Make her come home with us, and let us have
an end to this nonsense."

"Trespass?  Dear me, no," said Lady Hester gently.

"She is here by my invitation."

"That may be," said Shurland heavily, 'but I am certain that Dela garde cannot
wish for such a charge.  "

"On the contrary," said Dela garde, energetically entering the lists, 'you
must know that my mother commended Lady Mary to my care many years ago, and I
have been remiss in not honouring the promise.  "

"Commended Lady Mary to your care?"  echoed Shurland, gazing at him blankly.

"Why should she have done so?"

"My dear sir, nothing could have been more natural.  When a young female
relative is orphaned--' " Relative?  What nonsense is this, pray?  "

"Surely you are aware that the Burioynes are connected to the Otter bums?"

said Dela garde, in a voice of pained surprise which caused Lady Hester to
choke off a smothered laugh.

"Indeed, it was my mother who sent Miss Wormley--our cousin, you must
know--to look after Lady Mary when she was left without a female protector at
so tender an age."

Adela's eyes were popping, and it was evident that all this was as new to her
as it was to her husband.

"How comes it about that I never heard a word of this?"  Shurland demanded,
casting an irritated glance at Maidie.

"Did you not?  It was before your time, of course," De- la garde said in an
excusing tone.

"But perhaps the late Lord Shurland did not have an opportunity to inform you
of it."

"Reginald Hope," said the present Earl, in a voice that very imperfectly
concealed his chagrin, 'saw fit to inform me of nothing at all concerning my
inheritance.  If he had a thought to spare for anything other than his
infernal hobby, I was not privileged to know of it.  "

"How dare you sneer at Great-uncle Reginald?"  demanded Maidie, suddenly
firing up.

At the back of her mind, as she came rapidly towards the group, she took in
the startled glance of Lady Hester, and the odd expression that leapt into
Dela garde's features.  But the spurt of anger would not be contained.

"You are not half the man he was, Firm in," she told her cousin in a voice
that shook.

"Great-uncle Reginald was the best of men, and the kindest of guardians, and
as much a father to me as Worm was a mother.  I will not have either of them
abused.  As for his preoccupation, it was a great deal more than a hobby, and
of far greater worth than anything you might waste your thoughts upon."

"Of importance to others of equal eccentricity, no doubt," retorted Lord
Shurland.

Dela garde saw Maidie's eyes flash, and was not much surprised to find that
the Earl backed down.  He was rather amused than otherwise by the discovery
that the unshakable Lady Mary had a temper.

Shurland shifted a little, avoiding his cousin's eye, and adopted a
blustering tone.

"Very well, very well.  Enough said.  In any event, this is no time to be
arguing over what is past and cannot be mended.  Go and pack your things,
Maidie, for you are coming home with us."

Maidie moved away from him, saying in a calmer tone, "I thank you, no, Firm
in.  If Lord Dela garde is indeed willing to sponsor me--' " Certainly," broke
in Dela garde.

"Not only that.  I am going to figure as her trustee."

Shurland's chest swelled alarmingly, and his cheeks reddened.

"You will figure as nothing of the kind, sir!  I am  perfectly aware of all
the circumstances of her fortune.  You have no rights in the matter at all."

"Neither have you," Dela garde pointed out.

"Lady Mary is of age and may do as she pleases, and I do not believe that
either myself or you, Shurland, have the means to prevent her.  If she
chooses to come and live with my aunt and myself, there is no barrier that I
can see."

"Except," put in Adela bitterly, 'that it makes us look like fools.  "

"That cannot be helped," said Dela garde.

"Oh!  I did not look for such usage from you, my lord!  It is plain that Mary
has blinded you with some horrid tale against me."  She glared at Maidie, and
seemed for the first time to notice her appearance, for she added in a
waspish tone,

"How you suppose you might catch a husband in a get-up like that, I am at a
loss to understand.  You look thirty if you look a day!  And if you have not
sense enough to conceal that perfectly appalling hair ' " Appalling?  "
echoed Dela garde, interrupting her without ceremony.

"My dear ma'am, I cannot agree with you.  Lady Mary's hair is her most
attractive attribute, and the gown is excessively becoming.  Indeed, I was
just expressing my admiration when you were announced."

Maidie gasped at this blatant untruth, and noted that Lady Hester was
struggling against a fit of laughter.

"However that may be, my lord," said Adela sulkily, 'you will at least admit
that it is hardly raiment suitable to a debutante.  "

"Well, if you dislike it so much, Adela," Maidie said before Dela garde could
answer this, 'you should be happy that it is not you who will have to appear
in society with me.  "

"This is absurd!"  Lord Shurland burst out angrily.

"I am far from accepting this tara diddle about your mother, Dela garde, but I
take leave to inform you that there will be  but one construction to be put
upon the matter, if you take it upon yourself to interfere in this way."

Maidie felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere, as though a chill entered the
room.  Glancing at Lady Hester, she was startled to find the elder lady's
eyes sparkling with something other than humour.  Her attention was drawn to
De- la garde, who had stiffened, she thought.  His narrowed eyes were turned
upon the Earl, and there was a hint of ice in his voice.

"Indeed?  Perhaps you would care to elaborate."

Shurland glared at him, but blustered it through.

"Poker up, if you will, sir!  You know very well what I mean.  I shall not
demean myself by explaining it further."

"Very prudent," returned Dela garde sardonically.

The Earl coloured.

"If we are to talk of prudence, let me advise you to inquire into the way
things are left before you do what you may come to regret.  You do not know
her, Dela garde.  I do!"

Maidie could make nothing of this.  She saw that the Viscount's brows had
snapped together, and he was now looking more puzzled than angry.  Before she
could request an explanation.  Lady Hester had moved forward again, her calm
tones dispelling the discomfort in the air.

"You quite mistake the matter, my dear Shurland.  De- la garde is acting, I
assure you, from motives of the purest chivalry."  She laid a hand upon
Adela's arm.

"I fear you are very much put out, my dear.  Never fear.  We shall say that
the child has come expressly to stay with me, because Dela garde's mama wished
for the connection, and because Reginald Hope was my own dear friend."

"You may say so," answered Adela shrilly.

"I will not.  No one will think that an adequate reason for Mary to come out
under your aegis instead of mine.  I shall be made to seem the greatest beast
in nature, and I think it is quite heartless of Mary to subject me to such a
horrid slander!"

 Upon which.  Lady Shurland burst into sobs, and rushed out of the room.
Her harassed spouse turned on Maidie.

"I hope you are satisfied!"  He swung round on Dela garde.

"As for you, sir, concoct what story you wish, but don't expect me to
corroborate it!"

The only thing I require," responded Dela garde calmly, 'is that you will keep
quiet about Lady Mary's fortune.  Neither you nor I can wish for the sort of
speculation that must arise if society should hear of it."

"I shall say nothing, but I must point out to you that you, far more than I,
are likely to be hurt by its becoming known."

"Well, if you spread the news about, you will discover your mistake,"

Dela garde said trenchantly.

"Because I will set it about that you tried to marry Lady Mary off to your
brother-in-law."

"If you imagine that Eustace wishes to marry her, you are mightily mistaken,"
objected Shurland, incensed.

"The truth is that he desires nothing less--as who shall blame him?"

On this parting shot, he stalked out of the room, leaving Maidie a prey to
conflicting emotions.  On the one hand, she was relieved that Dela garde had
perversely chosen to champion her; on the other, she was disturbed by Firm
in's veiled hints.  What had he meant?  Her thoughts dissipated as Lady
Hester gave way to laughter.

"What a dreadful liar you are, Laurie!  I don't know how I kept my
countenance."

Dela garde grinned.

"You can talk, Aunt he's!"  He saw that Maidie was staring at him in frowning
silence, and raised an eyebrow.

"Well?  You have got what you wanted, have you not?"

"Yes, but I can't think why, when you know very well that you heartily
dislike the notion," she said frankly.

"True," he agreed.

"But not as much as I disliked Lady  Shurland.  Come to that, I am not
overfond of Shurland either."

"They are both hateful!  And Firm in was lying, too.  It is quite possible
that Eustace does not wish to marry me-- for he doesn't like me any more than
I like him--but he will overcome his reluctance in order to get his hands on
my money."

"So will a great many others," Dela garde said.

"Which is why we are going to say nothing about it."

Maidie frowned.

"Then how am I to get a husband?"

"You will have to rely on your looks and natural charm of manner."

"Oh," Maidie said doubtfully.  Then Lady Hester began to laugh again, and a
slight flush crept into her cheeks.  "You mean to be sarcastic, I suppose,
but I do not care."

"You need not tell me that."

"Well, but you completely agreed with Adela.  You said exactly the same as
she did about this gown."

"Did I?"  Dela garde looked her up and down.

Then, so suddenly that she had no time to protest, he stepped up to her and,
in one swift movement, ripped the bandeau from her head.  Maidie uttered a
stifled cry and put her hands up to her hair.  She hardly heard the shocked
reactions of the other ladies, for Dela garde had seized her wrists, and was
pulling down her struggling hands.

"Stand still!"  he ordered.

"Do you think I am going to hurt you?  Just be quiet a moment!"

Maidie stared up at him, lost in amazement, unable either to speak or move as
she felt his fingers moving deftly in her hair, running through her curls,
and prinking them.  She followed the motion of his eyes as they flicked about
together with the action of his fingers.  As he finished, the dark eyes came
to rest on hers.  They smiled.

"There, that is better," he said, and stepped back.

"You  look much younger, and the gown is now unexceptionable."

Lady Hester clapped her hands.

"Well done, Laurie!"  She came up to Maidie.

"Don't look so bemused.  He is quite right.  The bandeau and feathers were a
mistake."

Maidie blinked.

"But he hates my hair!  I know he said something silly to Adela, but--' "
Whatever I may have said," interrupted Dela garde, 'it is quite untrue that I
hate it.  Besides, since you are desirous of catching a husband, it will
usefully attract attention.  There is bound to be some deluded fool who falls
in love with it!  And the sooner the better."

"At last we are of one mind!"  retorted Maidie, reviving from her bemused
state.  She drew a breath, and smiled at Dela garde.

The effect was blinding, and his brows rose.  Perhaps it was not such a
far-fetched notion that someone would fall in love with her.  Provided, that
is, they had no opportunity to discover her character first.

"I must thank you, my lord, for having supported me," Maidie was saying.

"I do not understand why you should have done so, but I won't tease myself
about that."  She added in a confiding way,

"I was afraid you meant to encourage Firm in and Adela to take me away."

"I know you were," Dela garde said.

"And I have no more idea than you why I did not do so.  I have every
expectation that I will live to regret it!"

The better relations that had been established between himself and Maidie
were not the only thing that prompted Dela garde to offer his escort when she
expressed a need to visit the lawyer who dealt with her affairs.  He'd had
time enough since Wednesday to wonder why he had allowed himself to be
dragooned into submission over her ridiculous charade.  It was not, he
thought, the advent of  the Shurlands.  He had been more or less reconciled
before that.  He had spent that first day smouldering over the perfidious way
Aunt he's has spiked his guns, but had arrived home without any real
expectation of discovering the whole episode to have been imagined, as he had
told himself might well be the case.

His resentment had flared anew at sight of Maidie in that objectionable
attire, but it had fled as he took in the enormity of her ginger hair and
discovered the chink in her armour.  Gone was the self-possessed young woman
who had driven him against the ropes in the morning!  He had begun to realise
that there was a good deal of bravado about Maidie's manner.

She was still the most infuriating wench he had ever encountered, and he did
not doubt but that she would drive him demented.  But he could no more have
thrown her out of his house than he could similarly have treated Aunt he's.

He had done what he might to avert the worst consequences of her descent upon
him, but he was a little disturbed by Shurland's remarks.  It would be as
well, he thought, to discover just how matters were left.  Maidie's expressed
wish to visit her lawyer was therefore opportune.

They set off in his phaeton on Friday morning, with Maidie (who had yesterday
been on a further shopping spree with Lady Hester) arrayed in a new pelisse
of warm brown and a matching bonnet adorned with russet satin rosettes.  With
her curls rioting under a wide brim, Dela garde acknowledged that she made an
appealing picture.

"You look very well," he said, as he handed her up into the carriage.

"Was it your choice?"

"No, it was Lady Hester's," Maidie told him, giving him her direct gaze with
those clear grey eyes.  Well!  It was moderate praise, but at least he
approved.

"I have not yet learned enough to trust myself."

"You will," Dela garde said, climbing up into the phaeton.  and disposing the
heavy folds of his caped greatcoat loosely about him to free his arms before
taking up the reins and his whip.  He nodded at his groom, who let go of the
horses' heads and swung himself up behind as the carriage swept past.

"It is very kind of you to take me to see Bagpurze," Maidie told him, not to
be outdone in civility.

"No.  it isn't," Dela garde said with a grin, glancing down at her.

"I have a very good reason for going with you."

Maidie frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Since I have been thrust into a position where I may well have to figure as
your trustee, I had better know the true facts of your inheritance."

"But I have told you!"  Maidie protested.

"Do you suppose I have been lying to you?"

"You have scarcely told me anything at all, and you cannot expect me to have
made head or tail of the rigmarole you did tell me.  But at least I must get
a straight story from a lawyer."

"Do as you please," Maidie.  said huffily.

"I have nothing to hide."  She thought for a moment, and then added,

"Besides, it is a good opportunity for us to come to terms."

Dela garde glanced frowningly down at her.

"Terms?"

"Yes, of course.  You need not think I should expect you to do all this for
nothing.  And I am sure you will find the charge less troublesome when we
have agreed how much I should pay you for serving me."

For a stunned moment, Dela garde could say nothing at all.  He held in his
horses with automatic skill as he guided them through the turn into
Piccadilly.  Then he found his tongue, throwing a quick look at the calm
figure at his side.

"You wish to pay me?"

Maidie frowned up at his profile.

"What is the matter now?  You need not be embarrassed to admit that your 
pockets are to let.  I should have thought you would be only too glad of the
opportunity to obtain some easy money."

A choking sound from his groom behind failed to penetrate the blanket of
disbelief in which Dela garde was wrapped.  Was she off her head?  Unable to
think of a suitable response, he took up the first thing that came into his
mind.

"It is evident to me that anything I received for serving you, as you call
it, would be hardly earned."  He threw her a brief, but menacing glance.

"However, you have been misinformed.  My pockets happen to be remarkably
well- lined.  ' Maidie's brows rose.

"Then I suppose you must have been winning at the tables?"

"Oh, that is what you suppose, is it?  And am I to suppose that you don't
then disapprove of gaming?"

"Why should I?"  said Maidie, surprised.

"How else is a man to support himself in the character of a gentleman, unless
he marries money?  And there are few enough females of decent fortune, like
myself, to assist all such gentlemen."

"The sooner you assist one, then, the better!"  Dela garde snapped.

"And let me tell you that I have not won my own fortune, and I am quite able
to support myself in the character of a gentleman."  He added, as she opened
her mouth to speak,

"However, I have grave doubts of being able to maintain that reputation if
you are to remain for very long in my house!"

"Because of the way I behave?"  asked Maidie innocently.

"Well, I may be a trifle unconventional, but I am perfectly respectable.
Lord Dela garde, and I assure you I will not bring any disrepute upon your
head."

"It has nothing to do with your respectability," Dela garde  stated flatly.

"It is I who will lose my character completely when I am dragged to the
gallows for murder!"

A stifled squeal from the back of the phaeton reminded him that his groom was
present.

"If you cannot control your amusement, Samp ton, I trust that at least you
may control your tongue," he said, tossing the remark over his shoulder.

"If one word of this conversation is repeated!"

"Your lordship may rely on me," said Samp ton hastily, choking off his
laughter.

"I shall say nothing."

"Well, see you don't."  Glancing down at Maidie, he discovered that direct
gaze trained upon him, puzzlement writ large on her face.

"What is the matter?"

"I think you are a very odd sort of man.  Lord Dela garde."

"On the contrary, I am a very normal sort of man.  The only oddity is in my
having been saddled with you."

"But you are not saddled with me," objected Maidie.

"I don't wish you to do more than lend me countenance.  Once I am introduced,
it will suit me very much better if you will go on just as if I was not
there."

"Impossible!"

"But what difference can it possibly make to you?  Lady Hester--' " I will
tell you what difference it makes," Dela garde broke in, guiding his pair
neatly through a narrow gap between a dray-cart and an ancient hackney coach.

"Hitherto, I have enjoyed a blameless reputation, with nothing known to my
discredit beyond what may be pardoned in any man about town."

"There is nothing to stop you going on in that way," put in Maidie.

"Oh, isn't there just!"  muttered Dela garde, well aware that in allowing
himself to be persuaded into sponsoring Maidie's entry into society, he was
laying himself open to  the justifiable censure of his circle should she
offend against its unwritten codes of conduct.  From his limited knowledge of
her, he had every expectation of finding his reputation in shreds within a
very short space of time.  But Maidie, it was evident, had no notion of this.
If she could be brought to understand it, she would probably renew her offer
of recompense!  The thought drew a laugh from him.

Maidie heard it, and wondered at it.  She did not ask for an explanation, for
she was grappling with thoughts of her own.  She was beginning to suspect
that her instinct about Dela garde had been right.  Was he going to prove more
trouble than he was worth?  Perhaps it was as well that he had refused to
accept any payment.  He could not justly interfere if he received no
remuneration.  She had offered it because she did not wish to be beholden to
him.  But if he was not in need of funds, she could accept his patronage as a
discharge of the obligation put upon him by his mother--and nothing more.

They had not a great way to go to reach the City, and the journey was
beguiled for Maidie by the interesting sights and sounds of a part of London
that she had not been in before.  There was a great deal of traffic, through
which Dela garde appeared to have no difficulty in threading his way.  Maidie
was much interested in the press of persons jostling one another on the
pavings.  Everyone seemed to be in a hurry, apart from a few loiterers
standing about, and street sellers crying their wares.  But presently they
left a little of the noise and bustle behind, and entered a quieter stretch
where Maidie noted a rather higher preponderance of individuals with an air
of slight affluence.

"We are almost there," Dela garde said.

"This area is almost wholly given over to those of the legal profession.
That is Gray's Inn Gardens."

Maidie looked where he was pointing with his whip, and saw a pleasant-looking
park with a walk running down  its centre.  Then they turned into a smaller
street, lined with tall buildings with neither beauty nor proportion to
recommend them.

"Port pool Lane," Dela garde announced, and brought the phaeton to a
standstill.  The groom jumped down and went to the horses' heads.

"Walk them, Samp ton!"  said Dela garde, leaping nimbly down and moving to
assist Maidie to alight.

Within a very few moments, she found herself entering the somewhat
constricted offices of Mr Bagpurze.  A clerk hastened through a glazed inner
door to inform the lawyer of the arrival of these noble clients, and Mr
Bagpurze himself came out to usher them into his sanctum.

He was a stout man of some fifty years, who adhered to a full-bottomed wig in
despite of fashion, and who pursed his lips on hearing of Lady Mary's
determination to throw off the protection of Lord Shurland.

"His lordship has already been to see me, I may say," he told his client,
bending a disapproving stare across his heavy oak desk.

He had set for Maidie one of the two client chairs of latticed wood with cane
seats.  The Viscount had elected to stand, motioning the lawyer back to his
own sturdy armchair of polished wood set between two enormous bookcases
crowded with boxes, pink-rib boned files and great legal tomes.

"Firm in has been to see you?"  repeated Maidie, in a voice of discontent.

"He would.  I suppose he told you everything.  What did he want?"

"If you mean, Lady Mary, that he informed me of your ill-considered flight
from your home, you are correct.  But that was not his purpose in visiting
me."

"Well, what was his purpose?"

"Lord Shurland wished to discover if there were any legal means by which he
might prevent you from leaving  his protection to seek that of Lord
Dela garde," said the lawyer.

"And are there?"  asked Dela garde, from where he leaned against the near wall
by a grimy window, arms folded across his chest.

Bagpurze looked at him.

"No, my lord, there are not."

"A pity."

Maidie turned on him the full force of her wide-eyed gaze, a spark darkening
the grey.

"Why do you say that?  I thought we were agreed that I was to remain in your
house."

"Oh, we are," said Dela garde offhandedly.

"But that does not mean I am reconciled."

"Well, I have offered to pay you," Maidie pointed out.  A startled sound from
the lawyer turned her gaze towards him.

"I was perfectly ready to pay him, for I don't see that he should be expected
to do this for nothing.

But he will have none of it, which is quite his own fault.  And I don't know
why you should look like that, Mr Bagpurze.  I can well afford to pay him,
can't I?  "

"Your ladyship is pretty well able to afford to do anything you choose,"

agreed the lawyer primly.

"But that does not excuse the outrageous nature of your suggestion."

Dela garde began to be amused.  He strolled forward to the desk.

"Let us forget that matter, if you please, sir.  What I wish to know is
whether there have been any controls laid into the terms of this will."  He
raised his brows as the lawyer drew in his cheeks.

"You need not look as if you suspect me of harbouring designs upon Lady
Mary's fortune.  If I am to consider myself responsible for her welfare, I
had as well know what I am up against."

The lawyer relaxed again, and did not see the intent look that came into
Maidie's face as she glanced up at Dela garde.  Was that what Firm in had
supposed?  Hum dudgeon!  He had obviously no idea of the light in which Lord
De la garde thought of her.  The last thing on his mind would be to enrich
himself by marrying her!  The last thing on her mind, come to that.  If one
thing was more certain than anything else, it was that neither Dela garde nor
herself could ever contemplate matrimony with one another.

"Lady Mary's fortune is left to her absolutely," Bagpurze said.

"There is nothing to stop her spending it in any way she chooses.  The only
restriction that has been placed upon it is a proviso that only part of her
fortune is to be passed over in settlements, when Lady Mary should come to
marry.  The remainder is secured at her own disposal, and will pass, at her
death, to those of her issue who may not already be heir to some other
property."

"In other words," said Dela garde, 'it is a safeguard to provide against an
improvident match, and to ensure the future of any children she may have.  "

"Precisely, my lord."

"It appears that the late Lord Shurland was not as eccentric as I had
supposed."

"Oh, it was not Great-uncle Reginald who drew up the will," Maidie said
airily.

"No, my lady.  The papers were drawn up by Lady Mary's father, John Hope, on
his wife's becoming terminally ill.  As well, for he did not long outlive
her.  Had it been left to his uncle and heir, the fifth Lord Shurland, I am
bound to state that no such sensible arrangement is likely to have been made."

"Oh, no," Maidie agreed.

"Great-uncle had far more important matters to attend to."

"Evidently," said Dela garde, wondering what in the world these matters might
be.  More than one mention had been made of this gentleman's preoccupation.

"I am glad that my father had arranged everything for me, but I cannot blame
Great-uncle Reginald.  I am equally forgetful when I am engrossed.

Indeed, I miss him dread fully, for there is a great deal I do not yet know,
and how I shall manage without him to advise me, I cannot think.  "

Dela garde agreed to this, but absently.  He shifted away again, and stood
looking out of the window, for it had occurred to him that if Maidie's
fortune was not going to prove the attraction that she had expected, then she
was indeed obliged to fall back upon her personal attributes.  These, it had
to be admitted, were slight, and were so far outweighed by the disadvantages
of her peculiar manners that he began to entertain serious doubts of getting
her married off at all.  Indeed, if Eustace Silsoe was informed, of the
restrictions--as how could he not be, situated as he was?  --it was a wonder
that he continued to press his suit.  Just what were the sums involved?

He turned from the window to find that Maidie was arranging with Bagpurze the
manner in which she proposed to draw upon her own funds.  The lawyer was
advising her to have all her bills sent to him for settlement, and was
considering how best to provide her with pin money for her day-to-day needs.
Dela garde stepped forward to intervene.

"It will be simplest for you to give me a draft on the Hope bankers, and let
me draw the money for her."

Maidie regarded him with suspicion.

"Why should you wish to do any such thing?"

"Good God, do you suppose I am going to make off with your money?  I am
trying to help!"

"Well, I could not be expected to guess that, could I?"

Dela garde eyed her bodingly.

"We will continue this discussion at some more convenient moment.  Meanwhile,
I have a question to put to Mr Bagpurze."

The lawyer had looked with scant approval on their interchange, but he raised
his brows at this.

"My lord?"

"I have no doubt Lady Mary will attribute some ulterior motive to my asking
this--'  " I like that!  You are the one who distrusts me.  "

'--but it is of some slight interest to me to know what sort of figures we
are dealing with.  You may suppose, if you choose, as Lady Mary does," he
added sardonically, that I am motivated by pure self-interest.  For you must
know, Mr Bagpurze, that my pockets are to let and I am therefore solely
interested in heiresses--' " I never said that!  "

'--and just in case there is enough set aside for settlements to tempt me--'
"Lord Dela garde, I wish you will be quiet!"  Maidie cut in, leaping up from
her chair in a state of some indignation.  "The idea never so much as crossed
my mind--not even when Firm in hinted at it.  I only realised this moment
past just what he had meant.  It is quite unnecessary for you to taunt me in
that horrid way!"

"Then let it be a lesson to you not to be so suspicious!"  Dela garde
returned.  Maidie opened her mouth to retort, and he held up a warning finger.

"Don't!"

She compressed her lips, but subsided, reseating herself.  Turning to the
lawyer, Dela garde discovered him with popping eyes and dropped jaw, and his
temper gave way to amusement again.  Really, the chit was impossible!

She had the worst possible effect upon him.

"You must excuse us, Mr Bagpurze," he said smoothly.  "Lady Mary and I have
an unfortunate knack of rubbing each other up the wrong way."  He looked down
at Maidie with a rueful air.

"Come, cry friends.  I will apologise for the whole."

Maidie's flush died, and she bit her lip.

"You are detestable!  But I suppose I was provoking."

Dela garde grinned.

"Very.  Never mind.  Will you give this unfortunate man permission to tell me
the extent of your fortune, Maidie?"

Maidie nodded, conscious of a glow of pleasure at hearing him use her pet
name.

"Yes, of course.  Tell him, Mr Bagpurze."

The lawyer pursed his lips, but had perforce to do as she asked.

"The bulk is in investments, but the income yield is substantial.  Lady Mary
has the benefit of several thousands of pounds per annum--say between six and
ten, depending on the percentage returns."

Dela garde blinked.

"But that must mean a fortune in excess of one hundred thousand!"

"That is correct, my lord."  The lawyer's tone was noncommittal, as befit his
profession.

"And the allowable settlements upon marriage?"

"Less than half.  Forty-five thousand, to be precise."

Dela garde very nearly clutched his head.  Forty-five thousand pounds?  And he
had made himself responsible for the wench!  How the devil had he become
embroiled?

"Oh, good God," he groaned, 'now we are in the suds!  "

Chapter Four Q^gy^sssQ contrary to his avowed refusal to do any such thing
on the day Maidie descended upon him in Charles Street, Dela garde not only
accompanied his great-aunt and her protegee on an introductory round of
morning calls, but, to Maidie's chagrin, stuck so close at her side that she
had scarce an opportunity to open her mouth.

He would not allow her to respond to the most innocuous of questions.  While
Lady Hester was engaged with another visitor, their hostess this Tuesday,
Lady Win grove, inquired of Maidie pleasantly how she came to be residing at
Charles Street.

"Oh, that is because--' Maidie began, and found herself ridden over by
Dela garde.

"That is readily explained, my dear Lady Win grove," he said, with an
engaging smile that successfully diverted that lady's attention.

"Aunt he's had long been informed of Lady Mary's orphaned state, and wrote on
many occasions to the late Lord Shurland--her friend, Reginald Hope, you must
know--begging him to send the child to her.  You may imagine how delighted
she is to have the opportunity at last of introducing our little relative
about."

Lady Win grove, murmuring suitably, expressed the  hope that Lady Hester
would forgive the impromptu nature of the invitation and bring the child to
her projected evening party on Thursday night.  Then she promptly lost
interest in her, embarking instead on a conversation with Dela garde which, to
Maidie's critical eye, looked suspiciously like a flirtation.  She was
obliged to sit there and watch, taking no part in the interchange, wishing
that the Worm had not thankfully given place to Lady Hester and rejected all
invitations to make one of these social outings.

"Why did you do that?"  Maidie demanded without preamble, the moment they
were all reseated in Dela garde's town coach.

"Do what?"

"You would not let me speak to that woman!  And I should like to know what
you mean by referring to me as your " little" relative."

"Is that what he did?"  asked Lady Hester, amused.

"Depend upon it, child, Laurie is only intent upon planting the story we have
concocted."

"No, he is not," Maidie contradicted forthrightly.

"He is afraid if he lets me say anything at all, I am bound to say something
to disgrace him.

Aren't you?  "

"The thought had crossed my mind," admitted Dela garde.

"However, I am far more concerned that you should not inadvertently let out
any hint of your ghastly fortune."

"Of course I shall not," Maidie said indignantly.

"Do you think me incapable of keeping a secret?"

"I think you have a very unguarded tongue," Dela garde said frankly.

"You don't care what you say, nor to whom you say it.  I shudder to think of
the possible consequences of some ill-considered remark."

"Don't be silly, Laurie," cut in Lady Hester, before the indignant Maidie
could respond to this.

"You cannot expect the poor girl to sit mum chance through every social 
encounter.  She must be allowed to make her own impression."

"That is exactly what I am afraid of " Besides," pursued his great-aunt,
unheeding, 'unless you mean to remain glued to her side in a fashion that can
only serve to make you ridiculous, she is bound at some point to manage on
her own.  She may as well do so from the start."

"Thank you.  Lady Hester," said Maidie gratefully.

"And what is more.  Lord Dela garde, it is not in either of our interests for
you to stay so close to me.  No gentlemen will be able to approach me if they
imagine you to be so strict a guardian.  You had much better go away and
indulge your own amusements, and leave me to Lady Hester."

But this the Viscount would by no means agree to.

Although he refrained on the next occasion from interfering in quite so
obvious a manner, Maidie was aware of him hovering in her vicinity, and felt
that every utterance she made was subject to his critical scrutiny.

By the time she made her first appearance at Lady Win grove's party on
Thursday evening, she was feeling so much out of charity with his lordship
that her frustration could not but find expression.

As they entered on the announcement of their names into the bower of
sea-green and gilt that comprised the two adjoining saloons on the first
floor of the Win grove house, Maidie was relieved to see that Dela garde was
immediately hailed by two gentlemen.

"How fortunate!"  whispered Lady Hester in her ear, as the Viscount went over
to greet them.

"Those two are Laurie's particular friends.  Let us hope that, between them,
they may keep him so occupied that he leaves you alone for once."

Maidie could only echo this sentiment, but she said nothing for the Win
groves were waiting to greet them.  She  underwent a number of introductions
without untoward incident, remaining close by Lady Hester's side so that she
was not called upon to do more than murmur a few conventional phrases as they
meandered from group to group.  She had begun the evening buoyed up with
confidence engendered by the becoming apricot gown of Lady Hester's choosing,
which had been delivered that very morning.  But as she passed among Lady Win
grove's guests, it was gradually borne in upon Maidie that the colour toned
too well, throwing undesirable attention upon her hair.  It seemed to her
that every pair of eyes that encountered her strayed upwards, and blinked a
startled reaction.  Maidie began to wish that she had not been persuaded into
wearing her hair loose, and was thankful that the full enormity was slightly
mitigated by a frivolous wisp of lace and flowers that served for a cap.

"Everyone is looking at my hair," she imparted in a frantic whisper to Lady
Hester at a moment when they were briefly alone.

"Perhaps they are admiring it," suggested the elder lady with a twinkle.

"Do not be ridiculous, dear ma'am!  How can they possibly do so?"

"Very easily.  Now do not put yourself about, child.  Forget your hair.  They
may look, but no one will say anything to put you to the blush, I promise
you."

Maidie drew a breath and tried to relax.  It was perhaps unfortunate that,
the very next moment, Lady Hester was accosted by an alarming female in puce
satin with a feathered turban and a deal of ornamentation in gold.

This gaunt creature stood tall and arrogant before them, all apparent
condescension as she pried her jutting nose into Maidie's affairs.

"Lord, Hester, is it true what I have been hearing?  Have you indeed come out
of hiding only to bring out John  Hope's daughter?  What peculiar virtue
does she have to make you bestir yourself after all these years?"

"You may judge for yourself, my dear Selina," responded Lady Hester, aware of
her protegee stiffening beside her.

"Maidie, this is Lady Rank mis ton, one of society's most distinguished
hostesses.  Lady Mary Hope, Selina, who is related to me."

Maidie took the two fingers extended to her, and gave back look for look the
interested stare that was bent upon her.

"Distantly related, I feel sure, Hester," said Lady Rank- mis ton smoothly,
with a significant look flashed at the ginger locks.

"I have not seen such a head in your family!"

Stung on the raw, Maidie gathered her de fences.

"You are right, ma'am.  The colour of my hair comes from the Hopes, not the
Otter bums.  It is a distinctive aberration that has made an infrequent
appearance ever since the Tudors.  There is a family tradition that it hails
from an ancestor who was born of King Henry the Eighth on the wrong side of
the blanket."

"In-deed!"  responded Lady Rank mis ton, and Maidie was happy to note that
she had taken her aback.  But she made a quick recover.

"Your candour does you credit, my dear."

"Well, I have no idea whether the legend is true," Maidie admitted, the
hostility fading from her voice.

"But I must say it lends one a certain distinction to be able to claim King
Henry for a royal forebear.  Most people, so my great- uncle Reginald told
me, are only able to go back to Charles the Second, who left so many bastards
in the nobility that it can only be counted a commonplace."

Lady Rank mis ton, apparently stricken to silence by these disclosures, could
only stare at Maidie with a blank expression on her face.  Maidie cast a
questioning glance at Lady Hester, but her patroness was laughing.

 "You begin to see, I don't doubt, Selina, the " peculiar virtue" that
attracted me to this very unusual debutante."

"Unusual, indeed," agreed the other lady, finding her tongue.

"Such a happy turn of phrase, too!  Am I to understand that Dela garde is
sponsoring you, child?"

"Yes, but with the utmost reluctance," said Maidie, throwing discretion to
the winds.

"I am very much obliged to him, but I don't wish to impose upon him any more
than I need.  It is Lady Hester by whom I am allowing myself to be guided."

"And I," interposed that lady swiftly, 'have advised Lady Mary not to abate
one jot of her refreshing frankness.  I cannot bear these mealy-mouthed
damsels who will never say boo to a goose, can you, Selina?  "

"No, but neither am I an advocate for encouraging impertinence in the young,"
said Lady Rank mis ton, in a tone designed to crush pretension.

Maidie frowned.

"Have I been impertinent?  I beg your pardon, if I have.  My great-uncle had
the greatest dislike of shams.  He would not have me say anything but what
was in my head, so I am not much in the way of curbing my speech.  It is what
Lord Dela garde particularly dislikes in me."

"I can find it in me to pardon him."

"Lady Mary was brought up by Reginald Hope," Lady Hester explained before
Maidie could pick this up.

"He was something of a recluse, you must know, and rarely ventured into
society."

A flash of recognition entered Lady Rank mis ton's eye.  "Reginald Hope?

What, that old lunatic had charge of you?  Lord, you poor child!  "

A tide of fury washed through Maidie.  Without pausing for thought, she let
fly.

"He was no such thing!  He was the wisest and kindest of men, and I loved him
very dearly.  I think it is perfectly horrid of you, ma'am, to speak so 
sligh tingly.  Great-uncle was right.  He said society was full of old cats
who had nothing better to do than to scratch and claw at everyone around.

And I see that you are one of them!  "

With which, she turned on her heel and marched away, oblivious alike to the
startled faces that followed her, and the direction in which her feet were
taking her.  But she had hardly gone a dozen steps when her arm was grasped
in an ungentle grip, and she found Dela garde at her elbow.

"Come with me!"  he said in a savage under voice.

Far too angry to do anything but obey, Maidie was swept along, unaware that
people stared as they passed and turned to whisper behind fans.  In a very
short space of time she found herself alone with Dela garde in a small
antechamber at the far end of one of the saloons, where he released her and
turned to set the door so that it was a few inches ajar.  He was fuming, but
not so lost to all sense of propriety as to go apart with a single female and
shut the door upon them both.  He could only hope that they would not be
overheard.  Not that matters could well be much worse than they were already!

"What the devil do you think you're doing?"  he demanded in an irate tone,
keeping his voice low.

"Don't you know better than to insult one of the queens of society?"

"I don't care who she is!"  retorted Maidie.

"She had no right to insult Great-uncle.  If I insulted her, it was no more
than she deserved."

Angry tears rose to her eyes, but she dashed them away.  Brought up short by
the abrupt recognition of her distress, Dela garde checked the hot words that
rose to his tongue.  He eyed her in a baffled way, as the tears welled again,
and were as ruthlessly rejected.

"There is no need to cry, Maidie," he said, on a softened note.

"I am not!"  Maidie protested, with a defiant sniff.

 Dela garde suppressed a smile, and gave her his handkerchief.  Maidie glared
at him, sniffed again; then reluctantly took it and blew her nose.

"I am not upset, but only angry," she insisted, tucking his handkerchief into
a hidden recess in the petticoat of her apricot gown.

"So would you be, if someone told you that your Aunt Hester was a lunatic."

"I dare say I would," Dela garde conceded.

"But there is a time and place for a display of temperament.  You cannot
afford to lose the approval of such females as Lady Rank- mis ton, Maidie.
You may not realise it, but you can be socially damned by those women."

"Well, what if I am?"  said Maidie impenitently.

"I have no wish to cut a figure in society."

"Believe me, you won't.  Society is more likely to cut you."

"I don't care!"

"But I do!"

Maidie tutted.

"Why should you?  It has nothing to do with you if I am socially damned."

"Not you, simpleton," Dela garde said irritably.

"I am talking of myself.

It happens that I enjoy my social position, and I don't wish to see it
blasted by your idiotic behaviour.  "

"Don't concern yourself.  I have already told Lady Rank- mis ton that you
disapprove of me.  I have no doubt that--' " You did what?  " interrupted
Dela garde.

"Are you mad?  Good God, girl, I am supposed to be your sponsor!  Have you no
sense of what is fitting?  And Aunt he's would have me let you loose to do as
you please.  I knew how it would be!"

"It is quite your own fault," Maidie threw at him.

"You have put me so out of temper that I scarce know what I am doing.  If
only you will let me alone!"

 "Yes, do let her alone, Laurie," came from the doorway behind him.

He turned as Lady Hester entered the antechamber.  It was plain from her
demeanour that she was amused by the episode, and Dela garde's annoyance
revived.

"What the devil is so funny.  Aunt?"

"It is Selina," Lady Hester told him, bubbling over.

"I have never seen her so put out."  She came to Maidie and patted her on the
shoulder.

"Don't look so stricken, child.  I have had a grudge against that woman for
years, and it has done me no end of good to see her served out in her own
coin."

"I don't believe this!"  uttered Dela garde, disgusted.

"If you mean to congratulate the wench on her ill manners, instead of
correcting her, there is no more to be said."

"If that means you have nothing more to say," Maidie put in, 'then I am
heartily glad of it.  "

"I have a great deal more to say, but not to you," he retorted.

"It would be useless, and I am not going to waste my breath.  You might
remember.

Aunt he's, that she has to succeed on her own merits.  "

"And my title."

"Which will avail her nothing," Dela garde continued, refusing to address
Maidie direct, 'if she means to conduct herself in this discourteous fashion.
"

"Have no fear, Laurie," said his great-aunt soothingly.

"I have smoothed over the lapse.  Nothing could have been easier.  I told
Selina that the child is still raw from her great-uncle's death, which no one
could wonder at, and she has chosen to be gracious."

"That is all very well," Dela garde said, still heavily frowning, 'but if
Maidie is going to inform the world that she and I are at outs--' Lady Hester
laughed.

"My dear Laurie, there will be no need for her to inform the world of it.  No
one with the  least degree of intelligence could fail to notice it.  What do
you expect, when you hustle the child away to a private room, looking like a
thundercloud the while?"

"There, you see!"  exclaimed Maidie.

"I said it was your fault."

Dela garde eyed her with menace.

"If I do not end by strangling you, my girl, you may certainly count it my
fault!"

"Laurie," said Hester despairingly, 'do go away!  For heaven's sake, let the
child alone to find her feet.  She will never do so if you are constantly
growling about her like a bad-tempered watchdog.  "

"Yes, but you seem to forget that everything she says and does redounds upon
me.  Not that I suppose anyone cares for that!"

"No, Maidie, don't answer him!"

On the point of responding with a resurgence of heat, Maidie looked at Lady
Hester and thought better of it.  Beyond casting Dela garde a brooding glance,
she refrained from adding fuel to the flames.

"That's better," approved Lady Hester.

"You have said quite enough, Laurie.  Now, let it be.  I shall keep the child
here for a moment or two, so that she may have an opportunity to cool before
reappearing in company."

Dela garde hesitated.  He was still smouldering, but Aunt he's's words had
recalled him to the impropriety of engaging in any further argument at a
function such as this.

"Very well, do as you please," he said.

"I wash my hands of it!  And if she is quartered on us forever, don't blame
me!"

"I wish I could think he meant it, but I fear there is little hope of him
washing his hands of you," Lady Hester said, laughing, once Dela garde had
gone.

The Viscount had every intention of doing so, but he found it to be more
problematic than he had bargained for.

 To begin with, it was extremely difficult to concentrate on anything anyone
said to him when his attention obstinately held on the question of what
Maidie might be doing.  It was impossible not to cast furtive looks about to
check where she was in the room, and he could not help sighing with relief
when he noted that Aunt he's was still at her side.  This state of affairs
was conducive neither to his peace of mind, nor to his relationship with his
intimates.

"What in Hades ails you, Laurie?"  demanded his friend, Mr Everett Corring
ham, a gentleman much of the Viscount's age, but lacking his elegance.

"You have answered me at random no less than three times."

His companion, a mischievous buck with a roving eye, let out a crack of rude
laughter.

"Thinking of this waif he has adopted, I'll lay my life!"

"She is not a waif, Peter," said Dela garde crossly.

"Nor have I adopted her.  I am merely her sponsor."

"A new come-out for you, dear boy, to be sponsoring young females,"

pursued Lord Riseley, twinkling at him.

"No," agreed Corringham.

"He usually avoids them like the plague.  Too many matchmakers in tow."

"Take care you don't find yourself riveted before too long, my boy,"

teased Riseley.

"Don't be ridiculous!"  snapped Dela garde, all but shuddering at the
suggestion.

"Lady Mary and I don't deal together.  As for sponsoring her, I had no choice
in the matter, for it was my mother's doing a good many years ago.  Besides,
it is my aunt who is in charge of her."

"From what I hear," returned his friend teasingly, 'it was not your aunt who
gave the girl a raking for standing up to the Rank mis ton tabby.  "

"Devil take it!"  Dela garde swore.

"Is that story doing the rounds?"

"You couldn't expect it not to, old fellow," said Cor ring ham reasonably.

"Don't think it's done your little ginger head a mite of harm."

"You don't?"  Dela garde asked frowningly.

"Can't think of many who wouldn't want to see the Rank mis ton receive a set
down."

"Yes, but it won't do.  And she's not my little ginger head!"

Riseley grinned.

"She told the Rank mis ton that she owed her hair to one of Henry the
Eighth's bastards."

"Good God!  What next will she say?"

"Where did she get that head?"  demanded Corringham.  "Astonishing colour."

"She got it, Everett, from the man Lady Rank mis ton stigmatised as a
lunatic," Dela garde told him.

"And was he?"  asked Riseley irrepressibly.

"How the devil should I know?"  demanded Dela garde irritably.

"I didn't know the fellow.  He was evidently eccentric, but Maidie thought
the world of him."

"Who's Maidie?"

"Lady Mary, you fool!  It's what he called her."

"Oh.  Well, if I were you, dear boy, I should shab off as fast as I could.

You don't want to be leg-shackled to a female who is ripe for Bedlam.  "

Dela garde groaned.

"Peter, I keep telling you--' " It's what everyone will think, Laurie,"
warned Everett solemnly.

"Particularly if you mean to conduct yourself like a plaster when the girl is
about."

"Well, everyone will be wrong, won't they?"  responded the Viscount, incensed.

"Good God, I can't foist a girl on the town and then leave her to sink or
swim!"

"Seems to me to be swimming pretty well," observed Riseley.

Dela garde followed the direction of his gaze to where Maidie seemed to be the
centre of an animated circle that no longer included his great-aunt.

She was talking, that  disconcertingly direct gaze of hers trained upon one
of the two gentlemen who, with Lady Win grove's daughter and a couple of
other females, were grouped about her.  From the smiles and laughter, Maidie
appeared to be amusing them, and Dela garde became conscious of a sensation of
warmth mingled, most strangely, with something that felt suspiciously like
discontent--which must be nonsense.  He was glad, he told himself firmly,
that she was indeed finding her feet.  Although he would wager any sum at all
that Maidie was unconscious of saying anything comical.  He was sorely
tempted to go over and join them.  But that, he was persuaded, could only
result in Maidie's discomfiture.  She would not thank him for it.

"I am relieved that she is making her way," he told his friends smoothly.

"Which leaves me free to seek amusements of my own.  Shall we go to the card
room?"

Maidie watched the Viscount's departure from the saloon with mixed feelings.
She was very happy to think that her demonstration of independence had not
gone unnoticed.  And if Dela garde supposed that she cared anything for the
fact that the only time he had anything to say to her was when he had some
stupid complaint to make, he was very much mistaken.  The early interest in
her hair appeared to have died down, and she was able to forget about it for
moments together.  She was actually enjoying herself a little, even if the
persons with whom she was conversing were the sort that Great-uncle would
have condemned as empty-headed fribbles.  What should take them to laugh
inanely every time she opened her mouth, she was at a loss to understand.
But they had served a useful purpose.  No doubt Dela garde supposed her to be
happily engaged, which had at last made him relax his oppressive vigilance.

"Do tell us more about the stars.  Lady Mary," demanded  young Darby Hamp
ford, recalling Maidie's wandering thoughts.

Maidie frowned.  She was not going to recite any more names to them.  The
ladies, whose scanty knowledge consisted merely of the Zodiacal signs under
which they had been born, were apt to shriek with mirth when the gentlemen,
who had Latin, translated for their benefit.  All had heard of Ursa Major,
the Great Bear, but it seemed to provide delight of no common order to
discover the existence of the Great Dog, the Little Dog and the Whale, while
the Serpent-bearer and Water snake produced artistic shudders.  Familiarity
having robbed Maidie of the ability to share in such reactions, she chose
instead to discourse on stars in general.

"Well, they are at a very great distance from us.  We are indebted to the
Reverend James Bradley for having calculated in measurement the positions of
many thousands of stars."

"But how far are they?"  asked one of the ladies.

"They do not look to be very distant."

"That is because the light that we see appears to be close.  But it is said
that starlight has travelled millions and millions of miles before it reaches
us.  The sun is much nearer than any of the stars."

Maidie saw disbelief mingling with awe in the faces about her.  How odd to
find so much ignorance of what was to her a commonplace!  There was much more
she might have gone on to explain, had not an interruption occurred--one
distinctly unwelcome.

"My dear Mary, do not be pro sing on forever about your drat ted stars!"

said a familiar voice cut tingly.

Maidie turned quickly to find Adela at her elbow.  A false smile twisting her
mouth, she simpered at Maidie's companions.

"You must not encourage Lady Mary to ride upon her hobby-horse.  She will
continue all night, and I  dare say nothing could be more tedious."
Grasping Maidie's arm, she gave it a warning pinch, and added,

"Besides, I must drag my little cousin away.

We have not had a chance to converse this age.  Come, Mary.  "

Reluctant, but as unable to repulse Adela's strong hold as she had been that
of Dela garde earlier, Maidie allowed herself to be pulled into the other
saloon which was relatively uninhabited, bar a couple in earnest colloquy,
and one or two older ladies seated in desultory discussion to one side.

"What do you want with me, Adela?"  Maidie demanded, but remembering--for she
was learning fast!  --to keep her voice low.

"You cannot pretend to be anxious for my company."

"How you do take one up!"  complained Adela.  Then she smiled in what Maidie
supposed she must imagine was a winning way, but which only served to
increase her sense of the other's duplicity.

"Need we be enemies?  I do think, Mary, that you owe me at least a semblance
of kinship in public.  I assure you I have been obliged to respond to several
impertinent enquiries as to why you are not in town with me."

"And what have you answered?"  Maidie asked suspiciously.

Adela shrugged delicately.

"I have told Lady Hester's own tale.  What else could I do?  I am not so
foolish as to declare my wrongs to the world."

Maidie regarded her sceptic ally.

"You mean that Firm in has instructed you to behave with circumspection."
She saw the daggers leap back into her cousin's eyes and knew that she was
right.

"I am glad he at least has accepted the situation."

"Not without some qualms," Adela said sharply.

"He places no more dependence on your discretion, my dear Mary, than I do
myself--an opinion which your conduct  tonight has done nothing to alter.  I
can only be thankful that it is not I who must answer to charges of your
blunt insolence.  People will soon be saying that you are disgracefully ill
bred."

It had needed only this to crown a singularly unpleasant evening.  Lady Rank
mis ton--Dela garde--and now Adela.  Ill bred?  It was an insult to
Great-uncle!

"Why must everyone tell me how to behave?  Am I an upstart mushroom pushing
my way into a rank of society where I have no place?  No, Adela.  I outrank
half the ladies here, yet I am supposed to alter my whole character to suit
their notions.  If it was not for Lady Hester, I should be much inclined to
abandon the entire scheme."

Adela gave a false laugh.

"Do not expect me to sympathise.  Not that I have the remotest guess what
your precious scheme may be."

"You need not dissemble," Maidie said evenly.

"You know that I am here, like every other damsel, to find a husband."

"Then I wonder that you will insist upon foolishly ruining your own chances,"
Adela returned peevishly.

"But I do not know why I should complain of that.  The more you drive his
rivals away--which you are bound to do, for gentlemen cannot bear a female to
be outspoken!--the better reason you will have to reconsider Eustace's suit."
She added, with a glint of malice,

"Unless, that is, you have some idea of entrapping Dela garde."

Maidie slept badly.  The notion, once instilled into her head, took strong
possession of her mind.  It was a ludicrous suggestion, that went without
saying.  Nothing could have been further from her thoughts.  But that Adela
could say it, could even suppose it, had given her furiously to think.

When she looked at her own actions, and realised the  construction that
might be put upon them by an unprejudiced observer, her cheeks burned in the
darkness.  Thank heaven no one but Adela knew how she had bearded De-
la garde!  Thrusting herself into his life, and placing herself at his mercy.
Worse, she knew she would have done it even had Lady Hester not been there.

The remembrance of that first encounter threw her into a worse case than
ever.  Had not Lady Hester herself hinted at her own suspicion?  What had she
said?  Something about wondering how high Maidie might be aiming.  But she
had left off that theme soon enough.  After Maidie had mentioned her
independence.  A creeping suspicion made her flesh crawl.  It was not--it
could not be!  --that Lady Hester had supported her because of that
independence?

A wash of distress almost caused her to burst into tears.  Was it all false?
The protestations of friendship; the amusement that had not given offence
because of the kindness behind it; the care and attention, the support that
had meant so much against Dela garde's impatience.  All, all of it, only done
for gain?  She could not believe it.  But then, what did she know of these
people, acquainted with them as she had been for less than two weeks?  Was
she but a gullible fool to be so taken in?  No, it must not be true.  She did
not wish to believe it.  For if it were true, it meant not only that Lady
Hester's liking for her was a sham-- the un kindest of shams, too!  --but it
must mean also that Dela garde-Here her thoughts clashed so strongly with her
feelings that it was a moment or two before Maidie could regain the smallest
control over the heaving sensations in her breast.  Seizing the handkerchief
that she had tucked under the pillow, she mopped her eyes and blew her nose.
And then, as the image of its earlier use leapt into her mind, she sat bolt
upright in the bed and flung the handkerchief from her.  His handkerchief.
No, she would not use it!

 Agitation drove her to thrust aside the curtains about the four-poster, and
slip out of bed.  Moving to the French windows, she dragged the curtains to
one side and gazed through the panes at the darkness outside.

It was not a very clear night, but one or two of her friends up there winked
at her between the clouds.  Her tumultuous emotions began to subside.

Yes, there was Betelgeuse, and there Rigel, the brightest and furthest points
of the magnificent constellation of Orion.  The Hunter's belt and sword were
not visible tonight, but by the time she had located Aldebaran, the jewel of
the Taurus stars, Maidie had recalled how unimportant were these worldly
considerations, set against the wonders of the celestial sphere.  Great-uncle
had taught her that, and he was right.

Nevertheless, as the cold began to penetrate too insistently through her
nightgown to be ignored, and she redrew the curtains and scurried back to
bed, she drifted back to the uncomfortable thought that had thrown her into
disorder.

What if the boot were on the other foot?  She had no notion--for she was
mistress of her own designs, was she not?  --of entrapping Dela garde.  But
suppose it were De- la garde who had conceived the notion of entrapping her?

True, he had scorned the suggestion.  Had even mocked at her, as if she had
indeed harboured the suspicion.  Which she had not.  At least, not until now.
She did not know yet if she truly suspected him.  No one could accuse him of
having the slightest fondness for her!  Indeed, she dared say his distaste of
her exceeded her own for him.  But that would not preclude his determining to
marry her.  Had not Great-uncle pointed out that marriage, in the class to
which they both belonged, had nothing to do with fondness--or even mere
liking?  Arranged marriages, Great-uncle had said, were quite the thing.  It
was common for couples to be wed without acquaintance, or, even if
acquainted, to  have met only in such restricted circumstances that they
could not possibly know anything of each other's character.  Which was what
had persuaded Maidie to conceive of her scheme.  Her marriage was to be one
of convenience.  It was all too likely that Dela garde felt the same--and what
could be more convenient to him than to become possessed of her forty-five
thousand pounds?

Maidie was disappointed.  She had not thought it of him.  But when she
considered the way he set so much store by her public conduct--and had he not
insisted that it was his own reputation for which he trembled?  --she might
be pardoned for supposing him to be seeking to mould her into conduct
befitting his future Viscountess.

These unsatisfactory cogitations had left Maidie with a brooding headache,
and an air of wary uncertainty, which caused her to shy hastily away from
Dela garde when she encountered him in the downstairs breakfast parlour.

He was already at the table, but had risen on her entrance, and watched her
frowningly as she scuttled to a place at the corner furthest away from him.
Beyond bidding her good morning, he made no attempt to engage her in
conversation until Lo wick, who had returned from Berkshire, bringing with
him a formidable retinue and a mountain of supplies necessary to the
equipping of the London house in a manner suitable to entertaining, had
served Maidie with a plate of ham supported by two baked eggs and several
slices of bread and butter.

Dela garde, having laid aside his morning paper, watched Maidie sipping tea
for a moment or two.  He waved away Lo wick's offer of a refill from the
coffee pot, and signed to the butler to withdraw.

"Do you care to drive out with me this morning?"  he asked Maidie, as soon as
they were alone.

 She cast him a suspicious look.

"Why should you wish to take me driving?"

He laughed.

"Why shouldn't I?  The day is fine for March, and it is quite the fashion to
be seen driving in the park.  You are here to be seen, are you not?"

"Yes, but why should you take me?"

"Who else should take you?"  Dela garde countered, frowning.

"Until, at least, you have acquired for yourself a court of beaux."

Maidie eyed him.

"Well, I shall not do that if I am constantly to be seen in your company."

Dela garde stared at her.

"Have it as you will!  Why you should be so churlish about it, I am at a loss
to understand.  I was only trying to be helpful."

"I did not mean to be churlish," Maidie said, looking away.

"I have the headache."

"Don't trouble yourself to make excuses.  I am becoming used to your ways.

I dare say familiarity will inure me to them altogether, and I shall not even
notice.  "

"No, it won't," Maidie flashed, 'for you will not have any opportunity to
become familiar.  I shall be gone from your house much too soon for that.  "

His eyes narrowed.

"Good!  Though I fail to see why, having been so anxious to gain access to my
house, you should now spurn it in that ill-bred fashion."

I am not ill bred!  "

But she flushed, and looked down at her plate, biting her lip.  Dela garde
looked her over in a good deal of surprise.  What the devil ailed the wench?

He watched her picking desultorily at her food.  Perhaps it was true that she
had the headache.  He studied her profile.  Was she not a little pale?

And where was that direct gaze that so much characterised her?  She could
scarcely look at him!  He had just begun to wonder if there were anything
seriously amiss, when Maidie suddenly turned.  Something in her  grey eyes
touched him.  A hint of pain?  But before he could formulate a question,
Maidie spoke.

"Am I?"  -- Uncertain, low-voiced.

"Do I indeed seem to be ill bred?"  It was a plea.  Dela garde was quite
unable to withstand it.  He smiled.

"Not ill bred, Maidie.  Merely outspoken."

"But you do nothing but complain of my conduct," she said gruffly.

"You said I was ill mannered."

"And so you were," he agreed, grinning at her.

"But not intentionally.  I doubt if your worst enemy could accuse you of
saying the things you do say with any intent of malice."

A little sigh escaped Maidie.

"That is something, I suppose."  In a stronger voice, she added,

"But I must say I do not see why what I do should make any difference to your
reputation.  It cannot, after all, be as pure as all that."

"I did not say it was pure," Dela garde said, laughing.

"I should be the last man to claim that."

"Then why should you--' " Listen, Maidie!  " he interrupted in an earnest
tone.  " There are unwritten rules governing the conduct of females, and I
dare say your great-uncle Reginald--and I do not mean to criticise him, so
you need not look daggers at me!  --neglected to inform you, of a number of
things that ought to have fallen to Miss Wormley's lot to teach you.  "

A wry grimace twisted Maidie's mouth.

"Poor Worm.  She did try.  I am afraid I was not an apt pupil."

Dela garde looked amused.

"I can well imagine that her efforts might not meet with success."

There was silence for a moment or two.  Maidie toyed with the food on her
plate, digesting the conversation.  It did seem as though Dela garde was
intent upon mending her manners.  Whether his motive might be what she
suspected, she had yet to discover, but it occurred to her that she might,
with advantage, learn of him.  It did not accord  with her plans, certainly,
to drive any suitors away (as Adela had suggested).  On the other hand, it
went against the grain with her to adjust her deportment merely for the sake
of acceptance.

"It does not seem fair," she said, speaking the thought in her mind, 'that,
just because one is a female, one should be subject to restrictions.  "

"Oh, there are quite as many restrictions for men, I assure you," Dela garde
told her coolly.

"But less subject to the censure of females than of one's own sex."

"But it is the females whom I am obliged to conciliate," Maidie pointed out.

"And Great-uncle told me positively that my rank and wealth would guarantee
acceptance."

"Acceptance, yes, and your fortune--were we to tell the world of it--would
reconcile many to your devastating frankness.  But the sort of incivility
that you indulge in when you lose your temper, even in the daughter of an
Earl, will not readily be forgiven."

"I do not lose my temper," Maidie said with dignity, adding at his sceptical
look,

"At least, not often."

"Pardon me!  I have seen you lose it several times."

Maidie's chin went up.

"That is only because you are so excessively provoking."

"Permit me to return the compliment."

She bit her lip on a sharp answer, and instead added,

"It is strange that I may not be forgiven for losing my temper, but everyone
is ready to forgive your drinking yourself under the table, and gaming away
half a fortune."

"I rarely, let me tell you," retorted Dela garde, 'drink to excess.  And as
for gaming, I have already told you that I am but a moderate gamester, if I
am one at all.  "

"You will not, however, dare to say the same of your affaires," Maidie
challenged candidly.

"My!"  -- Dela garde stopped, the affability wiped from his face.

"That is a disgraceful thing to say--and typical!

 How dare you mention such matters?  No female of true gentility would dream
of referring to that part of a gentle- man's life of which she should know
nothing.  "

"That is not what Great-uncle said," Maidie told him with maddening calm.

"He advised me to be astute enough to judge what a husband might be up to, so
that I might use it to my advantage when I particularly wished for some
little service or trifle which he might otherwise be unwilling to render me."

"Your eccentric great-uncle," said Dela garde with a good deal of emphasis,
pushing back his chair and rising from the table, 'gave you a singularly
ill-advised education!  "

"Not at all," Maidie said tranquilly.

"He did not wish me to grow up one of these namby-pamby females who can do
nothing for themselves."

"There is nothing namby-pamby about a well-bred girl, with quiet manners and
a calm disposition, who has not had her head stuffed with a lot of arrant
nonsense."

Maidie raised her brows at him.

"Then why haven't you married one?"

For a moment or two, Dela garde regarded her impotently.  Then he threw down
his napkin, turned on his heel, and stalked out of the breakfast parlour
without another word.

Entering the re-opened green saloon upstairs some little time later, Maidie
discovered both the elder ladies to have come down, having breakfasted in
bed--a custom in which Lady Hester always indulged, and which Maidie knew she
had encouraged the Worm to emulate.  They looked to be enjoying a lively
discussion, seated in two of the Chippendale chairs which they had turned to
face the window in order to enjoy a little of the wintry sunshine that
entered there.

 "There you are, Maidie!"  sang out her ladyship, throwing out a welcoming
hand.

"Come and hear how we have successfully traced our relationship."

"Oh, my love, it is too comforting!  It seems that Lady Hester is my father's
first cousin.  I had no inkling that we were so closely tied."

Maidie went across and bent to press a kiss to her duenna's faded cheek.

"I am so glad for you.  Worm."  Turning to Lady Hester, she felt all her
uncertainty rush back, and was quite unable to prevent a good deal of reserve
creeping into her greeting.

"Good morning.  Lady Hester."

Her patroness instantly disconcerted her.

"Why, what is this, Maidie?  You are very cool all of a sudden."

Dismayed, Maidie stammered,

"I--I beg your pardon, ma'am.  It is just--I did not mean--' She faltered to
a stop under Lady Hester's questioning gaze.

"Have you quarrelled with Laurie again?"

"No!  At least, yes, I have, but that has nothing--1 mean, it is not because
of--' To Maidie's intense discomfiture, the Worm was now regarding her with
an equal degree of astonishment.

"My love, this is not like you.  What is the matter?"

Maidie turned quickly away, ashamed to have allowed the horrid suspicions she
entertained to have affected her demeanour.  If only Great-uncle had taught
her a little of the art of dissimulation!  But all forms of fakery were
anathema to him, and so ingrained with his beliefs was she that it had been
stupid of her to suppose that she might attempt prevarication.

Nevertheless, when she found that the two elder ladies had risen and followed
her into the centre of the room, the disagreeable sensations engendered in
her by the thought that Lady Hester's amiability might be feigned led her to
ward off the urge to blurt out the truth.

 "My dear child, what in the world is amiss?"  Lady hester was asking in
a tone of deep concern.

"Dearest Maidie, what is it?  What can I do?"  chorused the Worm at the same
time.

"Nothing, nothing," Maidie said desperately.

"It is only that I---I have the headache!"

"Oh dear, oh dear," clucked Miss Wormley, thrusting her into a chair and
feeling her brow.

"I do trust that you are not sickening for something."

Maidie protested, trying to push her away.  But she was less happy when Lady
Hester gently removed the duenna and bent over her, lifting her chin with one
hand and scanning her face.  Maidie could scarcely meet her eyes.

"She does not look to be in prime pin, certainly.  Why don't you go and lie
down, Maidie?"

Maidie nodded, and was relieved that Lady Hester moved away.

"Yes, perhaps I will."

"Come, my love," twittered the Worm.

"I will come up with you and--' " No, no.  Worm.  Thank you, but I shall be
better alone.  "

"That's right," agreed Lady Hester, sitting on a green- striped nearby sofa.

"You go and rest, child.  We have no engagement this morning.  Ida and I--'
smiling kindly at the Worm '--will continue our comfortable cose."

Maidie rose hastily, a rush of distress choking at her throat.

"Oh, yes,"

she uttered huskily, on a most unaccustomed note of petulance, 'no doubt it
will be comfort- able--since I will be absent!  "

She regretted her outburst instantly, for Lady Hester stared at her, surprise
in her face.

"Maidie, my dear," protested the Worm, throwing a distressed look at their
hostess.

But the deep sense of humiliation that underlay all Maidie's fears would
permit of no damping down.  Her emotions welled up, and found expression.

 "You need not look like that.  Lady Hester!  Well do I know that no one
could wilfully seek my company."

"My love!"

"My dear child, how can you think that?"

"What else am I to think, when everyone makes it plain enough?"  She saw hurt
enter Lady Hester's expression, and remorse bit at her.

"Am I to understand that you include me in that " everyone", Maidie?"

Maidie burst into tears.  Groping her way back to the chair, she sank into it
and hid her face in her hands, valiantly gulping down the rising sobs.

She heard the Worm clucking about her, shrunk into herself the more, and was
relieved when Lady Hester intervened.

"Dear Ida, give the girl a little space, do!"

The Worm's lamentations ceased, and Maidie, venturing to peep through her
fingers, saw a handkerchief held out to her and clutched it gratefully.

Presently she was able to wipe away the tear stains and, sniffing dismally,
looked up to find two pairs of concerned eyes trained upon her from the sofa.

"Now, my dear," began Lady Hester, one firm hand on the Worm's wrist
discouraging the duenna from making any move towards her charge, 'what is
this all about?  "

The kindness of her tone struck at Maidie's pain, and thrust her into
blurting out her trouble.

"Why have you befriended me, ma'am?  Was it only for the sake of my fortune?"
Then she looked quickly away, catching her breath on a sob.

"I do not know why I ask you.  You are bound to deny it."

"No," said her ladyship seriously.

"No, Maidie, I will not deny it."

Chapter Five Q^yvs^Q JVLaidie's eyes flew to Lady Hester's, and her chest
went hollow.  She had been afraid of that answer, but truly she had not
expected it!

"Don't look so stricken, child," begged Lady Hester.  There is no need.  I
did, it is true, urge Laurie to sponsor you for just that reason.  When I
established that you were Brice Burloyne's granddaughter, I immediately
suspected that what you called your independence must be substantial.  I knew
that Brice had been what we used to call a nabob and had made a fortune in
India.  "

"Yes, he did," Maidie agreed dully, for she was sick at heart.

"I had no idea of it myself, for my mother died long before I was old enough
to be told."

Lady Hester gave a tiny smile.

"You are hurt, and I don't wonder at it.

But bear with me a little, child.  Of course I thought of you for Laurie.  I
am but human, and a little of the matchmaker is in all of us females.  " The
mischief leapt into her eyes.

"But I would have to be a great fool to continue to entertain such hopes in
the face of your antipathy to Dela garde, would I not?"

"Yes."  It was a small voice, for a faint hope was lifting a little of the
cloud.

 The mischief deepened.

"Surely, dear child, you cannot truly believe that my adoption of you has
remained of a mercenary nature?  I cannot answer for Laurie, but you won my
heart in the shortest possible order, Maidie."

Maidie stared at her, a glow spreading through her bosom.  After a moment,
she became aware that the Worm was weeping softly, and her own eyes brimmed
again.

"Oh, ma'am, forgive me!  Pray forgive me!"

Lady Hester brushed the apology aside.

"Nonsense, there is nothing to forgive.  I am only sorry that you should have
been troubled by such uncomfortable thoughts."

Maidie smiled rather mistily.

"You are very good.  I am so thankful to have been wrong."

A thought occurred to her.  She had been wrong about Lady Hester.  But what
of her other suspicion?  All desire to weep receded, and she became aware of
a heightened beating in her pulse.  Should she ask?  She must.  She had to
know!

"Then it was not Lord Dela garde himself who wished to--I mean, I had a notion
that--' " Gracious, my dear, banish it!  " exclaimed Lady Hester, laughing.

"Laurie never thought of such a thing.  He may have guessed what was in my
mind, but it must be obvious to all of us that he would be frankly appalled
at the suggestion."

Maidie, her breast swelling now with quite a different emotion, was about to
announce, in no uncertain terms, that such sentiments were entirely
reciprocated.  She was forestalled by the entrance of Lo wick, who ushered in
some morning visitors: Adela, Lady Shurland, and her brother.

Jumping up, Maidie went quickly to the window, sure that the traces of her
recent distress must still be visible.  She heard Lady Hester exchanging
greetings behind her, and trusted that she would keep these unwelcome callers
 occupied for a moment or two to give her time to compose herself.

When at last she turned around, she saw that Adela had seated herself and was
engaged in animated conversation with Lady Hester, in -which the Worm bore no
part, but sat silent beside her newly discovered kinswoman as if she depended
upon her for protection.  Eustace had remained standing, at a little distance
from the ladies, and he was surveying Maidie with a look of pained
disapproval.

She put up her chin, and stared back at him.  She knew that an impartial
observer might suppose her to be inordinately nice in her notions to be
turning down such a promising-looking suitor.  For Eustace Silsoe was a
personable young man, fairer than his sister, the distinct angularity of his
features lending him much more countenance than was apportioned to Adela.  He
was above average height, slender of body, and neat in his dress.

Only his eyes, which were slate blue, detracted from these attributes.

They were cold, and held, for the most part, a calculating look that could
not but repel a female of Maidie's openness.

He crossed over to the window.

"I am sorry to see you flinch from my presence, Maidie."

This was so far from the truth that Maidie relaxed.  A convenient
supposition, were she inclined to allow him to believe it.  But her innate
honesty revolted.

"If you must know," she told him tartly,

"I turned away upon your entrance because I had just been in an upset, and I
did not wish you or Adela to notice it."

He looked discomfited.

"I am sorry to hear it.  No doubt your sojourn in this house is not proving
as agreeable to you as you had expected?"

"Not at all.  I was merely labouring under a little misunderstanding."

Recalling that it was due to Adela's spiteful words last  night that she had
taken the notion in the first place, Maidie cast a glance across at her
cousin.  What she saw caused her to turn back to Eustace, with suspicion in
her grey gaze.

"What does Adela mean by putting on these airs of friendship with Lady
Hester?"

"It would scarcely serve our cause not to remain upon good terms with this
household."  Eustace smiled, but it did not reach his eyes.

"You will forgive my plain speaking, I know, being so much an advocate for it
yourself."

"So much, Eustace, that I have no hesitation in telling you that you are both
wasting your time.  I shall not change my mind."

"From what my sister has been saying," he said urbanely, 'it seems as though
you may well find it in you to be glad of my continuing interest.  "

He threw up a hand as she opened her mouth to retort.

"No, don't rip up at me, I beg.  Content yourself with your quarrels with my
sister.  Now I, my dear Maidie, am not at all quarrelsome.  I am also
perfectly ready to permit you every sort of licence.  I do most sincerely
advise you to think well on it."

"I have already thought," Maidie said flatly, 'and I repeat.  I shall not
change my mind.  "

The blue eyes held hers, a glint in them that sent an involuntary shiver up
Maidie's spine.  She wanted to recoil, but she would not let him see that.
She stood her ground, a slight lift to her brows pointing a question.

"Your ambition is most praiseworthy, Maidie," Eustace purred softly.

Maidie stiffened.

"I do not take your meaning, Eustace."

"Oh, I think you do."  Again that surface smile.

"Pray do not imagine that I blame you.  I am, after all, as ambitious as you.
But you would do well to consider.  Such a prize might seem tempting.
Should you succeed, it would be a triumph."

 There could be no doubt of his meaning now.  Maidie resolutely closed her
lips, but her bosom rose and fell rather rapidly.  The insinuation rekindled
the tumult of emotion that had only just died down.  So Eustace also believed
that she was -setting her cap at Dela garde!  She managed to keep her voice
steady.

"You are mistaken, Eustace."

He laughed very gently indeed.

"You can't think how relieved I would be if that were so.  Or is it pride
that makes you say it?  He does not seem to favour you, does he?"

The headache that had been nagging at Maidie all morning now thumped
painfully at her temples--which must account for the sudden lump in her
throat that prevented her from making any reply.

"And if he did favour you," Eustace went on, 'you would hardly be the first
to have made the attempt to turn his affection to advantage.  He is said to
be impregnable, didn't you know?  He has been on the town for more than a
dozen years, and the most resolute and beauteous of maidens has failed to
catch him.  He prefers, it seems, to amuse himself with a string of
mistresses.  "

Did he say it to dissuade her from, as he thought, an attempt to attach the
Viscount?  Or was his intent to destroy any glimmer of respect or liking she
might have felt for Dela garde?  Fortunately, since she felt neither, his
words fell upon deaf ears.  It was, she was persuaded, the intensity of her
headache that was lowering her spirits.

"That," Maidie managed, with an assumption of nonchalance she was far from
feeling, 'is nothing to me.  "

"I am relieved to hear it."  Again he smiled, and the pun- was back in his
voice.

"You could not, I am persuaded, wish to be an object of interest to the
gossips as they follow your progress--or lack of it.  Nor could you wish for
a husband who would make it his business to thwart your every move.

Now I, on the other hand--'  "Thank you," Maidie interrupted evenly, 'but
you have already said it.  "

"And shall again.  Don't forget it, Maidie.  I know what you want from life,
and I am willing to give it to you.  Why look further?"

She put up a hand to her aching head.

"I have told you, and I will tell you no more.  I wish you will give up the
notion, for I mean it, Eustace."

"Now, yes," he agreed.

"I will wager, however, that you will be glad enough to turn to me before too
long."

Maidie could tolerate no more.  She turned from him and moved back to the
centre of the room, addressing herself to Lady Hester.

"If you will excuse me, ma'am, my headache is a good deal worse.  I am going
to my room."

"My poor child!  Yes, yes, go up at once, Maidie.  I will entertain Lady
Shurland."

"Thank you," she said gratefully, and nodded at her cousin.

"Good day, Adela."

Reaching her room, Maidie rang for her maid.  Then she sank on to her bed,
grasping one of the posts for support.  It must be the disturbed night that
was to blame, for she was a good deal upset by the encounter with Eustace.

She had never before allowed herself to be distressed by anything the hateful
creature said.  It must be this ludicrous idea he had taken into his
head--put into it, no doubt, by Adela!  --that she was one of these designing
females who had foisted herself on to the Viscount only so that she might
somehow force him to wed her.  And Eustace must know it was hum dudgeon, for
he had himself pointed out--as had Lady Hester--that Dela garde would do
anything in the world rather than take her to wife!

Such a resurgence of the ache at her temples accompanied this thought that
Maidie gripped the bedpost more strongly, and rested her brow against it.

That was what came of thinking about Dela garde!  Merely because the  wretch
infuriated her so much.  Almost as much as did Eustace.  And what had that
creature meant about the gossips?

The entrance of Trixie into the room put this reflection out of her mind, for
her maid, on hearing of her headache, bustled about, divesting her of
everything save her shift and hustling her into bed.  Hardly had Maidie got
between sheets than Miss Wormley arrived, bearing a steaming concoction of
herbs which she obliged Maidie to sip as she lay against a bank of pillows.

"Have they gone?"  she asked of the Worm, who was sitting on the edge of her
bed, once Trixie had departed.

"I do not know, my love, for I followed immediately upon your leaving the
room, and ran down to desire the housekeeper to make up this tisane for you."

Maidie reached out a hand, and her duenna clutched it.  "Oh, Worm, that
horrid Eustace is still determined!  Will nothing convince him that I won't
marry him?"

The Worm clucked distress fully.

"Yet he cannot but be convinced when once you are betrothed, Maidie.  We must
hope that you will soon find yourself able to accept a respectable man."

"Yes, but I don't think I will.  Worm," objected Maidie.  "Not as long as
Dela garde insists upon keeping my fortune secret.  I have not attracted
anyone at all!"

A hiccuping sob sent the Worm into spasms of tut ting, from which she was only
rescued by a knock on the door, followed by the immediate entrance of Lady
Hester.

"How is your headache?  I declare, I am astonished not to have one myself
after entertaining that precious pair!  You poor child, to have been obliged
to live with that woman."  , "Oh, Lady Hester, you can have no notion!"
exclaimed the Worm before Maidie could answer.

"The way she used my poor lamb when first she came to East Dean!"

 "How did she use her?"  asked Lady Hester with interest.

"Don't, Worm," Maidie cut in.

"It is nothing to the purpose now."

But the Worm did not heed her, and she was feeling far too unwell to
expostulate.  It had been a difficult time.  Utterly cast down by Great-uncle
Reginald's passing, she had allowed herself, to her shame, to be bullied for
several months.  Indeed, she had only roused herself from her apathy at the
threat of losing the Worm, when she had (in the words of Shurland) kicked up
such a dust that he had overborne his wife and allowed the duenna to remain.
The Worm had then joined Maidie in Adela's ill graces, and the two of them
had laboured to rectify all the instances of neglect that the new Countess
decided was the fault of the previous incumbent--mending linen, polishing and
tidying, sorting endless papers through drawer after overstuffed
drawer--until the place was cleared to her satisfaction.

The worst cruelty had been the enforced dismantling of Great-uncle's
observatory, and Maidie had wept and wept as she began carefully to pack
everything away.  It was Firm in, discovering her at this task, who had
stopped it.  He had told her, with an amiability that astonished Maidie--for
he had been forceful in his condemnation of the waste of resources on this
hobby--that she might reassemble it all if she chose.

Only when she came of age a few weeks later had Maidie understood his reason.
It also accounted for the sudden access of friendliness with which Adela had
been behaving ever since.

But the change had come too late.  Maidie had conceived a violent dislike of
Lady Shurland, and her determination to be gone from East Dean into her own
establishment-- by whatever means--had become fixed.

"What a very unpleasant female, to be sure," commented Lady Hester when the
Worm came to the end of her disclosures.

"You did quite right to enlist Laurie's help instead, Maidie."

Yes, but I am not as certain of that," said Maidie, recalling her grievance.

"No one has shown the smallest disposition to attach me, and unless Dela garde
will allow news of my fortune to become generally known--' " My dear child,
you have scarce been in society a week," protested Lady Hester.

"Indeed, last night was the first occasion upon which you may be said to have
met any eligible young men."

"But I didn't.  At least, none of them talked to me for more than a moment.

Except Mr Hamp ford and his friend, and they only used me to make an
impression upon the other ladies.  "

"It does not signify," insisted Lady Hester.

"We have secured any number of engagements over the next few weeks, and you
are bound to meet a good many gentlemen."

An unpleasant recollection seized Maidie.  What was it Eustace had said about
the gossips watching to see if she should succeed with Dela garde?

But how would they know?  Unless he or Adela were to-- "It will avail me
nothing to meet these gentlemen," she burst out on the thought, 'if Adela and
Eustace set it about that I am in a plot to entrap Dela garde!  "

Lady Hester stared at her blankly.

"You are what?"

Maidie flushed.  Her voice went gruff.

"I had not meant to say anything about it.  Only Adela said it last night,
and Eustace went on about it again today.  It was that which set me
thinking--because I knew I had no such scheme in mind--whether the boot might
not be on the other leg.  It had not occurred to me until just now that
perhaps those two might tell it to the world."

"Oh dear, oh dear," uttered the Worm.

"They might well,  dear Lady Hester.  It would be so like Lady Shurland to
do such a thing."

Maidie watched the frown gathering on Lady Hester's brow.  She did not think,
she could not think!  -- But, catching Maidie's eye, the older woman smiled.

"Do not be imagining that I have that idea in my head, child.  I know well
you had no such intention when you came to us.  But this must be thought of."

Maidie hesitated.  But the question had to be asked.

"Do you think Lord Dela garde perhaps harbours that suspicion?"

The elder lady's laughter reassured her.

"Gracious, no!  Laurie is not such a fool."  She drew a resolute breath.

"But the same cannot be said of the world at large.  Something must be done."

"You want me to keep my distance?"  said Dela garde incredulously.

"What game are you playing.  Aunt?  If you think it escaped my notice that
you had conceived the notion of bringing about a match between us, you are
mistaken."

"Is that why you have so determinedly been trying to prove me wrong?"

Dela garde eyed her with acute suspicion, leaning against the mantel shelf in
the little parlour where she had dragged him on his return to the house.  It
was dusk, and no fire had been lit.  The room was both shadowed and cold, and
he was in need of dinner.  But Aunt he's had successfully diverted his
attention from these evils.  He did not know what she was about, but he was
too well acquainted with her not to know that she was brewing mischief.

"I have not been trying to prove anything," he said coolly.

"Whatever I have done, it has been in reaction to that wretched girl's
activities."

"Then it cannot be anything but a relief to you to be  requested to remain
out of her vicinity for a few days," returned his great-aunt prosaically.

"To what purpose?"  he asked obstinately.

Lady Hester laughed.

"Oh, very well.  I might have known there would be no driving you without
giving a reason."

"So you might.  But as I am still in the dark, I must request you to answer
my question."

He watched her take a seat in the chair where Maidie had sat that very first
day, and the remaining light from the window fell on her face.  She looked
serious, and De- la garde was surprised.  Was there something to this after
all?

"I am afraid that Lady Shurland and her brother are liable to prove
troublesome."

As he listened to a fluent account of the day's events, Dela garde found, to
his annoyance, that his mind dwelled stubbornly on the absurd supposition
that Maidie's whole enterprise had been designed as a plot to entrap him into
matrimony.  That she had entertained for so much as an instant the ridiculous
notion that he had some idea of entrapping her served only to illustrate her
innocence.  Good God, only a simpleton would suppose him to be motivated by
forty-five thousand pounds!  His own fortune, in investments and the income
from his estates, yielded considerably more than that in the space of a year.
She did not know that, of course, but he would have supposed that his whole
attitude to her must indicate how mad she was to think of it.

But this accusation that came from Lady Shurland and her brother--quite as
idiotic!  --persisted in his head long after he had agreed to Lady Hester's
scheme to frustrate them.  She was of the opinion that they would not mention
the matter if they could see that nothing was to be gained by it, and no one
could make anything of such a rumour  if the parties concerned were rarely
seen together.  A period of this, and society would have formed their own
views, which would render rumour profitless to the scandal mongers.

Dela garde was ready enough to fall in with the scheme, even if he still
suspected that Aunt he's had a wider purpose in mind than she had told him.

It was no pleasure to him, he told himself, to be obliged to waste his
time--and do violence to his temper!  --in keeping Maidie from committing
every kind of imprudence.  There was as little hardship in giving up
attendance at a Saturday concert evening, instead spending time with his
cronies at Boodle's, as there was in driving out of town on Monday for a
couple of nights to witness a prize fight instead of attending two insipid
evening parties.  Not that Dela garde would have thought of abandoning his
pleasures on Maidie's behalf, had he not conceived it to be his duty to carry
out the responsibility he had taken on.

He was naturally delighted to be let off his leash, so to speak, and if he
once or twice found his imagination dwelling on what trouble Maidie might
have got herself into without him, it was not to be wondered at.  He supposed
it was equally un surprising that he should be thinking so much of that insane
suggestion of Maidie's trying to entrap him, because he must wonder whether
his absence had discouraged, as it was hoped, Silsoe and Lady Shurland from
putting such a rumour about.

No one would believe it, now that he and Maidie had not appeared together in
society for the better part of a week.

Encountering her at the breakfast table on his return to town on the
Wednesday morning, Dela garde found Maidie apparently disinclined to converse
with him beyond the  commonplace.  He had been tempted to inquire about her
progress.  Beginning perhaps with how she was so far enjoying the Season,
and--because her looked-for departure must depend upon the question!
--whether she had yet acquired any beaux.  But somehow the words stuck in his
throat.  Maidie did not linger, and the opportunity was lost.  Dela garde
sought his answers of Aunt he's.

"She is doing very much better, Laurie, now that you are not there to tease
her into saying and doing the wrong thing.  She is determined not to gain a
reputation for ill breeding, and she tries very hard to think before she
speaks.  I am excessively proud of her efforts, and I believe she is settling
down quite nicely.  The best thing you can do, Laurie, is to leave well
alone!"

"I thank you," he said sardonically.

"I need not ask, then, whether she has gathered around her a bevy of
admirers?"

Lady Hester looked mischievous.

"As to that, it would be difficult to judge.  She is certainly regarded as
something of an oddity, but--' " That does not surprise me!  "

"But," continued his great-aunt airily, 'it is too early to say whether any
gentleman is growing particular in his attentions.  "

"But there are attentions?"  asked Dela garde, despising himself for his
interest, and conceiving a most disagreeable feeling of animosity towards
some unknown young man.  He dismissed it, realising that, in the role of
guardian thrust upon him, he would wish to assure himself of the worth of any
pretender to Maidie's hand.

To his intense annoyance, Lady Hester chose not to answer this, instead
reiterating her desire that he should maintain his distance for a further
period, possibly until their own upcoming party at the Charles Street house.

"But that is in April!  Am I to hold aloof for yet two weeks more?"  .

 Lady Hester's brows rose.

"But you said positively that you don't wish to dance attendance on Maidie
day after day."

"Of course I don't," Dela garde snapped, irrationally annoyed by this reminder.

"But I am her sponsor.  People will think it excessively odd."

His great-aunt regarded him with a disquieting glint that savoured strongly
to Dela garde of amusement.

"Dear me.  We seem to be destined to make tongues wag, whatever we do.  Let
us leave matters as they are until next week, then."

With this mitigation Dela garde opted to express content, and was irritated to
find himself still irked by the restriction.

Early on Friday evening, however, while engaged with Corringham and Riseley
at Boodle's, he received a summons from his great-aunt, asking him to return
home at once on a matter of extreme urgency.  Beset by a number of hideous
possibilities as he walked swiftly from St James's Street to his house,
Dela garde was annoyed to realise that they all involved Maidie in trouble.
His pace hastening unconsciously, he arrived in Charles Street, and ran up
the steps.

The door opened as he reached the top.  Lo wick had evidently been on the
watch for him.  Good God, it must certainly be serious!

"Lady Hester is awaiting you in the downstairs drawing- room, my lord."

Dela garde crossed the hall and thrust open the door.  His eyes swept the
room, and took in one salient fact.  Maidie was not there.  He looked from
Miss Wormley's agitated countenance to that of Lady Hester, both ladies
having risen on his entrance and started towards him.

"What the devil is amiss.  Aunt he's?"

 Lady Hester put out her hands and he grasped them strongly.

"Maidie is missing!"

What?  "

"She is missing, Laurie!"

"Good God!  How can she be missing?  What in Hades can you mean?  You have
not mislaid her, I suppose!"

She disengaged her hands.

"Don't be silly, Laurie!  This is serious.  We are engaged at the theatre
tonight, and she knows it.  But she has not been seen since early this
morning."

Taken aback, Dela garde stared at her.  He took in that she was in evening
dress, a turquoise silk crossed at the bosom, and a flowing lace cap on her
greying locks.  For a moment, he was conscious of a rise of anxiety.

But common sense reasserted itself immediately.

"This must be nonsense.  There might be any number of reasons why she has not
been seen.  Are you certain she is not in the house?"

"We have searched everywhere," said Lady Hester positively.

"Yet no one saw her leave, and she has not taken her maid, or a footman."

Dela garde frowned.

"But does she know that she must do so in London?

Knowing Maidie, it would not surprise me if she had not even thought of it.  "

He had forgotten Miss Wormley, but she broke in all at once, wringing her
hands painfully.

"That is nothing to the purpose, my lord!  I am dreadfully afraid that the
worst has happened."

"What worst?"  Dela garde asked, unimpressed.

"Mr Silsoe has kidnapped her, I am sure of it!"

This was so ridiculous that Dela garde had to laugh.

"Not if he is in his right mind!"  He saw that Miss Wormley was unconvinced,
and clicked an impatient tongue.

"For God's sake, ma'am, it is a criminal offence!  Do you suggest the fellow
is desperate enough to take so crazy a measure?"

 "There is no saying what he might do," uttered the Worm.

"Aided and abetted by his sister, too!"

"Come, come, ma'am.  Lady Shurland is scarce likely to lend herself to such a
scheme.  As well accuse Shurland himself!  I never heard such nonsense!"

"There, Ida, you see," said Lady Hester, leading the other lady to a chair.

"Did I not say the same?  Now, sit you down, my dear, and try to compose
yourself.  Dela garde will at once go in search of Maidie and--' " The devil I
will!  " Both the older women regarded him reproachfully, and he threw up his
hands.

"This is insane!  You cannot expect me to scour London for that wretched
girl.  Why, she might be anywhere.  How the devil should I know where to
start looking?"

"You are responsible for her, Laurie," said Lady Hester severely.

"That is debatable."

"At any rate, you have accepted responsibility for her."

"How can you say that, when you have enjoined me to keep away these many
days?"

"That has nothing to do with it," argued his great-aunt.  "At a time like
this, you must remember your obligation."

"Obligation!"  He threw his eyes to heaven.

"Oh, very well, I will go in search of her.  But ten to one she will walk in
the moment I have left the place."

He stalked out to the hall just as Lo wick answered a knock at the door.  As
he had confidently predicted, Maidie stood upon the threshold.  It might have
been supposed that this sudden return, relieving him of the necessity of
setting out on what he had been convinced would turn out to be a wild goose
chase, would have at once had a calming effect upon his ruffled temper.
Instead, it threw him into such a flame that he pounced on her furiously as
she entered the house.

"There you are!  What the devil do you mean by it, you  impossible wretch?
How dare you go off without letting anyone know?"

Seizing her arm, he marched her unceremoniously across the hall, pouring the
vials of his wrath upon her hapless head with unabated vigour.

"Do you realise that everyone is worried to death about you?  Here have I
been dragged from my club to scour the town for you, and you walk in, as cool
as you please!"  He thrust her into the drawing-room, and let her go.

"There, you see!  Did I not say so?"

"Oh, Maidie, thank heaven!"  fluttered her duenna, rushing to enfold the
truant in her arms.

"I have been sick with dread!"

"Good gracious, Maidie, what a turn you have given us!  Where have you been?"

Maidie, stunned by these unprecedented attacks, and thoroughly unnerved to
find Dela garde awaiting her, endured in bemused silence until the fuss
abated.  It was perhaps fortunate that Dela garde chose to behave to her in
the manner which their early association had made familiar, for she recovered
more readily than she might otherwise have done from a flood of consciousness
at seeing him so unexpectedly.

"I have only been to a lecture," she said, when she was finally able to edge
in a word.

Dead silence greeted this statement, all three staring at her blankly.  The
Worm was the first to recover, as though it took her a moment or two to take
it in after the absurd fears she had been indulging.

"Oh, a lecture," she repeated, and nodded as if that made all right.

"A lecture!"  repeated Dela garde scoffingly.

"You do not expect us to believe that!"

"What sort of a lecture?"  asked Lady Hester.

"At the Royal Society," Maidie said, frowning.  What in the world was the
matter with them?

"I am sorry to be so  late, but I got into a discussion afterwards with the
speaker, and some of his colleagues--they all knew of Great-uncle Reginald,
is it not wonderful?--and I lost all count of time.  One of them was so kind
as to find me a hackney, and I came home as soon as I could."

She perceived that neither Dela garde nor Lady Hester seemed to understand
her, and she frowned.

"But what is the matter?  A lecture at the Royal Society.  They hold them
regularly, I understand.  But it was quite by chance that I heard of this
one.  It was to be given by a man who is acquainted with Herschel, so of
course I could not resist."

Dela garde blinked.

"This sounds to me like pure fantasy.  You are glib enough with this
ridiculous explanation, but I wish you will tell us the truth."

Maidie opened her eyes at him.

"But I have told you the truth."  She turned to Lady Hester.

"I do apologise, dear ma'am.  I had forgot that we are going to the theatre.
I shall run up and change this moment.  Do not hold dinner for me!"

Turning, she dashed out of the room.  When Miss Worm- ley would have followed
her, Dela garde detained her.

"See if you can get the truth out of her.  I am not such a fool as to be put
off with this cock-and-bull tale of a lecture at the Royal Society!"

To his astonishment, the Worm nodded vigorously.

"Oh, my lord, nothing could be more likely.  I wonder I did not think of it
for myself.  I wish she had told me.  But never mind.  All's well that ends
well.  Excuse me, my lord.  I will help her to change so that she will not
delay Lady Hester."

Dela garde watched her rush off after her charge, and turned a fulminating eye
on his great-aunt.

"It is all very well for you to sit there laughing.

Aunt he's.  Either this is the most arrant nonsense, or the girl is quite off
her head!  "

Lady Hester mastered her mirth, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.

"I

don't think so, Laurie.  But be sure I will  get to the bottom of this.  I
promise you, I am quite as intrigued as you are.  "

But Dela garde did not inform his great-aunt of what was really troubling him.
Whatever she chose to do, he was himself determined to get a sensible
answer.  Informing Lady Hester that his exile was at an end, and that he
would himself escort them to the theatre, he went off to his own rooms to
change from his top boots, buckskins and frock coat into the more appropriate
raiment of black satin knee- breeches and a blue cloth coat over a Florentine
waistcoat.  He was seething with suspicion.  For there seemed to him to be
but one explanation of Maidie's extraordinary conduct.

Why she should be at pains to make up such a patently false tale to cover her
tracks, he could not imagine.  Unless it was that the gentleman with whom she
had no doubt had an assignation was one of whom she knew well he would
violently disapprove!

No opportunity to get Maidie alone presented itself until the first interval,
and then Dela garde's plan to detach her from the party was frustrated.
First, upon the curtain's falling on the first act, by two of Lady Hester's
acquaintance who descended upon them from a nearby box.

Second, by the entrance of Eustace Silsoe.  He had come, he said, from his
sister, who requested her dear Mary to come to her box for a few moments.

There was little Maidie desired less than to leave the box on the arm of her
despised suitor, but she had agreed with Lady Hester that it was politic to
allow the world to suppose that good relations existed between the two
households.  She rose, therefore, and shook out the peach muslin petticoats
to the simple gown with a plain neck and three quarter sleeves, which was
augmented only by an embroidered Norwich shawl disposed across her elbows,
and a  neat lace cap.  Accepting Eustace's arm, she allowed him to lead her
from Dela garde's box into the corridor.

She regretted it at once, for Eustace told her he had no intention of taking
her to Adela's box.

"We will go out into the foyer, Maidie, and stroll up and down together."

"Why?"  she asked forthrightly.

He turned his feline smile upon her.

"Why, so that people may suppose that we are enjoying one another's company.
All you are required to do is to smile, and nod, and look as if you are
interested in what I have to say to you."

"Oh, is that all?"  She preceded him through a door into the open area behind
the boxes that gave access to the stairs and the balconies.

"And suppose I do not choose to do any of those things?"

Eustace gave his gentle laugh, and leaned closer to speak almost into her ear.

"I shall talk to you with an earnest air, which will give an appearance of
even greater intimacy."

Maidie stiffened, and tried to pull away from him.

"You are hateful!  If you think I am to be persuaded by such tactics as
these!"

"Oh, I have long given up the idea of persuading you.  I am merely laying a
trail for future investigation."

"I do not understand what you can possibly mean," Maidie told him, frowning.

"I do not wish to continue this conversation.  Please take me back to Lady
Hester."

"On no account."

Instinct urged Maidie to strike him, or to wrench herself from his grasp, and
run incontinently away.  But a moment's reflection told her that this would
be playing into his hands.  There were far too many persons standing or
strolling about.  Her short sojourn in town had taught her that the fracas
that such a course would create could only result in undesirable attention
and gossip.  She cast a quick  look around, hoping to see a face she
recognised.  Perhaps she might accost another party so that her walk with
Eustace would seem less particular.

But she knew none of them.  She heaved a despairing sigh, and then rescue
came in a familiar voice that spoke in her immediate rear.

"Ah, there you are," said Dela garde.

Maidie turned quickly, and found the Viscount was behind her, holding out a
glass.  Her heart leapt--with gratitude!  --for his arrival could not have
been more opportune.  Then she caught what he was saying, and realised it had
been deliberate.

"I have procured you some water, Maidie.  Are you feeling a little more the
thing?"  He gave Eustace Silsoe a nod.  "Kind of you, sir, to bring her out
of that stuffy atmosphere.  But you may safely leave her in my charge."

To Maidie's intense admiration, he then utterly ignored Eustace, whose
urbanity was so evidently shaken that he quite forgot to hide his chagrin.

She felt Dela garde take her arm as he guided her to one of the straight
chairs that were set here and there against the wall.

"Sit down, and drink that.  Give me your fan."

She held it out to him, and sipped at the water, watching him open her fan
and gently ply it up and down before her face.  Out of the corner of her eye,
she saw Eustace hover for a moment, irresolute.  Then, apparently accepting
defeat, he turned and walked quickly away.  Quite forgetting the terms upon
which they had earlier parted, and the disagreeable feelings she had
experienced, Maidie smiled up at the Viscount.

"That was so clever of you.  Lord Dela garde!  Thank you."

He grinned.

"Duplicity, Maidie.  Very useful in certain social situations."

"I see it is," she laughed.

"I could not think how to get away from him without making a scene."

 "Well, thank God you didn't!"

She surveyed him candidly.

"You did not expect it of me, I dare say.  That I would refrain, I mean.  But
I have learned a great deal since I came to town.  For instance, I know that
if you continue to fan me, and I pretend to be faint, no one will approach
us."

"Very good, Maidie," approved Dela garde, a quizzical gleam in his eye.

"Dare I hope, then, that it is safe to ask you any awkward questions?"

"If you mean that you expect me to lose my temper--' " Temper, Maidie?  But
you do not have one.  "

An involuntary giggle slipped out.

"Well, I don't--except when you say something to send me up into the boughs."

He laughed.

"Perhaps I had better reserve my questions until we are at home."

Maidie gave him her direct look.

"But now you have intrigued me.  What do you want to ask me?"

"Shall I risk it?"

A gleam of fun lit her features.  Dela garde blinked, as some unnamed emotion
flitted through his chest, like a flashing fire.  The thought struck him all
at once that in their short acquaintance, she had rarely smiled at him.

"It might make a test, do you not think?  If I can keep my temper, I must be
growing more tolerant of yours!"

He relieved her of the glass and took her hand, lifting her to her feet.

"That may be too much of a test.  Besides, they are calling the second act.

We must go back.  " He handed the empty glass to the boy who was inviting the
patrons to return to the auditorium, and gave Maidie his arm.

"But what do you want to know?"  she asked him as they entered the little
corridor.

"The truth about your escapade today," he said, capitulating, as his desire
to find out came back--more strongly, if anything.

"But I told you--' " Don't fob me off with this lecture," Dela garde cut in
hastily.

"Had you an assignation?"

Maidie stopped dead in the corridor, removing her hand from his arm and
turning to face him.

"Had I a what?"

The Viscount tried to read her face, but the dimly lit corridor made it a
pale shadow.

"You are angry already."

"No, I am not.  I just don't think I can have heard you correctly."

"Come here!"  he said, taking her arm without force, and moving her near the
door of his box where a glass-covered candelabra threw light on to one side
of her countenance.

Maidie stared up at him, confused by his attitude, and acutely aware of his
hand still grasping her arm above the elbow.  He was behaving oddly, most
unlike his usual way with her.  Perhaps his absence this last week had
mellowed him towards her, for she knew well how provoking he found her.

If she had wondered at the reason for his holding aloof, she was too much
relieved to care.  It was not surprising that he had loomed a trifle too
large in her mind, for she was not to know when he might take it into his
head to surprise her with a show of attention.  She had been glad, of course
she had, to be spared the sort of strictures that had been her portion
earlier tonight.  But this new conduct was unprecedented.  She had never
before supposed him to be possessed of such charm as he had just displayed.
Those affaires became even more readily believable!

"An assignation, Maidie," he said, quite softly.

"Don't lie to me, if you please.  Did you have an assignation?"

Blankly she took in what he meant.  It seemed so incredible a question that
she could not think why he would  ask it.  Besides, as she asked in
astonishment,

"With whom?"

"How the devil should I know?"  But the impatience was instantly suppressed.

"Come, the truth!  Did you go to meet some man?"

"Yes, I did go to meet a man," she agreed.

His grip tightened.

"I knew it!"

"But it was not an assignation, Dela garde.  I do not know anyone with whom to
have one."

"I don't know who you may have met this last week," he objected, releasing
her at last.

"I am more concerned with whom you met secretly today."

Maidie's gaze widened.

"I think you have run mad.  I went, hoping very much to meet this man--not
secretly at all, but in the presence of a number of others.  And, of course,
to hear him talk about Herschel."

"Herschel?"

"The astronomer.  Surely even you must have heard of Herschel?  He discovered
a new planet."

But Dela garde was gazing down at her in the liveliest astonishment, not
unmixed with disbelief.

"You are surely not expecting me to believe that you are interested in
astronomy?"

Maidie was so surprised that she merely gazed at him.

"Why are you staring at me in such puzzlement?"

Her brows went up.

"In what else but astronomy should I be interested, pray?"

With which, Maidie turned and re-entered the box, leaving Dela garde utterly
mystified.  He followed her into the box and shut the door just as the
curtain rose on the second act.  He had no more than a passing interest in
what was going forward on the stage.  He had seen Sheridan's comedy often
before, and there was nothing exceptional about this Mr Puff's delivery to
take his attention from Maidie's disclosure.

 He was at first inclined to dismiss it as an attempt to throw dust in his
eyes.  But he recalled that once or twice there had been instances of similar
oddity.  To do with the great-uncle!  Good God, was it that which had been
the former Lord Shurland's abiding interest?  But that he should have passed
it on to Maidie seemed altogether too odd--even for her.  What young female
would choose to spend her time raking the heavens?  He would not believe it!

Not one of the ladies of his set--not even those with whom he had enjoyed an
intimate association--had shown the slightest inclination to take an interest
in anything beyond the latest fashions, their male admirers, and those
scandalous tidbits that disgraced one of their number from time to time.
True, there was the blue-stocking coterie, who moved in circles other than
his own.  One knew them, yes, but if one had no turn for verse, nor any
literary leanings, such ladies were apt to turn their shoulder all too
quickly.

His experience accounted in some measure for his single state.  The majority
of debutantes were insipid, and very silly, and he had never been tempted to
exchange a convenient bachelorhood for a life spent listening at home to the
sort of inanity one met with everywhere in society.  He preferred on the
whole the company of his friends, who could converse sensibly on a number of
topics.  He had of necessity resigned himself to his eventual fate of
marriage to some feather headed creature, who would fulfill her role with
taste and elegance, behave with the modesty befitting his Viscountess, and do
as she was told.

But that was for the future.  No, he knew too much of women to be expected to
swallow this tale of Maidie's.  She was unusual, had been brought up oddly.
But that a girl of her years could go off to attend a lecture at the Royal
Society!  -- No, and no again.

 Dela garde resolved not to question Maidie further on the subject, for time
would inevitably expose the truth.

He regretted this decision within three days when he came down to dinner on
Monday evening, arrayed very correctly in a sky blue coat of satin with
matching knee- breeches and a discreetly floral waistcoat of corded silk, his
cravat artistically arranged and his dark locks brushed back in ordered
waves, ready to escort the two ladies to a ball--Maidie's first.

Naturally he could not absent himself.

In the drawing-room he found only his great-aunt, resplendent in a grey silk
gown topped by a half-robe of silver netting with a scattering of feathers in
her elegant coiffure.  Dela garde was not surprised to find that Maidie had
not yet come down.  In his experience, young ladies on the eve of their first
ball were generally late, their attention taken up by last-minute changes of
mind, and a great deal of unnecessary titivation.

Footsteps on the stairs at last signalled her arrival, and he turned to the
door, not averse to seeing how she looked when tricked out at her finest.

But it was Miss Wormley who came hurrying into the drawing-room, a
handkerchief held to her nose, and an unsteady hand at her brow.  Broken
accents assailed his ears.

"Oh, Lady Hester!  Oh, my lord!"

Lady Hester rose hastily.

"What is it, Ida?"

Dela garde almost snorted.  There was no need to ask what was this emergency.

"Don't tell me!  Is she feeling sick or something?  I suppose she is too
nervous to come down."

"No, indeed, nothing of that sort.  I wish--oh, if only I had not been laid
down upon my bed!  I got up, you see, for I felt I must make the effort, if
only to wish dearest  Maidie well.  And The duenna transferred one hand to
her bosom, drawing a painful breath.

"For heaven's sake, Ida!  What is it you wish to tell us?"  The most dreadful
presentiment rushed into Dela garde's mind.  She could not!  Not on an
occasion like this!  For- boding gripped him.

"You are not going to tell us she was not there?"  "Oh, not again, surely!"

gasped Lady Hester.  But Miss Wormley's woeful demeanour was answer enough.
She quavered into speech again.

"You may be sure I sent Trixie rushing to find her immediately.  Indeed, I
berated her soundly for not alerting me earlier."  She sniffed and shook her
head.

"Trixie could not find her.  Lady hester, my lord, there is no concealing
it from you.

Maidie is not in the house.  "

Chapter Six Q^^s^Q A wave of intense emotion overcame Dela garde.  He raised
clenched fists to heaven.

"What did I do, Lord?  Tell me, what did I do?"

"It is of no use to rail at the Almighty, Laurie."

But Aunt he's could not, even in this extremity, he noted with displeasure,
refrain from indulging her amusement.  He was still more irritated by the
tendency of Maidie's Worm to behave like a watering pot, sniffing into her
handkerchief.

"I wish you will not waste your tears, Miss Wormley.  There is no reason to
suppose that anything worse has happened to the wench than befell her the
other day.  She has merely a lamentable disregard for the time."

"I am not crying," protested Miss Wormley, energetically blowing her nose.

"Indeed, I am quite cross with Maidie!"

"Poor Ida has had the misfortune to contract a cold in the head, Laurie,"

explained Lady Hester, and moved to pat the other woman's shoulder.

"I do think you ought to go back to bed, Ida.  There is nothing you can do,
after all."

But Miss Wormley shook her head vehemently.

"I could  not rest, dear Lady Hester.  But I dare say his lordship is quite
right, and she will come in at any moment.  It is too bad of Maidie, indeed
it is.

I shall be very tempted to scold her when she returns.  "

"Save your breath," recommended Dela garde grimly.

"I shall be only too happy to perform that office on behalf of the three of
us."

But as time passed, with no sign of the errant Maidie, he began to feel an
uncommon degree of anxiety.  He had refused to set off in search of her,
convinced that a little patience would reward them all.  Besides, where would
one begin?  It had been dark already when she was found to be missing.  She
was unlikely to be discovered in the streets, even had he taken out his
phaeton and driven around in the hopes of seeing her.  A footman had been
dispatched at once to the Royal Society, but had returned empty- handed with
the intelligence that the place was shut up and a billboard outside indicated
that no lecture had been held that day.

Dela garde had vetoed Aunt he's's suggestion that they should send round to
various houses to discover whether she was visiting.  As far as any of them
knew, she had made no particular friends as yet, and her disposition was not
sociable.  Why would she take it into her head to call upon any of the
matrons she had met?

"Besides, we do not wish to give rise to unnecessary talk."  A sentiment with
which Aunt he's had been in agreement.  For the same reason, he would not
allow Miss Wonnley to send to the Shurland household.  The last thing they
wanted was to arouse comment and question from that quarter!

"But if there is anyone who may know her whereabouts," had argued the duenna
unhappily,

"I am afraid it is Mr Silsoe."

"You are not again suggesting that he has kidnapped her?"

 "My lord, I do not know what to think!  Maidie told me that he will not
accept her rejection, and after his conduct to her the other night at the
theatre, she did not know what she was to do to discourage him further."

But Lady Hester had been inclined to support the Viscount.

"He would be extremely ill advised to attempt anything of that nature, my
dear Ida."

Between them, they had calmed the duenna's fears, and Dela garde had been
relieved when she was at last persuaded to retire to her bed.  Her cold
having gained upon her, Miss Wormley had sat sneezing and spluttering in
great discomfort, and had appeared relieved at last to give in to Lady
Hester's pleadings.

"Have no fear, Ida.  We will come to tell you the moment we have news of
Maidie."

With this assurance, the duenna had allowed herself to be contented, and she
had departed, sped on her way by Lady Hester's promise that a hot brick and a
soothing drink would be sent up as soon as may be.

"And I will have a tray brought to you a little later, in case you feel
yourself able to swallow a few mouthfuls."

Left alone with his great-aunt, Dela garde found himself the target of her
intelligent and questioning gaze.  He frowned.

"Well?"

Lady Hester smiled.

"You are hungry, Laurie, and it is affecting your temper.  We will not wait
dinner any longer.  Ring the bell."

He complied, but retorted acidly that it was not lack of food that was
affecting his temper.

"Where can the little wretch have got to?"

"I know no more than you, my dear boy.  But it will not help to starve
ourselves."  She added, with something of her usual mischievous twinkle, "Nor
to pace about in that restless fashion.  Anyone would suppose you to be
anxious."

 Dela garde flung himself ostentatiously into a chair.  "There!  Does that
satisfy you?  And you have very little power of observation if you suppose me
to be suffering from anxiety.  It is nothing to me if the wench chooses to
behave in this impossible fashion.  I am only irritated by the inconvenience
of being obliged to arrive late at this ball."

By nine o'clock, however, with dinner already over, it was Dela garde, unable
to sit with any enjoyment over his port, who rejoined his great-aunt in the
drawing-room and suggested she should send round a note to this evening's
hostess.

"You had better tell her that Maidie is indisposed."

"Thank you, Laurie, but I believe I am capable of making up an appropriate
tale that will satisfy Lady Pin more."

Dela garde watched her seat herself at the little escritoire in the corner,
and draw a sheaf of crested paper towards her.  He was obliged to mend a pen
for her to use, which he did with fingers that seemed not to wish to obey
him.  He cursed, seizing hold of the paring knife as the quill split a second
time.

"Gently, Laurie," chided his aunt, regarding him in some amusement.

"If you cannot wait with any degree of patience, why don't you change and go
out to your club?"

"If you think," said Dela garde, savagely attacking the quill, 'that I am
budging from this house until that cursed wench is safely back inside it, you
have a very odd idea of my character.  " He handed her the mended pen.

"Here."

Lady Hester accepted it, smiling to herself as she dipped the end in the
ink-pot.  Dela garde caught the smile, and swore under his breath, flinging
away.  How she could sit there, plainly amused, when none of them had the
remotest idea where Maidie was or what she might be doing, he was unable to
understand.  That she had forgotten the engagement for tonight seemed
incredible.  What activity  could possibly take her attention so thoroughly
from the excitement of a first ball?

It was this thought that was fuelling his apprehension.  He could not give
credence to the suggestion of kidnapping, but there were other, equally
unpleasant possibilities that he had no difficulty in believing.  He did not
give them voice, but his imagination played so upon him that he was moved to
ring the bell for Lo wick to bring up some liquid refreshment to fortify his
mind.

It did not help.  The hair-raising visions worsened as time wore on.  There
seemed to be no end to the fates that could overtake a young girl out on her
own in the darkness: she'd had an accident--been knocked over by a carriage
and taken to one of the common hospitals; she had been attacked in the street
by footpads, and left to fend for herself with no money; she had found
herself in a seedy quarter of town where some evil person had practiced God
knew what deceit upon her--sold her into slavery, drugged her or lured her
into a life of prostitution.

This last thought caused him to jerk up his wrist and swallow the rest of the
contents of his glass in one gulp.  Crossing the room, he seized the decanter
that Lo wick had brought up on his demand over an hour ago.

"Is that really necessary, Laurie?"  came from his great- aunt, who had
contented herself with a single glass of wine.

He turned with the brandy decanter poised over his empty glass.  He glanced
at the clock on the mantel.

"It is nearly midnight.  Aunt he's.  That girl is out there somewhere--alone.
I only hope that nothing dreadful may have befallen her, because that will
make it impossible for me to strangle her when she does come home!"

He saw that Lady Hester was looking pale, her eyes troubled, and there was no
trace of amusement in her voice.

"Laurie, if anything untoward has happened to Mai die, I shall never be able
to forgive myself for having encouraged her to live here."

Laying down the decanter and his glass, he crossed to her, and held out his
hand.  She put hers into it and he clasped it strongly.

"Don't look like lhat.  Aunt he's!  In the morning, I shall go straight round
to Bow Street."  But at that very instant, his ears caught the sound that he
had been unconsciously awaiting all evening.

"Horses!  It must be a carriage!"

Dropping Lady Hester's hand, Dela garde flung across the room and strode down
the hall, forestalling the sleepy porter who was just climbing out of his
chair.  He threw open the front door.  A ponderous old-fashioned coach had
stopped outside the house, and a servant was in the act of letting down the
steps as the carriage door opened and Dela garde caught sight of Maidie within.

He ran down as Maidie bent forward to descend.  Acting on sheer impulse, the
Viscount reached into the coach, seized a startled Maidie by the waist, and
swung her down into the road.  He took a brief look inside the carriage,
found it empty, and turned, grasping her by the shoulders.

"Where have you been?"  he demanded urgently.

"Whose chaise is this?  Are you hurt at all?"  His eyes scanned her face by
the light of the carriage lamp.  She was staring up at him in mute
astonishment.

"Don't look at me like that, Maidie!  If you knew!"  -- He broke off,
suppressing a strong inclination to shake her, or--discovering the thought
with a sensation of surprise--to pull her into a safe embrace.  He did
neither, instead turning her round to face the Charles Street mansion.

"Go inside!  My aunt is extremely anxious."

These words caused Maidie to run up the steps, beset by a surge of guilt that
overshadowed the complete amazement that had gripped her at Dela garde's
behaviour.  If he had blasted her with invective, she could have understood 
" V.yiX up a it.  But to be seized in that way!  It had given h^ .y- h was
sensation of helplessness, and made her hea^y' ^g" 10 tattoo in her chest in
the most uncomfortable ^ to ^S"1hammering still as she entered the house, but
^ ^ad been Lady Hester's face put all thoughts of Delaga// cont used Oh, she
was palpably to blame!  Poor Lady He?  ^ seriously disturbed.  She blurted
out a somewP {^' apology.  if mean " Dear ma'am--so unkind of me--I am so,^<^
eedinhave been worried--Dela garde too!  Truly, I (^ Y together to be so late.
I had not realised the time, nor^ did I ever 2- tended to stay so long--forgive me!
--but it w^f too reminiscent of my times with Great-uncle.  ^s (iaue
erything!  " T^T She found herself enveloped in a hug, an'7',^00" ^ shocked
to find, when the elder lady released h^ stood in Lady Hester's eyes.  Her
voice was" ,.^1^ ^ou shaky.  / feelings " Maidie, Maidie, you must not do
this!  f^/^istressdon't realise how much violence you cause to ^ of others,
but I assure you that we have all b^ / as singly upset with worry over your
safety.  " ^'^^ room ^ Maidie's brows creased with a puzzled fr^y^i?3 1 8
allowed herself to be shepherded into the dr^^ ;| without protest.

"But, dear ma'am, did not disbelieve you?"  /^hIW^| "My dear Maidie,
poor Ida is quite ill.  And S'^v _gj more concerned than either of us, I dare
say, tP , tone' ]| able to persuade her to seek her bed."  ^^ ^^Si "I don't
understand," Maidie said in a troul?  "^ || told Worm this morning what I
intended.  I d' -^'" "tJIJ cially because of the last time."  ,.

"A is " What did you tell her?  " came from Delagar<^ entering the room
behind them.

"And who the man Wilberfoss you have been visiting?"

 To Maidie's consternation, his voice speaking unexpectedly in her immediate
rear caused that disconcerting race to start up again in her pulse.  She
tried to gather herself together, and was glad of the respite afforded by
Lady Hester's question.

"Who did you say, Laurie?"

"Sir Granville Wilberfoss," he reiterated, closing the door and walking
across to take up a stance before the fireplace.

"She has just come home in his carriage."

"Well, thank heaven she was in a carriage!  I was more than half afraid that
she was walking in the streets."

"How--how did you know his name?"  Maidie asked of Dela garde, frowning a
little to cover her own unease.

"I asked the servant, of course.  Will you have the goodness to answer my
question?"

The stirrings of irritation in Dela garde's voice had the curious effect of
calming her a little.

"About Sir Granville?  He is a friend of my great-uncle.  He heard that I was
in town, from one of the fellows I met at the lecture the other day, and he
invited me to visit him."

"Did he, indeed?  And the entertainment he offered you was sufficiently
enthralling to induce you to miss your first ball, was it?"  demanded
Dela garde sardonically.

"The ball!"  Conscience-stricken, Maidie's gaze went to Lady Hester.  For the
first time, she realised that both De- la garde and his great-aunt were in
evening dress, and remembrance of the engagement came back to her in full
flood.

"Oh, ma'am, I am so sorry!  Lady Pin more's ball!  I had forgot all about it!"

"Never mind the ball," answered her kind hostess.

"You are safe, and that is all that matters."

"Is it indeed?  I suppose it is nothing that she has spent the evening quite
alone with God knows what sort of a fellow?  Very pretty conduct, upon my
word!"

 Maidie found herself relaxing at this further evidence of the Viscount's
rising temper.  She was not in the least afraid of what he might say in this
mood.  It had been that strangely unpredictable conduct outside that had
unnerved her.  Besides, his complaint was ludicrous.

She giggled.

"Do you suspect him of making love to me, Dela garde?  But I told you he was
Great-uncle's friend."

"Oh," said the Viscount blankly.

"Then he is not a young man?"

"He is venerable, rather."

"Even so.  It is not unknown for elderly gentlemen to take advantage of very
young females.  You could have been in grave danger."

"Hum dudgeon!  We were quite otherwise engaged."  Turning from him, Maidie
pressed Lady Hester's hand.  "Dear ma'am, you have every right to be angry
with me.  But I did not mean to remain all the evening.  I promise you I had
every intention of coming back in time when I first set out.  Only--' turning
again to Dela garde, the light entering her face as the recollection of her
activities came in upon her '--it was enthralling, you see!  I have not
enjoyed myself so much this age.  At first we were merely talking, but very
soon we found ourselves deep in observations.  For you must know that Sir
Granville has fashioned a telescope that is even more powerful than the last
one Great-uncle had made."  Her eyes shone.

"We were able to see so deeply into space--such colours!  So many clusters
together!

Stars that I thought I knew so well--and yet now I realise that I was
scarcely seeing them at all.  Oh, it was breathtaking!  I could hardly bear
to tear myself away.  "

She stopped, becoming aware of the extraordinary expression on Dela garde's
face.  He was, in fact, staggered.  Was this Maidie?  She was a creature
transformed.  She had as well have been at the ball, and been talking of that
in  this fashion.  But, no.  There was more than enthusiasm here.  Maidie
was bursting with happiness!  Such a pang shot through him at this thought
that he was for several moments quite unable to speak.  It was perhaps
fortunate that Aunt he's claimed her attention, for he was thrown into
disorder.

Until it occurred to him why he should experience the feeling.  Here had he
been, picturing to himself the most hideous disasters that might have
befallen Maidie, and all the time she had been happily engaged with a--
'--telescope!  " burst from him on the thought, in a voice of strong derision.

Maidie, in the middle of renewed apologies to Lady Hester, broke off abruptly
and turned to him in surprise.  "Why, what is the matter?"

Dela garde emitted a mirthless laugh.

"You can ask that?  You have been missing for several hours.  No one had the
slightest clue as to your whereabouts--' " But you did!  I told Worm!  "

'--and quite aside from being kept waiting for our dinner for an hour and
more, we have all of us been thrown into a needless agony of apprehension
about your safety.  "

"Hum dudgeon!  You should have known that--' " So that instead of enjoying
ourselves at one of the Season's most promising entertainments, we have been
obliged to pace the floor all night, imagining God alone knows what hideous
situations into which you might have become embroiled--idiotic as you are!  "

"Well, I can't think what sort of--' " And, to crown all, when you do finally
come home-- at midnight, if you please!  --all the excuse you can think of is
to claim that you have been looking through a telescope!  "

Maidie waited a moment, meeting the fiery brown gaze with her wide-eyed
stare.  All remembrance of her discomfort at his odd conduct had vanished
with his return to  normality.  She raised her brows at length.

"Have you finished?"

Dela garde was breathing rather heavily.

"I have barely begun."

"Well, then, let me tell you--' " Maidie," interrupted Lady Hester hastily,
'don't allow yourself to be dragged into a pointless argument.  You must
expect some such reaction, after all.  Laurie has been truly concerned.  It
is only natural that relief should produce an explosion."

"Thank you.  Aunt he's.  However--' " Have you really been concerned?  "
Maidie asked him, sudden contrition darkening the grey eyes--and causing a
resurgence of irregularity in her heartbeat.

"Of course I have," Dela garde said testily.

"A pretty sort of fellow I should be if I had not!  I am in some sort
responsible for you."

"Oh."  Was that all?  Maidie was conscious of a drop in spirits, and her
pulse steadied.  What else had she expected?  Not that she cared whether
Dela garde had been worried about her.  But need he spoil the enchantments of
the evening?  It was typical!  Then a wave of remorse hit her.  She was
demonstrably in the wrong.

"I am sorry that you should have been put to so much inconvenience," she said
gruffly.

"Nonsense!"  put in Lady Hester bracingly.

"One evening's worry over someone else?  I wish we might all come off as
lightly!  The only pity of it is, Maidie, that you missed the ball."

"I missed the ball!"  struck in Dela garde.

"No one thinks of that."

"Nobody asked you to miss it," Maidie pointed out.

"It is not my fault if you decided it was your duty to remain here with Lady
Hester and wait for me."

Dela garde eyed her with hostility.

"It had occurred to  me to strangle you for this night's work.  I cannot
think why I have not done so.  I must be feeling extraordinarily merciful."

Maidie was swept with a sudden gush of merriment, and she giggled again.

"Oh, Dela garde, pray don't be so out of reason cross!  You may readily go to
the ball now, if you choose.  I am sure it is not over."

"Your solicitude overwhelms me," he returned, 'but I find I have lost my
appetite for it.  "

She laughed, and held out her hand.

"I am truly sorry, Dela garde.  There!

Do let us cry friends again.  "

He took her hand and held it loosely imprisoned in his larger one.

"That is all very well, but I am not at all satisfied, Maidie.  What is all
this about?  You are not seriously expecting me to believe that you have
indeed spent all this time examining the heavens?"

Maidie stared at him, withdrawing her hand.

"But this is mad!  Will nothing convince you that I am wholly and exclusively
devoted to the subject of astronomy?"

"You!"  A disbelieving laugh escaped him.

"No, Maidie, I don't think so."

"You will have to show him, Maidie," recommended Lady Hester, laughing.

He turned frowning eyes upon his great-aunt.

"Show me what?"

Dela garde stared in astonishment at the small telescope fixed to a stand set
at the precise centre between the French windows in Maidie's bedchamber.  It
was of brass, with a retractable length that she was pulling out.

"I cannot get it to its full size without opening the balcony doors," she
said, un clipping the cover over the glass end and lifting it up.

"Although this is only Great-uncle's travelling piece, which he used when we
went out on what he called his expeditions."

 Dela garde was frowning heavily as he tried to take in this extraordinary
new perspective on his unwanted charge.

"You went with him?"

"Always."  Maidie laughed.

"Which made it very much an expedition, for Worm would insist upon all manner
of comforts for me, particularly as Great-uncle would rarely let her come.
Except once when we encamped in the wilderness--like heathen Bedouins, Worm
said.  We turned night into day for near a week, and the whole retinue had to
do the same!  After that.  Worm was glad to be left at home, I think."

The Viscount watched in reluctant fascination as she turned to the whatnot,
lifting up a stack of large charts-- some printed, some clearly made by
hand--and leafed through them, explaining their purposes as she showed them
to him by the light of the heavy candelabrum he had brought in and set down
upon the dresser.  There were maps of the night sky, charting the stars in
their constellations; crudely drawn configurations, covered over with
incomprehensible jottings; tables of names and figures, neatly labelled with
times, positions by degrees and places of origin; and pencilled sketches,
heavily annotated, which recorded the exploration currently engaging Maidie's
attention, she said.

"What are you exploring?"  he asked, almost absently, for he was dazed by the
evidence which proved beyond all possible doubt that she had been speaking
nothing but the truth.

"I am chasing a comet."  Then she tutted, stabbing at the sketch in her hand
in some annoyance.

"And this evening I find that I have miscalculated quite shockingly.  By Sir
Granville's telescope, I was able to perceive its true path-- oh, it is quite
the most beautiful object, I had no real idea of that until tonight!--and I
now see that I must adjust my prognosis of its probable flight by quite a
wide margin."

 Dela garde blinked.

"This is a comet?  Why a comet?"

Maidie smiled.

"Well, to tell you the truth, they are not my real passion.

But Great-uncle was comet crazy.  Between him and Charles Messier there was
nothing to choose.  They were always in correspondence, and Messier wrote
very kindly to me to express his sense of loss when Great-uncle died.  "

"But you are not comet crazy?"

"I am planet crazy.  Or rather, my fascination is with the satellites that
attend them.  My greatest hero is Galileo, who proved beyond all doubt--and
it was by the behaviour of satellites that he did so--that it is the earth
which travels around the sun, and not the other way about."

Enthusiasm lit her features, and Dela garde gazed in dawning wonder, as he
listened to the first intelligent exposition that he had ever heard issuing
from the lips of a young female.  Theories and counter-theories battered at
his brain, and he very quickly became lost in the morass of unknown names
with which Maidie littered her discourse.  Whatever social inadequacies might
have resulted from her peculiar upbringing, there was no doubt that Reginald
Hope's encouragement of a burgeoning interest had fostered a mind that must
command his deepest respect.  Maidie was infuriating, yes.  But she was not
merely unusual.  She was unique!

A burst of laughter from where his great-aunt had seated herself upon the
bed, divorced from the proceedings, stopped Maidie in mid-stride.  She turned
to Lady Hester, and found that dame brimming with mirth.

"My dear Maidie, you will have his head off in a moment!"

Maidie looked again at Dela garde, in some dismay.  She had been carried away
by his questions, quite forgetting to whom she was speaking.  She was
prattling away like this to Dela garde, of all people!  She was sure that his
interest  in the subject, if he had any at all, was but tepid.  Most people,
so Great-uncle had warned her, would be bored into a stupor by what they both
found so fascinating.  And Dela garde was a man of fashion--what could be more
opposed?

"I beg your pardon," she said, on a rueful note.

"You should not have asked me about it.  Adela says that I lose all sense of
other people when I sit upon my hobbyhorse, and I dare say she is right.  I
do try to remember that one's passion may be of no interest at all to others."

"Don't!"  Dela garde said, smiling at her in a way that she found singularly
unsettling.

"It is rather I who should be apologising for doubting you.  I begin to
perceive why you expressed so much reluctance to become involved in the
social whirl."

"Well, it is true that I didn't want to do so," Maidie admitted, trying to
recover her poise, 'but in fact I am quite enjoying it.  Perhaps because I
had only chosen to track this comet for Great-uncle's sake, so that I have
not been truly averse to having my work interrupted.  "

"Had you been tracking a planet, on the other hand...?"  he suggested, with a
questioning lift to one eyebrow.

That made her laugh.

"One does not track a planet.  However, I know what you mean to say."  In a
confiding manner that amused Dela garde, she told him, "The fact is.  that my
own work has been held up because I need a more powerful telescope.  I
thought it better not to attempt to have one built until I have my own
establishment.  They are most unwieldy, and I would not wish to have to move
it once it had been erected."

"No doubt you are wise," Dela garde said gravely, ignoring the stifled sounds
issuing from Lady Hester.

"We must trust that it will not be long before you are suitably settled, and
able to command your husband's help."

"Oh, I shall't ask him!"  said Maidie forthrightly.

"That  is just why I am anxious to marry someone who is not particular about
what I do.  He may have his forty-five thousand pounds with my good will, if
only he will refrain from interfering.  Besides, I cannot think that a
gentleman seeking to marry a fortune will have any interest in astronomy.

He is far more likely to bury himself in cards, or sporting pursuits.  "

"And you won't mind that?"

"Why should I?  Provided he will not mind my burying myself in my
observatory."

Dela garde shook his head.

"You are the strangest girl.  I have never heard a more absurd reason for
matrimony.  Why don't you look for a husband among those who attended this
lecture--or some other who shares your own enthusiasm for the subject?"

Maidie sighed.

"I wish I might.  But there is hardly a glut in the world of eligible
astronomers."

"Perhaps not.  But I can't for the life of me see that you will be happy with
anyone else."  He found himself so disturbed by this thought that he hurried
again into speech.  "My good girl, you are making a great mistake.

Do you really think that any man--even a fortune hunter--will be so
complaisant as to allow his wife to abjure his world, to become so eccentric
a recluse as your great-uncle?  Is that what you want?  "

She was silent, staring at him in puzzlement.  Put like that, she was unable
to answer him.  She had thought of marriage only as a means to an end.  She
merely wanted to be left alone.  But might this be the result of enduring
life under Adela's rule, when she had been obliged to do as another bid her,
and not as she wished?  For she wished only for the freedom to carry on her
work.  Except that this taste of town life had its attractions.  If she had
not come, she would not have heard that lecture, or met Sir Granville
Wilberfbss.  There was, she found, something of greater  -s '< pleasure in
returning to star-gazing when one was not always able to do it.  In England,
with the uncertain weather, | one's observing was often frustrated.  She
found it tedious to use the time in complicated mathematical calculations,
drawing up better maps or improving one's charts.  It might be a relief to
while away bad weather at a social gathering instead.

She came out of these thoughts to find Dela garde still awaiting some
response, and Lady Hester watching her with a twinkle in her eye.  There was
all at once a trace of heaviness in her chest, and she could not think why.

"Perhaps you would then advise me to remain a spinster?"  she asked him
seriously.

He flung away rather suddenly.

"God forbid--if it means I will have you on my hands for life!"

A dart seemed to pierce Maidie's breast.  She turned away and made a business
of laying down her maps and charts on the whatnot, putting them into some
semblance of order.  Why such a comment should hurt her, she could not
imagine.  No, that was hum dudgeon.  She was not precisely hurt.  It was not
as if Dela garde had not addressed many such remarks to her.  Only why now,
when they had seemed to be achieving a measure of understanding?

Dela garde was as much at a loss to account for his hasty remark.  He could
not think why he had said it.  It was true, but somehow--perhaps because of
this new image he had of Maidie--it seemed a hurtful thing to say to her.

He turned, trying to think of some way of mitigating it.  But his mind had
gone blank.  He watched her rearranging her papers, and the only thing that
entered his brain was the obvious thought that it was going to be hard indeed
for her to find a husband with whom she might share a common interest.  It
would scarcely lessen the damage to voice such a notion!

On the whole he was glad to be spared the necessity of  talking any further
by the intervention of Aunt he's, who rose from the bed.

"It is far too late to be entering upon such a discussion.  Now go away, do,
Laurie.  This improper proceeding has served its turn."

Maidie looked round quickly.

"Improper?"

"For Laurie to be in your bedchamber."

"Oh," said Maidie, and was annoyed to feel herself blushing.

Dela garde went to the door.

"There is nothing improper in it as long as you are here," he said, oddly
irritated by the suggestion.  But he bid them both goodnight, and withdrew.

Maidie glanced at Lady Hester.

"Perhaps it is a pity that I missed the ball.  I might have made some
progress."  She added, on a note of melancholy,

"I believe Lord Dela garde has a poor opinion of my chances."

Lady Hester came across and patted her cheek, smiling.  "Nonsense, my love.

He does not believe the half of what he says.  Pay no heed to him!  " She
moved to the door.

"But come!  We have been most remiss.  Poor Ida has not been informed of your
return, Maidie.  And I wish to ask her why she did not tell us where you had
gone."

But the Worm, when Maidie and Lady Hester went in to her next door, was found
to be suffering from headache and a raging fever.  The two ladies had too
much to do in making her more comfortable to concern themselves over the
duenna's lapse of memory.

"I am sure that must have been it," Maidie whispered, when the Worm, having
swallowed a dose of laudanum, was seen to be sinking into slumber.

"Poor Worm was probably too ill to heed what I said to her.  I should have
told you myself.  Pray don't let us trouble her on the matter.  Let her
believe it is my fault, and that I forgot to say anything."

 Lady Hester drew her out of the room, and agreed to this, but adding a
severe injunction to her not to sit up late.  "Your abigail may take the
night watch, and in the morning we will call in the physician."

But Maidie, too worried to sleep very soundly, twice awoke and went in to
check on the Worm.  A truckle bed had been set up for Trixie, but the
conscientious maid had not used it, and was taking such good care of Miss
Worm- ley that Maidie was able to go back to her bed with a quiet mind.

She cancelled her engagements for the next few days, spending a deal of time
with the Worm, a sacrifice that induced her sponsor to harbour kindlier
thoughts towards her.

"She is a good-hearted little creature, at least," he told Lady Hester as
they set out upon Tuesday evening's entertainment without her.

"Oh, it is no great hardship to Maidie to miss a party," said his great-aunt
prosaically.

Dela garde found himself irrationally annoyed by this observation.

"You think she is using Miss Wormley's illness as an excuse, then?"

"I did not say that.  Maidie is very fond of Ida.  Her concern is quite
genuine."

"Miss Wormley may count herself fortunate," Dela garde said grimly.

"There are few things--outside of astronomy, of course--that rouse Maidie's
concern."

"But a moment ago, Laurie, you were extolling her kind heart," Lady Hester
pointed out.

"What are you at now?"

"Nothing."

Dela garde was silent for a moment.  He was conscious of a degree of
dissatisfaction for which he could not account.  had been conscious of it for
some days.  That it had to do with Maidie's descent upon him he could not 
doubt: the disturbance to his ordered existence; the unsettled state of his
mind, always in some way or another concerned with the wretch's activities;
the discomfort of an uncertain temper, for Maidie had the unhappy knack of
arousing it.  But it was "none of these things that was at the root of his
discontent.  How could it be, when he had felt it so much aggravated by the
discovery of Maidie's all- consuming crusade with the heavens?

"I do not know what to make of her!"  he announced suddenly, as if unable to
keep his thoughts any longer to himself.

"In what respect?"

He turned, trying to see his great-aunt's features in the semi-darkness.

"You have a fondness for her, have you not, Aunt he's?  But can you
truthfully say that you understand her?"

Dela garde thought she smiled, but he could not be sure.

"Don't you?"

The response, enigmatic as ever, infuriated him.

"Have I not just said that I do not?  This star-gazing, for one thing."

"What about it?"

"One must admire her grasp of the subject.  It argues a strong intelligence.
But..."  He paused, grappling with his thoughts, struggling with a rising
emotion to which he could put no name.

"I cannot like the--the obsession.  Excluding all else.  It is not natural.
It is unfeminine.  It makes one feel--yes, shut out."  The phrase, for some
unfathomable reason, laid fuel to his are.

"She will never get a husband.

No man will bear it!  "

"Then I dare say Maidie is right to insist upon a marriage of convenience,"
said Lady Hester calmly.

"Possibly," conceded Dela garde stiffly, and by no means soothed.

"I wish her joy of it.  And pity the poor fool who  must spend his nights in
a cold bed while his wife warms herself purely by starlight."

Resuming an active part in the social round, Maidie found herself possessed
by a certain lethargy.  A tiny hope, largely unformed, that Dela garde might
truly have been interested in her talk of astronomy, that it might have
become the basis of a growth in mutual understanding, died quickly.  He would
not now concern himself at her absences from the house--apparently the only
thing that had concerned him.

Had he not kept very much out of her way for some considerable time?  Only
the to-do over her disappearance had made him pay attention to her.  Now, it
appeared, he considered himself free to let her make her own way.  For, on
Thursday evening, once having given his escort to the ladies during the short
journey in his town carriage to a soiree held by Lady Riseley, the mother of
his close friend, he kept his distance.  It was not, as might have been
supposed, because he felt himself obliged to give attention to his friend,
for Lord Riseley made it his business to see to Maidie's comfort, and
introduced her also to Mr Everett Corringham.

"Another of Dela garde's cronies, you must know," said Riseley with a grin,
wafting a hand at his other friend.

He had guided Maidie to a chair set into one of the alcoves formed in the
window embrasures of the large saloon, a pleasant room done out in warm
shades of brown and cream with gilt edging.  The two gentlemen stood before
her, effectively barring her view of the rest of the guests.

"Most remiss of our friend not to have presented us to you before this,"

said Corringham.

"Yes, he would keep saying that you don't care for anyone who is not
interested in astronomy."

 Maidie could not but be intrigued to meet those friends who knew Dela garde
best, but at this patent falsehood, she gave Lord Riseley one of her
wide-eyed looks.

"He cannot have been saying so for long, because he has only known of my
interest in astronomy these last few days."

"And, I am prepared to wager, has expressed no interest in it whatsoever,"

pursued his lordship, a teasing light in his eye.

"Corringham, on the other hand, is agog.  Are you not, Everett?"

"Utterly," agreed the other, hand on heart.

"You must tell me all about it."

"I cannot," said Maidie frankly.

"It is a vast subject, and I am myself still ignorant of many aspects.
Besides, my great-uncle Reginald warned me on no account to bore others who
do not share the interest."

"But Everett does share it," protested Riseley, mock- indignant.

"At least, he is sure that he will, if you are willing to introduce him to
it.  Come, Lady Mary, you must be able to cover the essentials in one little
evening."

Maidie stared at him, perplexed.  She could no more understand what was his
motive than she could believe Mr Corringham entertained a serious interest
in her hobby.  At any other time, she would have been glad to have pursued a
natural curiosity to probe, in order perhaps to discover something more about
Dela garde.  But a nagging suspicion of a headache was making her edgy, and
she lost a little of her newfound decorum.

"Lord Riseley, pray do not trifle with me in this way, for I am not in a mood
for it.  What is it you want of me?"

The two gentlemen exchanged glances--of amusement, Maidie thought.  Then
Riseley turned back to her, his grin decidedly sheepish.

"You are too shrewd.  Lady Mary.  I will leave Everett to explain."  He held
up a hand as his friend cast him a  glance of reproach.

"No choice but to rat, old fellow.  My mother's party, you know.  Must
circulate."

He winked at Maidie, and withdrew, leaving her to cast her questioning look
upon Corringham.

"Well, sir?"

Corringham cleared his throat, and pulling forward another chair, took his
seat beside her.

"It is all too obvious, I am afraid.  We have heard a great deal about you."

"From Lord Dela garde?"  asked Maidie, before she could stop herself.

"And others.  Don't be alarmed.  A new face in town is bound to be the
subject of great interest."

Maidie glanced about the room, as if to verify this statement, and was a
little dismayed to find that her vision seemed a touch blurred.  She brought
her gaze back to Mr Corringham's face and was relieved to find it in focus.
She was scarcely aware that she spoke.

"I am not new anymore."

"Perhaps not, but you are still something of an enigma.  To Riseley and
myself especially, for we had not met you.  We have both been consumed with
curiosity to find out what sort of a girl might attract--' He broke off,
coughed again, and resumed,

"I mean, what would induce our friend Dela garde to take a young lady under
his wing in this way."

Maidie's eyes remained fixed upon him, while a rather painful restriction
seemed to clutch at her chest.  She had not missed the change of word.

Clearly, Mr Corringham realised he had made an inappropriate choice at
first.  It could not have been a slip--could it?  Her head felt curiously
light, but a ring of discomfort encircled it.  She frowned, finding it hard
to think of what she must say.

"There was no attraction."  No, she had not meant to say that.

"Of course not.  Dela garde does not even like me."  She had not meant to say
that either.

"He was induced, you are very right.  Between myself and Lady Hester, he
found  himself with little choice."  Should she have said that?  Mr Corring
ham was looking most oddly at her.

"I should not have told you that, I dare say."

The constriction in her chest tightened, her nose pricked suddenly.  Then she
sneezed.

"I beg your pardon," she uttered, groping in her petticoats to find a pocket
handkerchief.  The pressure about her brow increased, and she narrowed her
eyes, finding the light in the room too bright.

"Lord Dela garde does not approve of me.  I thought we were becoming f-friends
at least, but--' To her consternation, she felt a stinging at her eyes, and
quickly put up her handkerchief to cover them.  Then she was seized by a fit
of sneezing.  Vaguely she heard Mr Corringham say something about Lady he's-
ter, but could not take it in.

In a moment or two, as the sneezing died away, she was able to think a little
more clearly.  She knew what had happened now.  She had caught Worm's cold.
Lord knew what she might have said to Mr Corringham, her head ached so!
Looking up at last, she saw Lady Hester coming towards her.

The next bustling moments passed as a vague blur, but Maidie forced her
senses alert when she found herself in Dela garde's carriage, with his
lordship for escort.

"Where is Lady Hester?"

"She could not come away just at this moment," he answered.

"She is engaged with old friends.  I shall return to fetch her when I have
seen you safely home."

Maidie was beyond understanding this.  It seemed most odd of Lady Hester to
abandon her, quite unprecedented.  Especially when she was obviously ill.

That Dela garde should be obliged to bring her home seemed altogether
disquieting.

"I am sorry to give you so much trouble," she produced.

"Don't be stupid."

 Maidie gave a little laugh.

"I seem to be fated to make you miss parties."

"I know.  How shall I survive it, I wonder?"

"Well, I did not mean to interfere in your life," Maidie said, a little
aggrieved by this sarcasm.

"That," said Dela garde flatly, 'is past praying for.  "

Maidie sneezed, caught her handkerchief to her face, and announced in muffled
accents,

"You do not seem to me to be unduly discomposed."

"I beg your pardon?  If I heard you aright, it is obvious that you have no
notion of the life I led before you thrust yourself into it."

"Then go back to that life," Maidie threw at him.

"I am sure I have no wish to prevent you."

"It may have escaped your notice, but at this precise moment that is exactly
what you are doing."

Maidie sniffed back threatening tears.  Her headache had assumed vast
proportions.  She put up her fingers to her temples, and kneaded at them.

"Had I known that you had the intention of coming with me," she managed to
say,

"I would have told you not to trouble.  I could quite well have gone on my
own."

"In this state?  I do not think so."

Another fit of sneezing prevented her from making any immediate reply.  It so
much exhausted her that she was only able to groan afterwards, sinking her
aching head against the squabs.

"You will do better not to talk," Dela garde advised.

"We will be at Charles Street in a moment."

"It's well for you to say that," Maidie returned, making a valiant effort to
sit up straight again, 'after you have succeeded in making me feel guilty.
It is not my fault that I have caught a cold.  "

Dela garde pushed her back.

"For God's sake, lie back  and rest!  And you are palpably to blame.  You
were bound to catch a cold if you hung about your duenna's bedside."

Maidie sniffed, and clapped the handkerchief to her nose again, retorting in
muffled accents,

"Oh, and I suppose you would have had me leave poor Worm to fend for herself?"

Dela garde was silenced.  He could not think why he was behaving in this
fashion.  He was as sulky as a schoolboy, and all for no reason at all.  Of
course it was not Maidie's fault that she had caught cold.  And it was no
trouble to him to come with her in fact, he had offered to do so the moment
his great-aunt had expressed, very mildly, a slight disappointment in having
to leave just then.  What should take him to carp at the poor girl?

To his relief, the carriage began to slow down, and he saw that they were
negotiating the turn into Charles Street.  In a moment, the horses had drawn
up outside his house.  He did not wait for the steps to be let down, but
jumped out as the door opened and turned to assist Maidie.

She seemed to have difficulty in getting to her feet.  But as he reached in
to help her, she struck his hands away.

"I can manage, thank you."

He stepped back, a flame of anger shooting through him.  He watched her
struggle up, holding fast to the door frames at either side.  She wavered a
little, caught his glance, and reached out blindly.

"I think I am going to..."

Dela garde leapt forward as her eyes rolled shut, and she collapsed into his
ready embrace.

FR1;Chapter Seven JVlaidie had not quite lost consciousness and, as she felt
herself lifted, she dragged her eyes open again.

"You n-need not c-carry me," she tried to say, focusing on the odd angle of
Dela garde's face.

"I am sure I can very well w-walk."

"You may as well save your breath," he advised, moving swiftly up the steps
and into the house.

"Lo wick, send someone up to warn Miss Wormley!"

Maidie subsided somewhat thankfully, and rested her head against his
convenient shoulder.  In her current state, for a blissful few moments, it
felt like the most comfortable position in the world.  But all too soon the
journey was ending, and she was released to the ground and made to sit upon a
chair while the Worm and Trixie hastily prepared her bed, clucking the while.

Realising that Dela garde's supporting arm was still around her, Maidie roused
herself to try and thank him.

"Be still!"  he ordered, shushing her.

"You can talk again when you are comfortably between sheets."

Maidie was indeed still so faint with the sudden onset of fever that she
hardly noticed him leave, and was only half aware as the new muslin gown of
leaf green--put on  for the first time that night--was removed and she was
put to bed.  But after some minutes of rest upon the softness of her banked
pillows, she began to revive a little, and was able to open her eyes and give
an account of herself to the Worm.

"To think that it is my fault you are laid low!"  mourned this worthy,
shedding tears even as she bustled Trixie into turning the bedchamber into a
sick-room, with a plethora of cordials and comforts collected from her own
chamber next door.

"Don't fret.  Worm," Maidie told her.

"Lord Dela garde says I was bound to catch it if I hung about you, so it is
quite my own fault."

But this Miss Wormley would by no means allow, and she continued to upbraid
herself at each of Maidie's intermittent sneezing fits, until the unexpected
re-entrance into the room of Lord Dela garde himself.

"Oh, my lord!"  exclaimed the duenna, shocked.

"It cannot be right--I do not think you should--oh, dear."

"I thought you had gone back to the party," Maidie said, ignoring the Worm's
protestations, and sniffing away the streaming fluids that had accompanied
her last bout of sneezing.

"You had better keep your distance.

I do not wish to be blamed if you catch it.  "

"Well, I am not going to keep my distance."  Dela garde sat on the edge of the
bed, equally unmindful of the duenna's squeaking.  He was holding a cup in
one hand, which he held out to Maidie.

"I have brought you a remedy."

Maidie took it, sniffing gingerly at the brew inside, from which emanated an
aroma that was strange to her.

"What is it?"

"Hot lemon and sugar."  He grinned wickedly, adding, "And a measure of strong
navy rum."  Maidie nearly  dropped the cup, but Dela garde reached out and
grabbed it.

"Take care!"

"I can't drink that!"  Maidie gasped, and thrust it back into his hands as
she began again to sneeze.

"Rum, my lord!"  came from the scandalised Miss Worm- ley.

"Oh no, no, no!"

"My dear Miss Wormley, it is a highly effective restorative for colds, and
will help her to sleep besides.  It is, I promise you, far less harmful to
the system than laudanum."

"Dela garde, have you run mad?"  asked Maidie, when she had blown her nose.

But she could not help smiling, for a warm softness had entered her at this
unprecedented mark of thoughtfulness.

"Drink it!"  he ordered, and keeping his fingers on the cup, encouraged her
to raise it to her lips.

Maidie took a wary sip, and her eyes widened.

"It is not unpleasant."

"Of course not.  It is liberally dosed with sugar."

"Oh dear, oh dear," muttered the Worm distress fully, but ineffectually, for
neither of the principals paid her the least heed.

Maidie was engaged in taking a few more concentrated sips of the hot thick
liquid, which tasted more pleasant every moment.  Soon she began to feel a
rosy glow in her chest and a heady sensation wreathing her brain.  She looked
up to find Dela garde watching her, amusement in his eyes.  She tried to
speak, and found difficulty in enunciating the words.

"I h-hope I shill... shall not tomorrow, ss-su--' " Suffer a morning head?  "
supplied his lordship, grinning at her.

"Well, if you do, I hope it may prove a lesson to you not to plague
de fenceless viscounts with unreasonable demands when they have barely had a
chance to open their eyes."

 Maidie giggled uncontrollably, and hiccuped.  She heard the Worm tut ting
away, and opened wide her eyes.

"D'you mean that I am in-in-inee... drunk?"

"I should not so describe it.  A trifle foxed, perhaps."  Maidie sneezed.

She felt the cup removed from her hand, and heard fain^y the murmur of voices
as the violence of her sneezing took all her attention.  When she was once
more able to take account of what was happening, she found that Dela garde had
gone and the Worm was sitting in his place.  The rosy glow dissipated, and
Maidie discovered that she wanted to weep.  But a drowsy feeling was stealing
over her and, instead, she began to drop asleep.  Her last thought was a
conviction that Dela garde had not been there at all, and the whole episode
was a figment of her fevered imagination.

"How is your protegee, Laurie?"  demanded Mr Corringham, coming up to the
Viscount at their friend Rise- ley's house.

Dela garde had escorted Lady Hester thither, so that she might at once
apologise for Maidie to her hostess of the previous evening, and set it about
that her indisposition would keep her in bed for a day or two.

"She has only taken a cold.  It is not serious."  He found himself being
regarded with a quizzical eye, and frowned.  "Well?"

"Nothing, my dear fellow, nothing at all."

But the gleam persisted, and a surge of irritation threw Dela garde into
speech.

"Everett, I know that look.  What do you mean by it?"

From behind him came Lord Riseley's voice, filled with frank laughter.

"My boy, you had much better ask me.  Everett will never bring himself to say
it."

Dela garde turned on him.

"Well, I do ask you.  What are you at, the pair of you?"

 "Don't fly up into the boughs with us, dear boy," advised Riseley.

"Ain't our fault that you felt compelled to dance attendance on the chit
merely because she caught a cold."

"Dance attendance?  That is ridiculous."

"Is it?"  returned his irrepressible friend.

"Then what came over you to persuade Lady Hester to stay while you escorted
her home?"

"It is what anyone would have done," Dela garde protested, but uneasily aware
of the creeping memory of the sum of his activities last night.  He repressed
it, arguing, "In any event, it was Aunt he's who asked me to do so."

"Oho, was it, indeed?"  chimed in Mr Corringham.

Dela garde threw up his hands.

"Will you make something of that as well, Everett?"

"I should dashed well think he might!"  said Riseley.  "What, is the old lady
planning to parcel you off at last?"

"Parson's mousetrap looming, old fellow?"  teased the other.

"And what is Lady Mary's thought upon all this?"

"Now, how should he know that?"  demanded Lord Rise- ley of his friend,
mock-indignant.

"That was your mission, Everett, and you failed it most miserably."

"How could I help but fail, when my subject would do nothing but sneeze?"

Dela garde eyed them both with a degree of hostility.  There was too much
truth in their banter for his comfort.  That Aunt he's had conceived of a
union between himself and Maidie he could not deny, although he was
reasonably sure that she had given up the notion.  That Maidie might
entertain the idea for one moment was inconceivable--as inconceivable as that
he would do so himself.  Or was it?  He was uncomfortably conscious of a wish
that Everett had succeeded in his mission to discover her sentiments-- if
such had been his intention.  It was unlikely, but suppose Maidie was
developing some sort of tend re^ He would wish to know of it--if only to teach
him to be more circumspect!  One did not, if a gentleman, knowingly raise
expectations.  He was not tenderhearted, but one would not wish any female to
suffer the pangs of unrequited affection.

The oddest sensation- attacked him in the chest.  Revulsion?  No, not that.

Compassion?  Yes, compassion.  So vulnerable as she had seemed last night!

Familiarity was damping his antagonism.  He could laugh at her oddities.

Was it possible that he had even begun to like her?  Decidedly, he was
conscious of more friendliness towards her.  But how long could it last?

Maidie was-The thought escaped him as he found that both his friends were
silently watching him.  Striving to shake off his abstraction, he turned the
subject.  He was succeeding admirably in deflecting the conversation, when it
was thrust back into the same channel by Adela, Lady Shurland, who boldly
accosted him.

"Lord Dela garde, may I speak to you for a moment?  I am anxious to hear news
of my poor cousin."

There was nothing to be read in the angular countenance other than an anxious
concern but, at the back of her eyes, Dela garde read something more.  Faintly
intrigued, he discarded his first impulse, which was to return a polite
answer in the company of his friends.  Bowing acquiescence, he stepped aside
with her and, as he supposed, out of earshot.

"What is it you wish to know, ma'am?"

Adela gave him a limpid smile.

"How Mary is, what else?  I hear that you were obliged to take her home from
this house last night, upon a sudden onset of illness."

Dela garde shrugged.

"It was nothing very much.  Miss Wormley has had a cold these few days and
Lady Mary has caught it from her, that is all."

"I am so glad," sighed Adela.

"But it is all of a piece.  Mary is giving you a deal of trouble, I believe."

 There was no gainsaying this, but Dela garde was not about to admit the fact
to Lady Shuriand.

"Not at all.  The house is enlivened by her presence, and my aunt takes great
pleasure in Lady Mary's society."

"But you don't?"  cut in Adela shrewdly.

Dela garde compressed his lips upon an exclamation of annoyance, and said, at
his most suave,

"I cannot imagine why you should make such an assumption."

The Countess smiled archly.

"You have no need to pretend with me.  Lord Dela garde.  Remember that I am
well acquainted with Mary.  She is bound to rub against you.  Indeed, I must
suppose any man would find her impossible to live with."

He eyed her frostily.

"Indeed?  Then it seems to me extremely odd that you should encourage your
brother in his pursuit of her."

If he had hoped to put Adela out of countenance, he was disappointed.  She
gave a laugh that rang a little false.

"There is no accounting for taste, sir.  What would you?  My poor brother is
smitten.  I conceive it to be my duty to do what I may to oblige him."

Dela garde was so much disgusted by the disingenuity of these remarks that he
almost walked away from the woman without another word.  He was stayed only
by her hand reaching out.  It was placed upon his arm and she leaned towards
him with an air of confidentiality.

"Lord Dela garde, it is for that I wished to speak with you, to be truthful.
You cannot, I am persuaded, desire the continued burden of Mary's presence in
your house.  She has been, I must guess, nothing but a source of trouble and
annoyance to you.  Why do you not use your influence?"

What new ploy was this?  What influence was he supposed to have with Maidie?

And how dared the woman take it upon herself to make these wild suppositions
about his state of mind?  Whatever trouble and annoyance he might have felt
because of Maidie's presence in his house had nothing whatsoever to do with
Adela, Lady Shurland.  He would not demean himself by quarrelling openly with
her, but his smile was as false as her own.

"According to your.  reading of our relationship.  Lady Shurland, I cannot
imagine how you deduce that I have any influence with Lady Mary."

"Oh, not with Mary," she uttered impatiently.

"With Lady Hester.  No one could doubt that she has influence with Mary, and
she is a guest in your house, besides being your aunt."

Dela garde raised incredulous eyebrows.

"Are you suggesting that I should intercede with my aunt to petition Lady
Mary on behalf of your brother, ma'am?"

Adela sighed gustily.

"I only wish you might.  Between you, I am persuaded you could induce Mary to
accept Eustace.  He is a respectable man, and personable--though I speak as
his sister, I cannot but notice how he is admired.  And he cares for her.
Lord Dela garde.  Surely that must count for something?"

"Yes, you mentioned that he was smitten," Dela garde said smoothly.  His eyes
narrowed dangerously.

"But I, Lady Shurland, am no fool.  If he is smitten, it is not with Maidie,
but with her forty-five thousand pounds."

With that, he turned his back upon her, and moved to rejoin his friends, such
a blaze of anger in his chest that it was a moment or two before he realised
that Lord Rise- ley was speaking to him.  He blinked and brought his friend
into focus.

"I beg your pardon, Peter?"

"I asked you what Lady Shurland has said to put you in a miff, dear boy?"

The fury was too raw to be contained.  He gave a mirthless laugh.

"The woman takes me for a simpleton!  As if I could be fool enough to believe
for one moment--even  had I not already Maidie's word for it--that her
obnoxious brother has any other end in view than to get his hands upon
Maidie's fortune."

"Fortune!"  echoed Mr Corringham blankly.  "You mean the girl has
expectations?"  asked Riseley.  Dela garde cursed.

"Now, not a word, either of you!  If that cat of a female had not put me in
such a flame, I would never have mentioned it."

"But, my dear boy, you can tell us," protested his friend.  "No reason why he
should," argued Corringham.  "He already has.  Might as well give us a round
tale now."

"Yes, very well, Peter, but you had better not set it about.  I wish neither
to be obliged to discourage an endless stream of fortune-hunters, nor to be
accused of coveting her substance myself."

His friends whistled when they heard the sum of Maidie's inheritance, and
teasingly complained of their own inability to make a play for it.

Corringham was already the father of a hopeful family, and Riseley had
become betrothed at the end of the previous Season.  To Dela garde's chagrin,
they immediately engaged upon a lighthearted encouragement to him to snatch
Maidie up before any other fellows got wind of the matter.

"I thank you, and I shall now leave you both," he said trenchantly.

"And if you dare to bring up the subject again in my presence, you may count
upon my forsaking your company altogether."

Returning on Monday night from Boodle's in the early hours, Dela garde had
just sent the sleepy porter who had been waiting up for him to bed, when a
sound from the downstairs drawing-room alerted him.  He had shrugged off his
greatcoat, and he threw it, together with his hat and gloves, on to one of
the hall chairs.  Lifting high the candle  that had been left for him on the
table, he crossed the hall and opened the door.

Light glimmered in a corner, and he saw the outline of a shrouded figure
standing near the escritoire.  He was a trifle above par, but not so far gone
that he would take it for a spectre.  Nearing, he discovered, with a
sensation of startled surprise, that it was Maidie.  It was the first time he
had seen her in three days.  Even in his elevated state, he knew her
appearance here was abnormal.  Since Thursday night, when he had brought her
home, she had remained confined to her room, making, so Aunt he's had told
him, a steady recovery.  But she was not yet officially up.

She was clad only in a dressing-robe, her hair loose about her shoulders, and
engaged in thrusting about inside one of the drawers of the little desk.  It
was evident that she had not seen him, for she gasped, turning her head as he
spoke.

"What in the world are you doing?"

"Oh, it's you," she muttered, sighing out her breath.  "You quite startled
me."

"So you did me," he returned.

"Why aren't you in bed?  What are you looking for?"

Maidie had resumed her scrabbling search.

"I have lost my pencil.  I dropped it somewhere on the balcony, and I cannot
find it."

"The balcony?"

Maidie held a quill up to the light, and tutted.

"This is no use.  Even if I had some, there is no sense in writing up the
chart in ink.  What if I should make an error?"

Light dawned on Dela garde.  Cursing, he set down his candle and grasped her
wrist, removing the quill from her fingers and replacing it in the drawer.

"Do you tell me you are star-gazing at this hour?  Have you run mad, girl?"

 She blinked dazedly at him, and he could see even in the dim light of their
candles the frown that creased her forehead.  Her voice was a trifle husky,
but there was no other trace of her late illness.

"But there is nothing out of the way in that.  I often observe until dawn."

"Not in your current state of health!  Good God, what are you thinking of?"

"I know, but it is the clearest night we have had in several weeks.

Besides, I am feeling quite well, Dela garde, I promise you.  "

"Not for much longer if you have been exposing yourself to the raw night air.
Do you wish to catch your death?  Go back to bed at once!"

Maidie was engaged in opening another drawer, and completely ignored the
command.

"Don't you have any pencils in this house?"

Dela garde was in no condition to tolerate idiotic questions.  Seizing her by
the shoulders, he pulled her round to face him.

"Maidie, don't trifle with me!  You are going to bed, if I have to pick you
up and carry you there."

He picked up her candle and thrust it into her hand, then retrieved his own
and began to draw her towards the door.

"But why can I not have a pencil?"  Maidie pleaded, resisting.

"It is not much to ask."

"Oh, good God!"

Releasing her, Dela garde moved back to the escritoire and made a rapid hunt
through the contents of the drawers, holding his candle close.  He found a
pencil and handed it to her.

"There!  Now, come."

Clutching the indispensable pencil, Maidie allowed herself to be guided into
the hall and up the stairs, talking all the while.

"You cannot imagine how frustrating, Dela garde.  I had  just located that
comet again--for it has moved considerably and I have not had an opportunity
to change its path in the charts since I saw it through Sir Granville's tele-
scope--and then I dropped the pencil.  I have an idea it must have fallen
through the railing because I crept about on my hands and knees and searched
thoroughly."

"On your hands and knees on the cold stone floor of the balcony?  Exactly
what any doctor must recommend," commented Dela garde sardonically.

"But I promise you I did not notice the cold in the least.  I was trying to
hold the configuration in my head."

"Well, you may write it down," Dela garde conceded, 'but then you are to go to
bed.  "

She halted at her bedchamber door, turning with her candle held up.

"It is no use now.  I have forgotten it.  I must hope that the telescope has
not shifted in my absence."

"Maidie--' he began warningly, and paused as she smiled at him all at once.

"Would you like to see it?  The comet, I mean."

He was about to veto the suggestion in no uncertain terms, and insist upon
her shutting the telescope up and going to bed, but Maidie opened her door,
and grasping his wrist in a markedly unselfconscious manner, drew him into
the room.

"Do look, Dela garde!  It is the most beautiful thing."

Dela garde found himself quite unable to repudiate her.  Perhaps it was the
lingering effects of the wine, but he felt delightfully elated by her
amiability.  There was a chill in the air of the room, which he had no
hesitation in ascribing to the wide-open balcony doors.  Maidie seemed not to
notice it, but released him and went quickly across to seat herself on the
stool before her telescope, setting the candle and pencil down on the whatnot
beside her.

Dela garde hesitated by the still-open door.  He retained  enough sanity to
know that this was extremely improper, but he must make sure that she left
off star-gazing and went back to bed.  He did not want her death on his
conscience.  It must, he supposed, be the liquor, for there was something
disturbing about the whole proceeding.

"You do realise," he found himself saying casually, 'that the nature of this
invitation of yours is quite shocking.  "

Maidie turned on the stool.  He could not see her face properly from here,
but her voice was free of embarrassment.

"What do you mean?"  she asked innocently.

"Come, come, Maidie.  This is your bedchamber, and we are unchaperoned.  If
you get into the habit of inviting men to star-gaze with you," he said on a
deliberately humourous note, 'your reputation is unlikely to survive it.  "

"Oh, yes," she agreed blithely, returning to her telescope.  "But you are not
a man."

"I beg your pardon?  Let me tell you that I take strong exception to that
remark, ma'am!"

Maidie giggled.

"Oh, well, you know what I mean."

"Yes, and you know what I mean.  You in your dressing- robe, alone with a
bachelor, at a disastrously late--or, if you will, disastrously early hour.
I must have taken leave of my senses!"

Intent upon her telescope, Maidie did not acknowledge this.  He doubted that
she had even heard him.  He watched her put her eye to the piece, and then
moved to the dresser where a candelabrum stood.  He lit the candles from his
own and a fresh light sprang up into the room.

Maidie looked round.

"Oh, shade that, if you please.  Or put it further away."

Dela garde saw that she had extinguished her own candle, and complied.  Then
he went to stand behind her, looking up into the night sky.  It was indeed
sparklingly clear, and the stars shone brightly.  He wondered how Maidie
managed to distinguish her comet from all the others.  She rose from the
stool and he looked down at her face.  It gleamed palely in the starlight,
plainly lighting her features.  It dulled her bright hair, the curls falling
untidily about her face, and made of it a halo that caressed her cheeks.

A kind of hush fell over Dela garde's mind.

"Show me your comet," he said softly.

Maidie ushered him on to the stool, and he looked through the telescope's
eye.  At first he could only make out a fuzz of light, but at Maidie's
instruction, he looked to one side and caught the shape of the comet in the
periphery of his vision.  At least, he took her word for it that it was a
comet, for to his untutored eye it appeared only as a large blob.  She
talked.  He listened, and looked.  After a while, it began to make more
sense, and he admitted to a certain fascination.

But he rose soon, and politely thanked her, insisting that she close up all
her apparatus.  She did so, discoursing at some length on the phenomenon he
had been examining.  Then she went off at a tangent, talking of Tycho and
Kepler, and the age-old debate about the planetary paths in relation to the
sun.  Dela garde was quickly out of.  his depth, but found himself making a
supreme effort to keep track, putting a question where his own scanty
knowledge prodded an incomplete memory.  He closed the French windows when
she had shut up the telescope, and remained standing by them, watching the
animation in her face as she stood talking, the features still clear by the
starlight that came in through the glass.

In some vague corner of his brain, he heard what she said, but the words
passed over his comprehension as that hush once more invaded his mind.  He
stared at her as if mesmerised, and the intent absorption of his look
penetrated at last through Maidie's concentration.

'--not fully established until Isaac Newton's Principia,  and people
continued to believe the Ptolemaic theory for quite centuries, even after
Copernicus.  "

Her voice died, the thread of what she was saying slipping away from her.

She stared back into Dela garde's face, softened by some trick of the light,
and her bones melted.  A memory flashed into her head.

"You are not a man."  She had said it.  When had she said it?  Only tonight?
She took in his slightly dishevelled air--cravat half untied, both coat and
waistcoat unbuttoned, revealing the silk shirt beneath and the veri est
glimpse of flesh.  His black locks fell forward on to his lean cheeks.  As
she stared, the depths of his brown eyes seared her, and she felt him very
much a man.  She had the strangest notion that something--she did not know
what--must surely happen now.  And then he spoke.

"What about Copernicus?"

It was a soft whisper, barely penetrating the silence that dragged between
them like a blanketing mist.  Maidie felt her throat dry, and she swallowed.

"I have forgotten."

Dela garde reached out, but his hand stilled, poised in the air.  His face
changed, as if some recognition broke into his head.  He snatched his hand
back, and his voice cut harshly across the dreamy atmosphere.

"I should not be here!"

He turned abruptly and walked quickly out of the room.

Maidie watched him go, stricken with a savage sense of loss.

April dawned two days later, and Maidie reappeared in society for Lady
Hester's own party in Charles Street.  The first intimation of change came
when she found herself still standing at the head of the stairs, alongside
her hostess and Dela garde, some fifteen minutes after the last arrival might
have been expected.

 "What in the world does this mean, Laurie?"  demanded Lady Hester during a
temporary lull.

"I am sure I did not send out as many invitations as this."

Dela garde was frowning.

"I thought it was odd.  Didn't you say this was to be a small party?"

Maidie had her own puzzlements.

"What I should like to know is why everyone is being so friendly towards me."

"Why should they not be?"

"But, Dela garde, I do not know the half of these people.  And neither Lady
Win grove nor Lady Pin more has before taken the least notice of me."

Lady Hester was about to answer, when she was distracted by a new arrival.

"Lord, it is Selina!  You are perfectly right, Maidie.  Something very
peculiar indeed is going on."

Astonished, Maidie watched the ascent up the staircase of Lady Rank mis ton,
magnificent in bronze satin, accompanied by her youngest son--'the only one
unmarried', whispered Lady Hester out of the corner of her mouth.  Maidie
heard a muttered curse from Dela garde, and turned to look at his suddenly
grim profile.  What he meant by it she could not begin to guess--and she was
certainly not going to ask.

She had awoken yesterday to the memory of the Viscount's visit to her
bedchamber, and had suffered a severe attack of embarrassment.  That it might
all have been a dream she knew to be a vain hope, and she could only ascribe
her conduct to the fact that she was not yet quite well.  How could she have
been so lost to all sense of propriety and decorum?  She shuddered to think
of the Worm's reaction, and had not dared to mention the matter to Lady
Hester.  She had met Dela garde but briefly since, hideously conscious of the
blush mantling her cheeks, and had been relieved that he neither referred to
the incident, nor lingered in her company.  It had taken all her resolution 
and people continued to believe the Ptolemaic theory for quite centuries,
even after Copernicus.  "

Her voice died, the thread of what she was saying slipping away from her.

She stared back into Dela garde's face, softened by some trick of the light,
and her bones melted.  A memory flashed into her head.

"You are not a man."  She had said it.  When had she said it?  Only tonight?
She took in his slightly dishevelled air--cravat half untied, both coat and
waistcoat unbuttoned, revealing the silk shirt beneath and the veri est
glimpse of flesh.  His black locks fell forward on to his lean cheeks.  As
she stared, the depths of his brown eyes seared her, and she felt him very
much a man.  She had the strangest notion that something--she did not know
what--must surely happen now.  And then he spoke.

"What about Copernicus?"

It was a soft whisper, barely penetrating the silence that dragged between
them like a blanketing mist.  Maidie felt her throat dry, and she swallowed.

"I have forgotten."

Dela garde reached out, but his hand stilled, poised in the air.  His face
changed, as if some recognition broke into his head.  He snatched his hand
back, and his voice cut harshly across the dreamy atmosphere.

"I should not be here!"

He turned abruptly and walked quickly out of the room.

Maidie watched him go, stricken with a savage sense of loss.

April dawned two days later, and Maidie reappeared in society for Lady
Hester's own party in Charles Street.  The first intimation of change came
when she found herself still standing at the head of the stairs, alongside
her hostess and Dela garde, some fifteen minutes after the last arrival might
have been expected.

 "What in the world does this mean, Laurie?"  demanded Lady Hester during a
temporary lull.

"I am sure I did not send out as many invitations as this."

Dela garde was frowning.

"I thought it was odd.  Didn't you say this was to be a small party?"

Maidie had her own puzzlements.

"What I should like to know is why everyone is being so friendly towards me."

"Why should they not be?"

"But, Dela garde, I do not know the half of these people.  And neither Lady
Win grove nor Lady Pin more has before taken the least notice of me."

Lady Hester was about to answer, when she was distracted by a new arrival.

"Lord, it is Selina!  You are perfectly right, Maidie.  Something very
peculiar indeed is going on."

Astonished, Maidie watched the ascent up the staircase of Lady Rank mis ton,
magnificent in bronze satin, accompanied by her youngest son--'the only one
unmarried', whispered Lady Hester out of the corner of her mouth.  Maidie
heard a muttered curse from Dela garde, and turned to look at his suddenly
grim profile.  What he meant by it she could not begin to guess--and she was
certainly not going to ask.

She had awoken yesterday to the memory of the Viscount's visit to her
bedchamber, and had suffered a severe attack of embarrassment.  That it might
all have been a dream she knew to be a vain hope, and she could only ascribe
her conduct to the fact that she was not yet quite well.  How could she have
been so lost to all sense of propriety and decorum?  She shuddered to think
of the Worm's reaction, and had not dared to mention the matter to Lady
Hester.  She had met Dela garde but briefly since, hideously conscious of the
blush mantling her cheeks, and had been relieved that he neither referred to
the incident, nor lingered in her company.  It had taken all her resolution 
to appear as normal tonight--a betrayal of Great-uncle's code that she felt
deeply but could not help.  She was becoming the most adept of shams!

Only the fear that Lady Hester might question and probe if she faltered had
enabled her to face the Viscount with an assumption of poise.

But this unprecedented surge of visitors to the house succeeded in driving
the memories to the back of her mind, and she forgot them altogether as she
received the most gracious of greetings from Lady Rank mis ton.

"That settles it," said Lady Hester, when Dela garde was escorting that lady
on to the saloons.

"There can be but one explanation."

Maidie looked expectantly at her.

"What is it, dear ma'am?"

Lady Hester turned to her, her countenance expressive of a measure of
exasperation.

"Word of your fortune must have got out, Maidie."

"Oh, no!"  Then she thought about it.

"Or--well, perhaps it is not such a great matter.  I always meant for it to
be known.  It was only Dela garde who insisted upon secrecy."

"I fear, my dear, that you will very soon be regretting such an accident, if
I am right."  Lady Hester tutted.

"Three of our most inveterate fortune-hunters have managed to secure an
entry, for I know that I did not invite them."

Maidie frowned, conscious of a lowering feeling in her stomach.  Why, she had
no notion, for it had always been her intention to allow one of that
fraternity to win her hand.  Somehow, the prospect of being pursued by
interested suitors no longer seemed so desirable.

"But how is it possible for them to come if they were not invited?"  she
asked, with a touch of irritation.

Lady Hester laughed.

"Nothing could be easier.  They have only to find an interested
matron--perhaps an aunt or a sister, or merely some friend of the family--and
offer  their escort to our party.  I imagine we have quite doubled the
number of people expected."

Maidie was apprehensive when they abandoned their posts soon after, and
joined the guests who had spread through all three saloons.  It was as well,
as Lady Hester remarked under her breath, that she had instructed Lo wick to
open up all the rooms.

It was a new sensation to be the centre of attention.  Maidie doubted that it
had anything to do with her appearance, although she had been pleased with
the effect of the round gown of pale russet hue, with its three-quarter
sleeves and neckline plain enough to induce her to allow her ginger locks to
curl upon her neck, unadorned.  She was besieged, person after person coming
up to her, without exception exuding goodwill, until they were ousted by the
next.

A very little of this sufficed Maidie.  She longed for the days of her first
appearance, when she was treated to condescension, but was at least able to
move freely through the press of persons.  She hailed the arrival of Darby
Hamp- ford, whom she had previously met, with relief at first.

"Oh, yours is a face I know, thank heaven!"

It smiled unctuously.

"And will become better acquainted with, I trust.

Dear Lady Mary, how I have longed since that night to hear more from you
about the heavens.  Never have I been so enthralled.  "

Maidie eyed him, her cordiality waning.

"Indeed?"

"Can you doubt it?  You must, indeed you must, give me the pleasure of
listening to you."  He leaned closer, saying in a tone far too intimate for
Maidie's comfort,

"But not here!  Let us meet somewhere--in private."

"In private!"  Maidie echoed blankly.

"Yes, yes, I must have you to myself.  One cannot converse with any degree of
comfort at a party.  You are new  to London, I know, but there are places
where one may safely ignore the proprieties."

"Mr Hamp ford, are you out of your senses?"  demanded Maidie forthrightly.

"Utterly, Lady Mary!"  He came closer, as if he would whisper in her ear, but
she drew away.  He murmured, "Don't retreat!  I would I could say what is in
my heart, but I cannot.  Not where anyone might hear."

Maidie was stunned.  Was she supposed to take this seriously?  Did he imagine
her to be flattered?  She could harbour no illusions.  Lady Hester was
obviously right.

"You must take me for an idiot, Mr Hamp ford," she said flatly.

He smiled in what she supposed he must imagine to be a winning manner.

"Far from it.  I think you a perfect angel."

"Hum dudgeon!  I will not be talked to in this fashion.  Please go away--or I
shall be obliged to request Lord De- la garde to have you removed from the
party."

She turned her shoulder, uncaring of the titters that broke out around them,
ill concealed by those who had overheard by a hand over a mouth or a lifted
fan.  She could only trust that Darby Hamp ford would retire, discomfited,
and that her reception of his outrageously insincere approach might serve to
discourage others.

Her trust proved to have been misplaced, for she was subjected to several
further attempts to engage her interest, and, although none was quite as
blatant as that of Hamp- ford, Maidie was in no doubt about what must have
prompted them.

"This is intolerable!"  she told Lady Hester, when the announcement that
refreshments had been laid out be- low stairs afforded a brief respite.

Her hostess was lingering as the throng of guests made its slow way out of
the saloons.  Later, Lady Hester would  be obliged to go down and make an
appearance, but she trusted Lo wick to ensure that the needs of each guest
were catered for, despite the highly augmented nature of the gathering.

"Are you having a difficult time of it, poor child?"  she asked
sympathetically.

"Ma'am, it is dreadful!  I have never heard such a collection of falsehoods
and duplicity as I have been obliged to listen to tonight.  Great-uncle
warned me that society is full of deceit.  I now learn how right he was.

But what infuriates me the most is that they imagine me to be ignorant of
their intentions.  As if I were the veri est nincompoop!  "

Lady Hester had to laugh.

"That is very bad, certainly.  Don't despair, my child.  I think you will
find that these attentions will die down in a few days."  She bubbled over
again.

"Particularly if you mean to snub the pretensions of like-minded gentlemen in
the way you handled Hamp ford."

"Lady Hester, you should have heard him!  I was quite nauseated.  I see that
I must be grateful to Lord Dela garde for having kept the matter secret at
first.  I should otherwise have taken this sort of attitude to have been
normal, and not been put so much upon my guard as I am now."

"Are you indeed grateful to his lordship?"

It was a new voice, entering upon the discussion so suddenly, and with so
tart an inflection, that Maidie was startled.  She turned quickly, and noted
that Lady Hester did' likewise.  Adela!  She might have known.

"This is a private discussion," she said instantly.

"You should not be listening."

Lady Shurland produced a coy smile.

"Far, far be it from me to pry into what does not concern me, dear Mary, but
in this instance I feel I am in honour bound."

About to speak, Maidie felt Lady Hester's restraining hand on her arm, and
subsided.  She watched her hostess  glance about the saloon in which they
were standing, and herself noted that it was almost empty.  Satisfied, Lady
Hester addressed the intruder.

"What is it you mean.  Lady Shurland?"

"I would not wish to be the instigator of any trouble, but I do think that
Mary ought to be informed of Lord Dela garde's part in this."

"In what precisely?"

"Come, come.  Lady Hester.  You are both wondering how it comes about that
the world has got hold of Mary's secret."

Maidie snorted.

"You are not suggesting that Dela garde put it about?

Hum dudgeon!  He was the one who insisted that we should tell no one.  "

"I acquit Lord Dela garde of any malice.  It was not intentional.  Merely
carelessness--or stupidity."

Again, it was the pressure of Lady Hester's hand on her arm that kept Maidie
from bursting out.  Why her instinct should prompt her to fly to Dela garde's
defence, she did not know.  But she found she could not bear Adela's
criticism.

"Do enlighten us.  Lady Shurland," invited Lady Hester.

"It was on the day after you fell ill, Mary.  You were there, I think.  Lady
Hester--at Lady Riseley's.  I wondered at the time if he had been overheard."

"But what happened?"  demanded Maidie impatiently.

Adela smiled again, clearly enjoying this evidence of anxiety.

"We were talking of you, Mary.  I had asked after your health, for I was
truly concerned.  I happened to mention Eustace, and his continued desire to
press his suit.  Lord Dela garde made a most cutting and unforgivable remark
with regard to my dear brother's motives."

"Mentioning my fortune, you mean?"

"Inadvertently, I am persuaded.  But that is not all."

 Then what is "all" , Lady Shurland?  " prompted Lady Hester.

"Lord Dela garde must have forgotten his own decree of secrecy, for I
distinctly overheard him discussing the matter of Mary's fortune with those
friends of his."

"Corringham and Riseley?"

"Yes, Lady Hester."  This time Adela's smile was malevolent.

"It is obvious by tonight's showing that I could not have been the only
person to overhear their conversation."

Maidie stared at her.  She did not doubt the story's truth, but she was ready
to swear that the spread of it owed more to Adela, and perhaps Eustace, than
to Dela garde.  Adela might have felt some advantage to her brother in being
only one among a number of fortune-hunters.  He would thus escape notice.
But that Dela garde had let out the truth could not but affect Maidie.  She
remembered all at once his grim look earlier.  He must have recalled the
meeting.

"It is to be hoped," Adela continued sweetly, her sly mission apparently
incomplete, 'that it will not now be rumoured that Lord Dela garde kept the
secret of your fortune from the world because he wants you for himself, Mary.
"

"It is certainly to be hoped not," said Lady Hester, with more steel in her
voice than Maidie had ever heard.

Looking at the older lady, she thought her eyes were sending a warning to her
cousin.  She lost no time in voicing it herself.

"If you spread such a tale about, Adela--' " I?  What have I to gain?  "

"Perhaps nothing," said Lady Hester softly, 'but then again, it might suit
you to ensure that such a rumour was "overheard" It could only be to
Dela garde's discredit.  Fortunately, his reputation is so well established
that I doubt if anyone would believe it.  "

 "They would not believe it, in any event," Maidie chimed in, her voice a
trifle unsteady, 'if they have seen Dela garde and myself together.  Only an
idiot could be so blind as to suppose anything of the kind, and if it was
suggested to Lord Dela garde himself, I am sure he would laugh.  "

A little of Adela's assurance left her, and she frowned.  "I do not
understand you."

"Dela garde is too polite to let you see it," Maidie said recklessly, 'but the
truth is that he was utterly averse to bringing me out.  "

"Maidie, hush!"  warned Lady Hester.

"Why, ma'am?"  Maidie pursued, flushed and bright- eyed.

"It is as well to have the truth, if people are going to talk.  He did not
want me, Adela, and he does not want me now.  He has been brought to tolerate
my presence in his house, but I assure you that he cannot wait to be rid of
me.

There!  Now what have you to say?  "

She was near to tears, hardly understanding herself what had prompted her to
tumble it all out.  Somewhere inside her a voice was crying out at the ghost
of a memory of Dela garde's dark eyes, which had caught hers so compellingly
in a dream of starlight.

Dela garde looked unseeingly through the window in the little downstairs
parlour, his back to Lady Hester.  He was dressed with his usual impeccable
elegance, in a green frock-coat over buckskins and top boots, his cravat
neatly tied, but he had not yet breakfasted, and it might be hunger that was
causing the hollow within him.  Aunt he's, unusually, had risen before he
did, although they were both late following last night's evening party.

The last guests had departed at some time after one in the morning.

"I have not told you in order to upbraid you, Laurie," said his great-aunt
gently.

 He turned his head.

"If you had, it would be no more than I deserve.  Do you think I had not
realised all this last night?"

Aunt he's's explanation of the change in attitude towards Maidie had been
unnecessary, for he had immediately seen its significance for himself.

Recalling that conversation with Adela, Lady Shurland, his first thought was
that his friends had betrayed him.  Indeed, he had sought them out there and
then.

"You know better than that, old fellow," had said Corringham coolly.

"If I supposed you seriously believed it, dear boy, I should feel compelled
to call you out!"  had protested Lord Riseley.

Dela garde had at once apologised, and his friends had sympathised with his
situation, supposing, as he had himself, that someone had overheard their
conversation.  That someone he had not, until this morning, thought to be
Lady Shurland.

"She denies having helped the rum ours," said Lady hester.

"But the murder is out, and there is nothing to be done about it now."

He moved to the mantelpiece and leaned his arm along it.

"Is Maidie distressed?  She looked to be coping well enough last night."

He saw the familiar twinkle enter Lady Hester's eye.  "She is more
disillusioned than distressed.  Great-uncle Reginald, you must know, has
proved to be right once again."

Dela garde laughed.

"The devil he has!  What must we do, I wonder, to convince her that every
fashionable fribble is not necessarily a hypocrite?"  To his surprise, his
great- aunt became serious.  He frowned.

"What is it.  Aunt he's?"

She threw out a hand.

"Oh, don't look like that.  I am persuaded it will not amount to anything--at
least, I hope not.  But that woman means mischief, I am sure of it."

 "Lady Shuriand?  Come, Aunt he's, what is the matter?"

Lady Hester sighed deeply.

"She will brand you a hypocrite, if she can, Laurie.  She as good as told us
that she will set about the rumour that you kept Maidie's fortune secret
because you want her for yourself."

Dela garde was so surprised that he let out a peal of laughter.  Of all the
nonsensical notions!  What, was he supposed to rate his attractions so low
that he would stoop to so petty a trick?  He might not have any better
personal attributes than the next fellow.  But with his title and position,
he had been sought after for so many years that he would have to be a perfect
fool to so belittle his own chances.  If, that was, he'd had any idea of
attempting to attach Maidie.

Why then should Aunt he's be regarding him in so dissatisfied a fashion?

"You don't believe that yourself.  Aunt he's, surely?"

"Of course I don't believe it," she responded tartly.

"It is only that I have realised that Maidie was quite right."

"What the devil do you mean?"

"She said you would laugh at the idea."

Dela garde raised an eyebrow.

"Did she, indeed?"

"She also told Lady Shuriand that you never wanted her here, and could not
wait to be rid of her."

Dela garde frowned.  He may have expressed some such wish on occasion, but she
must know he did not mean it.  On the contrary, he was growing quite used to
having Maidie about the place.  And the other night.  no, it was better not
to think about that, perhaps.  He could only ascribe his questionable
behaviour to the unfortunate effect of liquor on his inhibitions.  Though he
had meant well.  Starlight, he decided, was deceptive.  She had seemed
different, not at all the Maidie who infuriated him so readily.  She had
inspired quite different sensations within him--and he certainly did not wish
to think about those.  He hurried into speech.

"That is nonsense.  Why the devil should she tell Lady Shurland any such
thing?"

"To dissuade her from setting about that absurd rumour, I imagine," Lady
Hester suggested calmly.

"I am inclined to agree with Maidie.  No one who has seen you together could
suppose you to be contemplating matrimony."

"Good God, I should hope not!"  exclaimed Dela garde involuntarily.

"Marry Maidie?  I do not think so."

He was brought up short by Lady Hester's next remark, delivered as calmly as
if she were talking about the weather.

"You could do worse, Laurie."

Dela garde stared at her blankly.  She returned the look steadily.

He drew a breath.

"Aunt he's, you cannot be serious!  I know you had some such idea at the
outset, but that was before you properly knew Maidie."

She nodded.

"Yes, I know her now.  And I do seriously believe that you ought to consider
marriage, Laurie."

Chapter Eight Q^yys^Q -Uela garde gazed at her, a mixture of emotions
churning within him.

Disbelief warred with some other thrust of energy.  Not anger, he was too
shocked to be angry.  He felt--yes, betrayed!  Aunt he's had been his ally,
had never attempted to push him into matrimony.  He had thought she had given
up this notion of his making a match with Maidie.  He could not marry Maidie!
She must know that!

"You can't have thought," he uttered in a voice that sounded strangely
hollow, even in his own ears.

"She would drive me crazy.  Do you have any idea how disrupted my life has
been?  Even my thoughts are no longer my own.  It is not to be thought of!
Do you think I could endure this confusion, this disorder, this--this, yes,
discomfort.  I have not had a day's peace of mind since that girl entered
this house.  If I have to endure much more of it, there will be nothing for
it but to put a period to my existence!"

Lady Hester laughed gently.

"That bad?  Dear me."

"Of course it is that bad!  Well, perhaps not that bad.  But I tell you, I am
positively glad that the secret is out.  At least I stand a chance of being
rid of the wench!"

"I thought you said you did not wish to be rid of her."

 "That was before I knew that you are still harbouring this ridiculous
notion that I should marry her."

"Have no fear," recommended his great-aunt cheerfully.  "I will harbour it no
longer.  I quite see that I have been entirely mistaken in my ideas."

"You have, yes," Dela garde told her, feeling absurdly unbalanced by his own
agitation.

"You may be easy, my dear boy.  I shall not mention the matter again."

Dela garde eyed her suspiciously, but could discern no trace of that telltale
twinkle in her eyes, which appeared, on the contrary, to be unusually grave.
He elected to be satisfied with her assurance, and his blood began to cool.

At this inauspicious moment, the door opened and Maidie herself peeped into
the parlour.  Conscious of a resurgence of feeling, Dela garde only managed to
stop himself retreating to the window by a strong effort of will.  Good God,
this was absurd!  Must he now be so conscious that he could no longer endure
her presence?  He forced himself to speak.

"Good morning.  I trust you did not find last night's revels too much for
you?"

Maidie looked blank, but Lady Hester intervened.

"He refers, I think, to the fact that you are only just out of your sickbed.
Did you sleep well?"

"After last night?"  She laughed mirthlessly, coming into the room.

"No, ma'am, I did not.  I cannot imagine how I should be supposed to sleep
well after last night."  She turned to Dela garde, and he discerned distress
in her features.

"I feel dreadfully culpable, my lord.  I never intended that you should be
pilloried for my actions."

Dela garde could not allow this to pass.

"Don't be stupid, Maidie.  You should rather be censuring me, for this whole
sorry situation is quite my own fault."

"Yes, for allowing me to badger you into bringing me  out," Maidie said
remorsefully.

"I have brought all this trouble down on your head, and I don't know how
Adela is to be kept from casting aspersions upon your character."

Dela garde found himself laughing, the consciousness quite dissipated.

"She may try.  Don't concern yourself.  Even if anyone believes it, they will
not mention the matter to any of us, so why should we allow ourselves to be
troubled by it?"  He was disconcerted to receive one of Maidie's wide-eyed
stares.

"Don't you believe me?"

She looked away.

"I don't think you can wish anyone to suppose that you want to marry me."

A tide of heat flooded Dela garde, and he cast an involuntary glance at his
great-aunt.  To his relief, she was looking rather at Maidie than at him.  He
moved swiftly towards the door.

"Don't let it worry you," he managed to say, and made to leave the room.

Her voice detained him.

"Lord Dela garde!"

He turned.

"Yes?"

"Now that I have so many suitors, I will do my best to choose someone
quickly, and then you may be easy.  I don't wish to be more of a burden to
you than I have been already."

Dela garde did not know what to say.  Her manner was so different to what it
had been in the past.  Was this change of heart prompted solely by what had
occurred last night?  Unease filtered into his breast, and he did not know
why.  He said the first thing that came into his head.

"Take care to choose wisely.  Remember that, whomever you marry, you must
live with them for the rest of your life."

He was gone from the room on the words.  Maidie stared after him, struggling
with the sensation that beset her.  It was akin to what she had felt that
never-to be-forgotten night after he walked out of her bedchamber.  She
felt-- yes, bereft.

She was at a loss to understand herself.  She had slept badly, it was true,
tossing and turning while those pointless questions went round and round in
her head.  What should she do?  How could she right Dela garde against the
rum ours?  Would Adela spread the lie, or the truth?  Which was worse?  Maidie
could not think what had prompted her to speak out, to say those things.

It must have been near dawn before she slept, and she had woken very little
refreshed.

It had not helped that she had been obliged to give the Worm an account of
what had occurred at the party, for Lady Hester had seen fit to warn her
duenna of what was going forward.  Poor Worm had been very much shocked.

But it was she who had suggested the solution that Maidie had presented to
Dela garde.  Though not quite in a manner that recommended itself to her
charge.

"Dearest Maidie, I do believe it may be the hand of providence."

"Providence?  What in the world do you mean.  Worm?"

The duenna had seized her hand and clasped it warmly.  "Do you forget your
purpose in coming to town, Maidie?  You said yourself that you have not so
far encountered many eligible gentlemen.  But now here you are, finding
yourself quite surrounded by the most suitable partis."

Maidie had been moved to protest.

"You cannot mean, Worm, that you would have me marry someone like Darby Hamp
ford?"

"Was he the one who pressed you so uncivilly?"  had asked the Worm anxiously.

"Of course I could not wish you to marry him.  But were there not others to
whom you would not object?"

But Maidie had discovered that she could not think of one to whom she would
not object.  Somewhat resentfully, she had conjured up the images of those
gentlemen who had proved to be on the catch for a rich wife.

"Lord Bulkeley, perhaps?"

"What is he like?"  had asked the Worm eagerly.

Maidie had shuddered.

"He is old--five and fifty at the very least!  And he is quite gross.  Worm.
I do not think I could bear to marry him."

The duenna's face fell.

"Some other, then?"

Another countenance had swum into Maidie's memory.  "I suppose I might endure
Sholto Lug ton," she had suggested with a marked lack of enthusiasm.

"At least he is young.  Too young, in fact!  Why, he is barely nineteen, I
believe."

"It need not be a barrier, Maidie," had offered the Worm diffidently.

"A

very young man is easily led, you know, and less likely to offer you much
opposition.  "

"You mean I could mould him?"

"Dearest Maidie, it cannot be denied that you have a strong personality."

"No," Maidie had agreed.  It had crossed her mind that it would be more
appropriate to be matched with a man who was equally strong, or stronger, but
she had refrained from saying so.  She could think of only one man in this
connection, and he would not do at all!

"In any event," had pursued the Worm with determined hope, 'it is likely that
there are others whom you have not yet considered.  Only think, my love!  You
will have quite your pick of them, and may choose precisely whom you wish.  "

Only.  what if the one she wished for did not wish for her?  That was a
possibility that had apparently not occurred to the Worm.  It occurred
forcibly to Maidie.  Not that she had anyone particular in mind, but it had
been borne in upon her that she must possess so little degree of attraction,
outside of her fortune and title, that she would  do well to think no more
of expecting to marry someone who might care for her, let alone someone who
might touch her own heart.  Really, it mattered little whom she married.
Worm was right.  She must make a choice as soon as may be, and so free
Dela garde from her irksome presence in his house.

She was recalled from her wandering thoughts by Lady Hester.

"A penny for them, child."

Maidie went to the window.

"Oh, nothing, ma'am.  I was merely wondering how quickly I can settle my
affairs."

"I wish you will not do anything hasty, Maidie," said her ladyship.

Turning to face her, Maidie forced a smile.

"I don't think Lord Dela garde would agree with you."

To her surprise, Lady Hester gave a sigh that appeared filled with melancholy.

"Drat the boy!  I had begun to have some hopes of him."

Maidie came back into the room, standing in the spot that Dela garde had
lately vacated by the fireplace, and staring down in perplexity at her
hostess.

"What can you mean, ma'am?  What has Dela garde done?"

"It is what he has not done," said Lady Hester mournfully.

"I quite thought he was beginning to be fond of you, my dear."

Maidie felt her throat go dry.

"F-fond?  Of me?  I think you must be mistaken, ma'am."

"Perhaps."  A straight look was directed at Maidie.

"Not that I expected anything to come of it.  There are your feelings to be
taken into account, after all."

"Well, I have never--' Maidie broke off, quite unable to put into words the
conflicting experiences of her dealings with Dela garde.  She looked away,
conscious of heat in her cheeks, and then drew a breath and looked back
boldly.

"Ma'am, I must be truthful.  I do not know what to  think of Dela garde.  I
feel horribly conscious of what I have done to bring him censure.  He--he has
a most unsettling effect upon me, that I know."

"Yes, I had noticed," said Lady Hester, a laugh in her voice.

"But he can be kind.  He makes me laugh--on occasion.  If he had not such an
uncertain temper!-- But I do not know why I complain of that, for mine can be
quite as bad."

"Very true," agreed the elder lady, smiling.

"You have a deal in common, in fact."

Maidie's eyes widened.

"Are you mad, ma'am?"  Recollecting herself, she added quickly,

"I beg your pardon, but I think you must be.  A deal in common with
Dela garde?  Why, we are poles apart!"

Leaving the mantel, she swept back and forth, as narrowly as the little
parlour would allow, the jerking movement of her hands registering the
agitation of her spirits.

"We can scarcely agree on anything, he and I.  His notions are nearly all of
them diametrically opposed to my own.  Where I see common sense and
practicality, he complains of eccentricity.  All his enjoyment is to be found
in this fashionable whirl of engagements, which I heartily despise.

Perhaps not that--but I can derive only a modicum of pleasure from it.  And
he is far too autocratic!  He must have his will, no matter what.  Really, I
cannot conceive how I have been able to inhabit the same house with him.

The sooner I find myself a husband and set up my own establishment, the
better.  "

"Yes, Laurie seemed to be of the same opinion," said Lady Hester drily.

Maidie's eyes flashed.

"Did he?  Did he, indeed?  He need not concern himself.  Now that I have the
luxury of choice, I shall do my best to oblige him--as soon as possible."

Her perambulations had halted, and she stood in the  middle of the room,
defiant and determined.  Why she had fallen into that moping melancholia, she
was at a loss to imagine.  Great-uncle would have been grieved to see it.
She knew what she wanted, she had come here only for this, and now it was
within her reach.  Why should she hesitate?

She became aware that Lady Hester was eyeing her with an amused expression,
and her colour rose.

"Oh, don't poker up, child!"  said the elder lady quickly, forestalling her
with a lifted finger.

"Dear Maidie, of course you are quite right to pursue your goal.  As well
that you have made the decision, for I fear you will have no peace from your
would-be wooers."

"Well, I have the advantage of them, ma'am," Maidie said, her flush dying
down.

"True enough.  But here I must echo Laurie.  Take care whom you choose,
child, for you know nothing of the world.  Fortunately Dela garde does know,
and he will, I am persuaded, at least discharge his duty honourably."

Conscious of a resurgence of feeling, Maidie poised on the edge.  There was a
hollow in her chest, but at the same time, a flicker of resentment.

"Precisely what does that mean, ma'am?"  she demanded ominously.

Lady Hester shrugged a little, as if the matter was of small account.

"Why, only that Laurie will do what he can to prevent you from marrying to
your own disadvantage."

"I beg your pardon?"  Maidie could hardly believe her own ears.  Was it
possible?

"Dela garde will prevent me?"

"If he can.  I am sure he will feel himself in honour bound to discourage you
from an imprudent match."

Maidie cast a quick glance about Lady Win grove's crowded saloon, and noted
with satisfaction that several pairs of male eyes had already spotted her.

Leaving Lady Hester's side, she moved to seat herself on a small sofa,
determined to encourage every gentlemen who came within six feet of her.

The suggestion that Dela garde could feel himself called upon to object to her
choice of husband had thrown her into strong indignation.  Dela garde to be a
judge of what might suit her!  Her marriage to be subject to Dela garde's
approval!  Had she not told him at the outset that she required nothing more
from him than his sponsorship?  Of course, she saw that he was bound to
interfere.  Had he not done so upon every possible occasion?  He would not
marry her himself, oh, no.  But he apparently reserved to himself the right
to arrange her marriage to another!  Not, of course, that she wanted to marry
him--who would?  but it was the principle of the thing.  What right had he to
dictate to her upon her choice of husband?

Well, he would not get the chance.  She would get herself betrothed in the
shortest possible order.

In accordance with this determination, and in unconscious challenge to
Dela garde, she arrayed herself in the blue silk gown of which he had so much
disapproved that first evening.  She did not go so far as to wear the riband
and feathers, instead instructing Trixie to dress her hair high, in a knot of
ringlets from the crown, with a tendril or two curling down her cheeks.  For
the first time taking a serious interest in her appearance, Maidie examined
her features closely in the mirror.  It was not an encouraging exercise but,
recollecting that she was no longer dependent upon her looks, she dismissed
the despised image from her mind, disposed a lace shawl about her elbows, and
went down to dinner.

If she had looked for some reaction to the blue silk gown from Dela garde, she
was disappointed.  His manner was as cool as her own, and he exchanged more
conversation with her puzzled duenna, seated on his right, than with either 
Maidie or his great-aunt.  Lady Hester kept up a steady flow of cheerful
small talk throughout, to which Maidie responded somewhat at random, for it
was difficult to concentrate when the object of one's annoyance would keep
intruding upon one's attention.  Maidie could not withstand a flutter of
apprehension at the thought of how he might react to what she intended to do.

The first recipient of her newfound graciousness was Lord Bulkeley.  His
grossness and his advanced years were alike forgiven, as Maidie smiled a
welcome and patted the seat beside her.  His lordship, taken aback but
nothing loath, sat himself down and proceeded to display his charm.

"Lady Mary, how do you do?  I have only just learned that you recently
suffered from a nasty head cold.  I do beg of you to take better care of
yourself!"

"Thank you, I am quite well now," Maidie told him, adding involuntarily, "You
need not suppose that I am going to prevent you seeking your fortune at my
hands by dying."

The full features before her reddened, and a pendulous chin dropped.

"Lady Mary, I protest!  You mistake me, I protest."

"Do I?"  Maidie said, frowning.

"Are you not then desirous of wedding me?  I thought I had been reliably
informed that your pockets were to let.  But perhaps that is wrong?"

The unfortunate Bulkeley sat champing, apparently unable to think of any
suitable reply to make.  Puzzled, Maidie raised her brows.  But before she
could speak, another voice intervened.

"There's for you, Bulkeley!  Come away, there, and allow others place!"

Maidie looked up into a merry face that she vaguely recalled, but could not
put a name to.

"Sir?"

"Lady Mary, send him about his business, I beg of you!"

 uttered the gentleman.  He was graceful, not at all handsome, but with a
jovial air that certainly attracted Maidie more than Bulkeley.

"Lord Bulkeley, pray go away for the present," she said.  "I do not know who
this gentleman is, but I should like to talk to him for a little."

The discomfited Bulkeley rose, bowed stiffly, and walked off without another
word.  The newcomer took his place, disposed his limbs gracefully upon the
sofa beside Maidie, and held out two fingers.

"Wiveliscombe.  Very much at your service.  Lady Mary."

Maidie lightly touched the fingers.

"I do not think I have heard your name.  Have you a title?"

"Alas, no," he said mournfully.

"I am a humble mister, ma'am.  Humble, and shockingly poor.  I commend myself
to your charity."

Laughing, Maidie protested,

"I am not disposed to be charitable, Mr Wiveliscombe."

"Oh, surely.  I am persuaded you cannot mean to bestow your largesse upon
Dela garde, despite what the vulgar may say."

"No, I do not mean to," Maidie said tartly.

"Nor, I may add, does he have any such hope or expectation."

The gentleman grinned.

"There, now.  I see I need have no scruple in putting myself forward for your
inspection."

Maidie was quite unable to help laughing.  She liked this frank, open manner.
A trifle of mischief lit her eyes.

"Will you submit to a catechism, then?  I should require to know everything
about you."

"You may ask anyone," returned Wiveliscombe, throwing one hand to his heart.

"My life is an open book.  But I am too modest to answer any questions you
may have--I would be bound to sound like a coxcomb!"

"You are a coxcomb, Wiveliscombe," announced Darby Hamp ford.

 Maidie looked up quickly, and caught his eye.  He was standing before them,
his air very much that of a dog who was doubtful of his welcome.

"My dear Hamp ford," cut in Wiveliscombe in a pained tone, 'have you not
grace enough to accept defeat?  Lady Mary, you will not allow this fellow to
oust me!  "

"She will, because she is too good a creature to deny me the opportunity to
redeem myself."

This was really too much.  It was easy enough to adhere to her resolve with
such a man as Wiveliscombe.  But on the other hand, Maidie could not make a
decision about him on the spur of the moment, or on so short an acquaintance,
and she did not wish him to suppose that she favoured him more than another.
It was quite a different matter, however, to wilfully subject herself to the
company of Darby Hamp ford.

Before she could make any move, the decision was taken out of her hands.

Wiveliscombe rose.

"Never let it be said that I took an unfair advantage.  Do your worst, Hamp
ford!  I am persuaded that Lady Mary has good taste enough to prefer my
pretensions to your own."

This outrageous speech was said with such a merry look that Maidie felt
unable to take umbrage.  Besides, he was perfectly right.  Darby Hamp ford
was a sham, which Wiveliscombe was not, and Great-uncle would certainly have
disapproved of him.  As the latter bowed and departed, Maidie caught sight of
a shy young man hovering a few feet away.  With a swift movement, she thrust
Hamp ford away as he made to sit down.

"There is Mr Lug ton!  Don't sit down, for I wish to speak to him."  She
beckoned, and the young man approached.

"But, Lady Mary--' protested Darby Hamp ford.

"You will not send me away in favour of Sholto Lug ton?"

 "Yes, I will," Maidie said impatiently.

"Oh, if you wish it, we can talk another time.  Only go away now, do."

In deep offence, Hamp ford left the field.  Maidie turned to the boy--for he
was little more--and smiled encouragingly.  He was a gangling youth, a trifle
tongue-tied and self-conscious, with an anxious pallid face topped by a
thatch of bright red hair that had at once commanded Maidie's sympathy.

"Sit beside me, Sholto.  You do not mind if I call you Sholto, do you?"

The youth shook his head, stammering a little.

"N-not at all.  Lady MMary."

Maidie did what she could to put him at ease, quite forgetting for the moment
that he was a suitor to her hand.  Not that he had made his aspirations clear
for himself, but Lady Hester had numbered him among the fortune-hunters, with
a passing comment on the unfortunate nature of his circumstances.  His father
was dead, his mother sickly, and a very modest competence was inadequate to
cope with the need to dispose suitably of two sisters.  He must marry money,
or take up an occupation of some kind.  He was ill equipped for either, but
hung about every heiress with all the air of a forlorn hope.  Maidie was
sorry for him.

She had just succeeded in getting him to talk a little about his aspirations,
which appeared to consist of finding something he could set his hand to
without any very clear idea of what that might be, when there was a further
interruption.

"Lady Mary, may I request a word with you--alone?"

Maidie jumped, her heart leaping into her mouth.  De- la garde's voice was
icy, and his eyes, when hers flew to meet them, were smouldering.  Too much
discomposed to recall her fury with him, Maidie took the imperative hand he
was holding out and allowed him to pull her to her feet.  He drew her hand
within his arm, but maintained his grip  on her fingers.  Then he turned to
Sholto Lug ton, who had risen, a look of alarm in his face.

"You must excuse us, Mr Lug ton."

"Y-yes, sir.  Ofc-course."

Her heart thumping painfully, Maidie tried to protest as Dela garde drew her
inexorably to the door of the saloon, and into the gallery beyond.

"What do you think you are doing, Dela garde?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," he returned in a low tone, but
with a thread of vibrant passion running through it.

"We will wait, however, until we are safely out of earshot of the saloon."

Maidie said nothing, for she was glad of the respite as he walked her towards
the far end of the long narrow gallery that ran down one side of Lady Win
grove's mansion.  By the time Dela garde halted, she had sufficient command
over herself to meet his eyes steadily as he released her imprisoned hand,
and turned to confront her.

"May I ask what that revolting exhibition was in aid of?"

His blighting tone instantly drew Maidie's temper.

"No, you may not!"  she snapped.

"In any event, I don't in the least understand what you mean."

"Then I will tell you," said Dela garde, almost through his teeth.

"To sit in ceremonial state and interview one fortune-hunter after another,
as if you were passing each of them under review--' " Which is exactly what I
was doing!  "

'--is hardly conduct to be expected from any female with the smallest
pretension to gentility.  " He stopped, drawing a breath as he took in her
remark.

"Do you dare to stand there and tell me that you had the effrontery, the...
the indelicacy... the tasteless ness?"

"Yes, I do tell you so," Maidie returned.

"Pray, how else am I to know which of them will make me a suitable husband?"

 "In the same way that every other young lady discovers it.  By discreet
enquiry, and by getting to know them over the course of the Season.  A female
does not bring up the subject herself!"

This female does," declared Maidie, adding somewhat balefully,

"And what is it to you, Dela garde?"

He uttered a curse and seized her by the shoulders.

"I will not stand by and watch you make a fool of yourself!  What the devil
do you suppose people must think of you if they see you flirting with such a
fellow as Wiveliscombe?"  The very name appeared to enrage him still further.

"Good God, but Wiveliscombe, of all people!"

"What do you have against him?"  Maidie demanded, trying vainly to thrust his
hands from her shoulders.

"I thought him altogether amusing and amiable."

"Amusing and amiable?"  Dela garde uttered a short bark of laughter, and
released her.

"I'll warrant you did!"

Maidie unconsciously rubbed her shoulders, frowning.  "I do not know what you
mean.  And I was not flirting!"

"Oh, indeed?  What then do you call it?  Simpering and giggling--' " I would
scorn to simper!  What is more, if I choose to flirt with him in future, I
shall!  "

"Not if I have anything to say to it, you won't!"

"Well, you don't have anything to say to it!"

There was a moment of silence as they glowered at each other.  Maidie's bosom
rose and fell rapidly with the tumult of emotion.  She had never felt so
angry in her life.  She wanted to beat Dela garde's chest with her fists!

Shocked at the ferocity of her own thought, she drew a little away from him,
as if she feared she might carry out that unladylike action.

The small movement she made pulled Dela garde up sharply.  Good God, what the
devil was the matter with him?  Remembering all at once where they were, he 
glanced swiftly down the gallery, and was relieved to see that they remained
in sole possession of it.  He let his breath go, and stepped back.

"I have never been closer to staking a female," he uttered, in a spent voice.

"Let it console you to know that I wanted quite as badly to hit you,"

Maidie told him gruffly.

Another silence fell.  Maidie stole a glance at him, and found that he was
looking away.  He felt her regard, and turned his head.  The faintest of
smiles flickered across his face.

"I could strangle you, Maidie!"

She gave him one of her wide-eyed stares.  Her heart was behaving very oddly,
seeming to jangle inside her.  She wished he would not smile at her in just
that way.  Why his expressing a desire to murder her should have this effect,
she was at a loss to understand.  But then, it was beginning to be difficult
to understand anything in her dealings with Dela garde.  She looked away from
him again.

"What is your objection to Mr Wiveliscombe?"  she asked, as coolly as she
could.

Dela garde did not mince his words, and his voice hardened again.

"He is a wastrel and a libertine.  I doubt of his getting to the point of
offering marriage to anyone."

Maidie's gaze came back to his, puzzlement in her face.  "Then what does he
want with me?"

Dela garde did not answer for a moment.  He was regretting his hasty
denunciation, for the tale of Wiveliscombe's activities was not one for the
ears of a young female.  On the other hand, Maidie was unlike any other
female, and if he did not warn her, who would?  Her naivety posed too great a
risk.  He could not reconcile it with his conscience to allow her to fall
unchecked into the hands of that scoundrel.

"Wiveliscombe lives off his mistresses," he said bluntly.

 Maidie stared at him, an odd blank look in her eyes, and he wondered if she
understood.  When she did speak, what she said was not at all what he might
have expected.

"Then you mean he really is an unsuitable prospect?"

Dela garde frowned.

"Did you suppose I did not mean it seriously?"

"I thought--' Maidie broke off, for she could not say what she had thought.
It had occurred to her--blindingly!--that she had suspected Dela garde of
jealousy.  The notion stunned her.  Could it have been?

Impossible!  But his fury had been out of proportion, had it not?  Only if
Wiveliscombe was truly as bad as he said, then Dela garde might be pardoned
his anger, for he believed himself to have a responsibility towards her.  A
responsibility.  Her heart sank.  Of course he could not have been jealous.

He would have to care for her to feel that.

It became suddenly oppressive to be in his company.  Murmuring an excuse
which Dela garde barely heard, she left him a prey to conjecture.

Did it matter to her so much that Wiveliscombe proved unsuitable?  It was not
possible that she had formed a tend re for the man in so short a period.
Was it?  His spirits dropped, unaccountably.  Except that of course he must
pity the wench, if she had indeed felt the stirrings of an attachment.  Had
he known, he would have dealt with her more gently.

Indeed, he was hard put to recall without abhorrence his earlier conduct.

What had possessed him?  A burning sense of resentment had overcome him at
the nauseating sight of Maidie encouraging such an unworthy collection of
partis.  She deserved better!  She ought to value herself a little more
highly.

He became aware that his great-aunt was coming towards him, and stiffened at
her approach.  Had she talked to Maidie?  Anticipating a reproach, he braced
himself.  But he was hardly prepared for what Lady Hester did say.

 "Really, Laurie, what a fool you are!"

A frown descended on his brow.

"What the devil are you at.  Aunt he's?"

"My dear boy, if you will behave in this nonsensical dog-in-the-manger
fashion, you will only serve to foster these stupid rum ours."

"Dog-in-the-manger?  I did nothing of the sort!"

Lady Hester twinkled.

"Laurie, you swooped upon the child like an avenging fury, swept her away
from her suitors, and dragged her down here where anyone might have been
privileged to witness your fight."  .  Dela garde shifted uncomfortably.

"It was not a fight."

She regarded him sceptic ally.

"Whatever it was, I advise you to refrain from a repeat encounter--in public,
at any rate."

"Did Maidie say anything to you?"

"Just now?  She had no chance to do so.  She was pounced upon by Adela and
that cold-hearted brother of hers the moment she stepped through the door."

Dela garde felt an odd fris son shake him.

"Why do you call him cold-hearted?"

"He has calculating eyes."  She sighed a little.

"The pity of it is that I fear Maidie will end by feathering his nest for
him, after all."

"What?"  Dela garde blenched.

"She could not possibly do so!  Why should you think it?"

"My dear Laurie, only look at the alternatives!  Besides, there is always
something to be said for the devil you know."

At this instant, it was not a saying that found any favour with Dela garde.

He surprised himself with the discovery that he disliked the notion of Maidie
marrying Silsoe only one degree less than that of her marrying Wiveliscombe!

 * * * "My poor Maidie," Eustace was saying unctuously at that very moment.

"I do sincerely feel for you, believe me."

It was bad enough to have been forced into company with Adela and this
hateful creature, without having to fathom the devious nature of his remarks.
Maidie sighed wearily.

"I am sure you are going to tell me why."

"He is talking of Lord Dela garde's attitude towards you, Mary," put in Adela,
with a pitying look.

The exchange was taking place in a window alcove set into the little corridor
between one of the two grand saloons.  Weakened by her quarrel with
Dela garde, Maidie had felt powerless to prevent herself from being coerced,
quite gently but inexorably, with Adela and Eustace either side of her, into
passing through the saloon with an appearance of being deep in conversation
as she went.  That they had witnessed the late encounter, she could not now
doubt.

"Like everyone else, we saw him all but kidnap you," said Eustace smoothly,
confirming her thought.

"It could not but set up speculation in the public mind."

"If you think I care what anyone--' " Ah, you don't, Maidie, of course we
know that.  But has not Dela garde given everyone to understand that he cares?
"

A pulse began to beat in Maidie's throat, and she stared at him.

"Dela garde--cares?"

The thin smile spread mockery over Eustace's countenance.

"About what people may think of you," he explained softly.

Maidie felt herself go hot, and avoided the cold understanding of his gaze.

He had hit upon precisely the burden of Dela garde's complaint.  Was it
possible that their argument had been overheard?  She tried to gather her
self command.  It was stupid to allow this creature's unkind hints to
discompose her.  She looked instead at Adela.

"What is this about?"

"Consider it a cousinly warning."  Adela smiled in a way that made Maidie
itch-to slap her.

"You cannot be aware of the truth about Dela garde's intentions, or you would
not have remained in his house."

A sense of bewilderment began to creep over Maidie.  What were they implying?
She looked from one to the other.

"I do not understand you."

Eustace tutted.

"Do you not, poor Maidie?  And you are usually so quick of wit."

"Do stop calling me " poor Maidie"," she snapped irascibly.

"If you have something to say to me, then say it, or go away."

The cold eyes gleamed.

"Very well.  Tell her, Adela, in plain words."

"Mary, open your eyes!"  urged Lady Shurland.

"Read into Dela garde's conduct towards you what is obvious to the world."

Maidie frowned, conscious again of confusion.  She clutched at the idea that
she had felt herself obliged to dismiss.

"Are you saying that he is jealous?"

"Of his marked-out property, nothing more," Eustace said bluntly.

"Your ambition--or your wishes--might blind you, but you must know, deep
down, how little De- la garde could desire you for yourself alone."

"You are scarcely fitted to take your place beside him in the position which
he occupies in the world of fashion," added Adela on a waspish note.

"He must know that well enough."

"But you, Maidie," Eustace continued smoothly, 'do not dream of social
success.  You will be contented enough if he will but provide you with an
observatory at his country  home.  He needs an heir, yes, and trusts that
you may be persuaded to give him one.  "

"What could be more convenient for him?"  demanded Adela.

"He may have all the advantage of your fortune, and none of the inconvenience
of your presence in his life."

It was all Maidie could do to command her features as the full import of
these suggestions sank in.  She felt sick.  There was a thudding at her
temples.  And why should there be this desolation at her heart?  They had
outlined a programme that she would, some few weeks earlier, have seized upon
eagerly.  Was contemplating still but with any man other than Dela garde!

Aware of the continued regard of this malevolent pair, she rallied her
forces.  She must remember that their whole purpose was to induce her to
marry Eustace.  She must not allow anything they said whatever its import to
affect her.

"Even if what you say is true," she began, surprised at the steadiness of her
own voice, 'it can avail Dela garde nothing if I choose to marry someone else.
"

Eustace gave a jeering little laugh.

"Choose?"

Adela was openly scornful.

"What a fool you are, my dear Mary!  You have placed yourself wholly in his
power.  You have only yourself to blame if he takes advantage of the
situation."

This was beyond Maidie.

"How could he do so?  He has no control over me over my decisions."  For to
deny his control over her emotions would be futile and dishonest.

"Maidie, Maidie," chided Eustace softly.

"You are living in his house!"

"Of course I am living in his house.  What has that to say to anything?"

"It sets you at so great a disadvantage, my dear, that I doubt if even Lady
Hester could save you."

She stared at him, blank with incomprehension.  Adela  positively sniggered,
and Maidie's glance went quickly to her sharp-featured face.

"You are such an innocent, Mary," said her cousin.

"Poor thing, it adds so greatly to your vulnerability.  Thank heaven we are
able to put you upon your guard!"

"But against what?"  demanded Maidie frantically.

Eustace gave that secret smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Have you not yet understood?  It will be easy enough for Dela garde to ensure
his victory over you, Maidie.  He has only to make you wholly his own--by
seduction."

Maidie gazed at him in shock, beset by a tide of warmth that seemed to spread
throughout her body, causing a thrumming at her heart, and a most improper
series of images to course through her mind.  These last were so very
unbecoming that she broke into hasty denial.

"Hum dudgeon!  I refuse to believe Dela garde to be so dishonourable.  I know
that he has no wish to marry me-- and no need of my fortune besides."

"Believe what you wish, then," said Adela, adding slyly, 'but his true
intentions will become obvious enough in time.  Let us see how he conducts
himself when you attempt to marry another!  "

Chapter Nine Q^^s^Q 1 he interview with Adela and Eustace had left Maidie so
discomposed that she had sought out the ladies' retiring room as soon as they
left her.  It had been some time before she was able to command herself
sufficiently to return to the party, and for the rest of the evening she had
been so abstracted that she could not afterwards recall anything other than
the hideous consciousness of Dela garde's presence.  He had not again
approached her, much to her relief, but so aware of him was she that she
could at any given moment have pointed out his whereabouts without looking.

How she had managed to talk so nonchalantly to Lady Hester in the carriage on
the way home, or with what excuses she had staved off the inevitable eager
questions of her duenna, she could not have said.  But she found herself
alone at last, and lay in bed, listening within the curtains for the door to
close behind Trixie.  The moment it did so, she let her breath go in a long
sigh, and discovered that tears were trickling down her cheeks.

She lashed herself mentally for a fool, but the flow of tears refused to
stop.  She did not even know why she was crying--except for the cruelly
hurtful remarks that had been addressed to her by those two horrid creatures.
Of  course, she knew how little fitted she was to be the wife of a
fashionable peer.  But need they have said so?  Naturally she did not believe
for one moment that their expressed fears on her behalf had the slightest
foundation.  Was she to accept that Dela garde would conduct himself in such
an underhand way?  As for the ridiculous delusion that he might seek to
seduce her!

But here, for some unfathomable reason, a pang, sharp and piercing, went
through her, and the hot tears gathered momentum.  Maidie clutched her
pillows and buried her face in their comforting softness.

She slept late into Friday morning, the accumulated distresses, coming so
soon after her recent illness, proving exhausting in her weakened state.

Awaking with a slight headache, she was relieved to have an excuse to obey
the decree of Lady Hester--summoned by an anxious Worm--that she remain in
bed for the day.

Pampered and cared for, Maidie's natural resilience reasserted itself and she
began to revive.  She refused to give place to the intrusive thought that no
message or inquiry about her condition came from the Viscount.  And if she
once or twice looked up rather eagerly at a knock upon the door, and then
sank back at the entrance of Trixie or the Worm, it was not disappointment,
but only a natural reaction to the boredom of seeing the same faces all day
long.

She arose on Saturday, refreshed and ready--as she took care to inform Lady
Hester as they set forth upon a drive in the park--to resume her interrupted
search for a husband.

"I doubt if you need to search, Maidie," said Lady hester, amused.

"They are bound to come to you."

She was found to be right.  But, to Maidie's chagrin, it was not to her that
the first one came.  She had just entered the house with Lady Hester upon
their return and was  about to ascend the staircase, when a young gentleman
was seen to be coming down it.  Maidie had a vague recollection of his face,
but Lady Hester hailed him in accents of some surprise.

"You are Selina's son, are you not?"

He ran down to the hall, and bowed.

"Yes, ma'am.  I am Oliver, Lady Rank mis ton's youngest."

"Gracious me, what are you doing here?"  Then her eye gleamed mischief and
she glanced at Maidie.

"Can it be that you have come to call upon Lady Mary?"

Oliver flushed.

"Yes, I--well, I had hoped to do so.  Only I have--I have seen Lord
Dela garde, and--' He broke off, and coughed delicately.

Mystified, Maidie stared first at him, and then at Lady Hester.

Discovering her ladyship's eyes to be brimful of amusement, she frowned in
puzzlement.

"I do not understand you, sir.  You came to see me?"

"Yes, Lady Mary.  That is, I had something of a particular nature to ask you.
Only of course I would not dream of applying directly to you, so--' It was
then that Maidie recalled Lady Hester telling her on the night of their party
that this was the only one of Lady Rank mis ton's sons still unmarried.  Her
eyes widened.

"A particular nature?  Did you come to make me an offer?"  she asked
forthrightly.

Young Oliver reddened again, glancing from her to Lady Hester and back again.

"Well, yes, I did.  Only Lord Dela garde has refused his permission, so I--' "
I beg your pardon?  "

His jaw dropped perceptibly.

"Er--Lady Mary?"

"Dear me!"  uttered Lady Hester amusedly.

Maidie paid no attention.  She drew a ragged breath, demanding incredulously,

"Are you telling me that you asked Lord Dela garde's permission to marry me?"

 "Yes, of course," frowned the unfortunate young gentleman.

"But it has nothing to do with Dela garde!"

"But--but I was given to understand that he is your trustee.  Naturally I had
to ask him."

Lady Hester's brows rose, but she said nothing.  Maidie took on another cargo
of air, and tried again.

"Did Dela garde tell you that he is my trustee?"

"Not precisely.  I had heard it elsewhere.  He did not deny it, however.  To
my dismay, he told me that I might not address you."

Maidie was by now so furious that she could scarcely bring herself to ask the
next question with any degree of composure.

"Did he give you any reason for his refusal?"

Oliver looked quite crestfallen.

"Lord Dela garde thinks I am too young for you."

"Does he?"  said Maidie flatly.

"Does he, indeed?  Where did you leave him, may I ask?  In the green saloon?"

"No, in his dressing-room.  He had just come in from riding when I arrived
and wished to change his clothes."

Without another word, Maidie swept past him, running up the stairs.  Behind
her she heard Lady Hester calling to her to wait, but she did not stop.

Reaching the main landing, she fairly ran past the doors to the three saloons
and into the corridor beyond, where Lady Hester had pointed out the way to
Dela garde's rooms on that first day.  Grasping the handle of the first door
she came to, she turned it without hesitation and threw it open.  She took
one pace into the room, and stopped dead.

Dela garde was standing at a dressing-table before a long pier-glass, clad
only in his boots, buckskins and shirtsleeves, and engaged in placing a fresh
cravat about his throat.  He paused, his startled glance flying to the door.
Behind him, his valet hovered, holding in readiness several  more starched
white cravats, on his face an expression of severe disapproval.

"Oh!"  uttered Maidie lamely.

"A somewhat inadequate expression, under the circumstances," remarked
Dela garde, his tone cooler than a natural embarrassment dictated.

Maidie's cheeks flamed, but she found herself unable to move from the spot,
her gaze riveted upon his deshabille, a slow pulse beating in her throat.
Unconsciously, the tip of her tongue ran over her lips, and her eyes rose,
locking with Dela garde's.

For a timeless moment, he could not drag his eyes away, and the ruffle of his
heartbeat threatened to choke him.  Then she spoke, and the breathy quality
of her voice sent heat fleeing down his veins.

"I wished--I wished to speak to you."

Dela garde was scarcely aware of replying.

"Very well.  I will join you directly in the green saloon."

"Yes..."

Maidie shut her eyes, turned quickly, and walked out of the dressing-room,
closing the door behind her.  For a moment, she stood there, her breast
heaving, unable to think or move.  Then, like an automaton, she at last
shifted away, her legs seeming of their own will to seek the relative
security of the green saloon.

For a few bemused moments she could not remember why she had bearded
Dela garde.  She crossed to the window and stared out without seeing anything
at all.  Her cheeks still felt hot, and she put up her hands to touch them.
Belatedly, it came to her that she had behaved with a sad want of decorum.

What had possessed her?  The vision of the Rank mis ton boy's face rose
before her mind's eye, and memory came flooding back.  But gone was the
righteous indignation that had driven her to that disastrous impulse.  She
ought to be  angry, she had every right.  She was indeed thrumming with
emotion.  Only it was far from anger.

Without thought, she reached out and her fingers came in contact with the
cool glass of the window-pane.  It stung.  Oh, God, was she yet so hot
inside?  So hot--and desperate.  For it came to her all at once that if there
were any truth to the suspicions put into her head by Adela and Eustace, she
had no de fences.  For if Dela garde chose to seduce her, he would find her
resistless.

"I dare say I should have expected that I would be receiving a visit from
you."

His cool tones, coming unexpectedly from behind her, made her jump.  A flush
swept through her, and her pulse raced like a violin.  Why had he to be so
prompt?  She needed a moment to compose herself.  But there was no compassion
of time.  She must face him immediately.  Drawing a breath, she turned.

He was fully dressed, and impeccable.  His cravat was neatly tied, and the
dark blue cloth coat over a silk waistcoat of brighter blue mercifully
concealed the disturbing masculinity of his figure.  The dark eyes, when
Maidie dared to meet them, looked rueful.

"You met the Rank mis ton boy, I take it?"

"Yes," she agreed, and glanced away again, recognising that some sort of
apology was in order.

"I--I did not think.  I lost my temper, and--' " And flew to find me so that
you might instantly complain of my conduct.  "

He laughed lightly.

"As well that I had completed the preliminaries of my toilet!"

Maidie flushed again, and turned away, responding gruffly,

"You need not tease.  I know it was not becoming conduct."

Dela garde moved to the mantelpiece, wondering how he could ease her evident
embarrassment.  His own experience had shocked him, for he had felt acutely
her response to  his maleness.  It had made him, for a few hideous moments,
recall vividly Aunt he's's assertion that he ought to consider marriage.  But
that was nonsense--merely a reaction to the discovery that Maidie had
feminine instincts.  He must not allow it to weigh with him.  Nor with Maidie
herself.

"Come, Maidie," he said, with deliberate calm.

"It was not as bad as all that.  We inhabit the same house.  Such accidents
are to be expected.  After all, it is not so long since that I saw you in
your dressing-robe."

It was an unfortunate reminder.  The last thing Maidie wanted was to recall
that night: star-gazing with him in her bedchamber!  More to deflect this
line of conversation than anything else, she threw herself headlong into the
protest that she had gone to his dressing-room to make.

"What do you mean by telling this Oliver that you are my trustee?"

"I did not tell him so," Dela garde said calmly.

"But if you are asking whether I am responsible for his believing that I am
your trustee, then, yes, I am."

This confession succeeded in seizing Maidie's attention.  She stared at him,
moving into the centre of the room.  "How is that possible?  What did you do?"

"I had my friends Riseley and Corringham put it about, with the proviso that
you need my permission to marry."

"You had them..."  She faded out, shaken.

Dela garde eyed her.  There was something in her face that he could not read.
He had expected indignation and protest, that she might lose her temper.  And
she had, apparently, only to be taken aback by that unsettling encounter in
his dressing-room.  But now she was regarding him with--suspicion?

"What is the matter?  It is only what you suggested at the outset.  We could
scarcely go on in the same way with your fortune known."

 Still she said nothing, only staring at him with that queer look in her
eyes--as if she was repelled!  He took an involuntary step towards her.

"Maidie, I have done it for your own protection.  I know you think you can
manage your own affairs, but believe me, your very innocence puts you in
danger.  In all honour, I cannot allow you to throw yourself away on some
philandering wastrel, some worthless trifler who will fritter away your
inheritance."

At last Maidie withdrew her intent gaze from his face.  She felt oppressed,
beset by doubts.  Finding her knees weak, she made her way to the little
striped sofa and sat down, gripping her fingers tightly together in her lap.
She could not look at him.  She tried to gather her thoughts, and made the
unpleasant discovery that it was as painful to believe him as it was to doubt
him.  In either case, De- la garde's concern was with her money, not with her.

Whichever it proved to be, there was one grievance which he could not
justify.  She recalled it with a slight resurgence of the indignation she had
felt in the first place.  She looked up at him again, lifting her chin.

"Whatever you may think of anyone who wishes to marry me, you have no right
to refuse permission without even referring the matter to me.  How could you
know that I did not wish to marry this Oliver?"

Dela garde bent a disconcertingly penetrating gaze upon her.

"Do you?"

"I might.  I don't yet know, I have barely met him," Maidie said irritably.

"That is not the point."

"I take the point," he returned shortly, trying to suppress the rise of a
sensation of wrath which he knew to be misplaced.

"Rest assured that when someone suitable does apply, I shall refer the offer
to you."

Maidie fairly gasped.

"Someone suitable?  You are to judge their suitability, and I have nothing to
say to it?"

 "For God's sake, Maidie!"  he exclaimed, losing patience.  "Get off your
high ropes!  Be glad that I rate your intelligence high enough not to suppose
you so idiotic as to consent to marry a mere boy of twenty."

"If that is the case," said Maidie, jumping up, 'you ought to suppose me
capable of making up my own mind.  "

"No, because I don't trust you!"  Dela garde threw at her.  "You are both
impulsive and reckless, and your candour is a recipe for disaster."

"Well, it is my disaster--not yours!"

Dela garde strode up to her and seized her by the shoulders.

"I am not going to let you ruin your life, so don't think it!"

"Let me go!  It has nothing to do with you--as I have several times informed
you."

He shook her.

"You made me responsible for you, you obstinate little vixen!  If you don't
like the consequences, you have only yourself to blame."

Maidie wrenched herself out of his hold, pulling away.  "You need not think
you can go on in this highhanded fashion with me, for I won't bear it.  You
know very well I never wanted you to interfere in my life."

"That is past praying for!"  Dela garde flashed.

"And if anything was needed to demonstrate that I must interfere, it is that
collection of freaks that you saw fit to encourage to dangle after you."

"Freaks!"

"Yes, freaks.  And let me warn you that if that clod pole Lug ton takes it
into his head to apply to me, he may look to have his ears boxed!"

"He will not apply to you because I will not let him.  If I choose to marry
him, nothing you could do or say would stop me, so don't think it!"

Dela garde laughed mirthlessly.

"You have a very poor understanding of my powers."

 An abrupt fris son jerked Maidie off balance.  Adela's voice came back to
her: "You have placed yourself wholly in his power."  Her pulse missed a
beat, and started up again unevenly.  Her gaze widened, and she lost control
over her voice.

"D-don't think I am un-unaware of what you intend by this.  You m-may think
you can m-make me do what you want, but you are m-mistaken.  I am n-not
afraid of you, Dela garde, and I know how to protect myself."

There was a tumult of emotion in Dela garde's own breast: fire and fury, a
devil of violence to which the wretch drove him, and that threatened every
moment to overwhelm him.  But these words threw bafflement into the pot.

"What are you talking about?"

Maidie saw the change in his face and was brought up short.  That was stupid!
She must not let him see her suspicion.  As well blurt out at once that she
believed he might be planning to trick her into matrimony!  He was bound to
deny it.  She shifted away.

"It--it does not signify.  Rest assured that I shall marry whomever I please,
fortune-hunter or no, and you have nothing whatsoever to say about it."

Dela garde fell back.  The dark eyes burned, and he spoke in a voice of
suppressed passion.

"If that is how you feel, I cannot think why you enlisted my help in the
first place.  You might as well have married Lady Shurland's brother.  Do so,
for all I care.  Marry whomever you please--it is nothing to me!"

With which parting shot, he turned on his heel and walked quickly out of the
saloon.

It was in a mood of great unease and tension that Maidie set forth to attend
the Rank mis ton ball early on the following week.  It was set to be the high
point of the Season,  which was one of the reasons Lady Hester gave for
refusing to allow Maidie to cry off.  She had protested in vain.

"But only think how embarrassing, ma'am!  Young Oliver will scarcely feel
himself able to look me in the face."

"Nonsense, child," laughed her ladyship.

"If all young men who received a rejection were to abjure the society of the
object of their affections, the rooms of most of our hostesses would be very
thin of company."

"I can scarcely claim to be the object of Oliver's affections," Maidie
pointed out.

Lady Hester smiled.

"No, I don't think even Selina would have the audacity to claim that."

"And there is another thing, ma'am.  Lady Rank mis ton must have been much
offended by the refusal.  I am sure she could not wish to see me in her
house."

"On the contrary.  She will be doubly anxious, for it will give Oliver an
advantage over his rivals.  As a son of the house, he may monopolise you with
impunity."  She gave Maidie one of her mischievous looks.

"You cannot suppose that Selina is likely to be in the least put off by a
first refusal.  Besides, Oliver will undoubtedly have told her not only that
Laurie turned him down, but that you knew nothing of the matter.  She will
welcome you with open arms, mark my words!"

Maidie soon discovered that Lady Hester had read her friend's mind only too
well.  She was greeted with much graciousness, and Lady Rank mis ton herself
insisted upon her accepting Oliver's hand for the opening country dance.

Maidie found him a little shy of her, and supposed vaguely that it was not
altogether surprising, although it was all of three days since he had made
his offer.  But those three days had acquired a new significance for Maidie,
since they also marked the time since her last quarrel with Dela garde, and
the last time she had encountered him--until tonight.

 She was wearing, for the first time, the cream gown with the huge black
sprigs and a deep decolletage.  A flutter at her breast as, accompanied by
the Worm, she had presented herself in the drawing-room where Lady Hester and
Dela garde were awaiting her, had accelerated suddenly into a racing pulse as
she saw the Viscount's eyes widen at sight of her.  His glance raked her,
dwelled for a moment on her ginger locks, which Trixie had dressed high and
ornamented with a string of pearls, and then fell again to the swell of her
bosom.  Maidie's heart thumped painfully, and warmth spread over her.  She
could not read his face, and tried to tell herself that it meant nothing to
her whether or not he appreciated the picture she presented.  His gaze moved
up again, and he caught her glance.

For a moment or two, Maidie blanked out all thought.  The unmistakable glow
in his eyes touched off some spark within her, and a knowledge, deeper than
consciousness, passed straight into her heart.  The first wisp of perception
came with the unwelcome remembrance of what Eustace and Adela had propounded.
And she knew she could not do it.  She had rather marry anyone else and live
without Dela garde altogether, than live with him on those distant terms.

It was as well that Lady Hester had broken in upon these burgeoning
ruminations; in the ensuing shower of compliments that fell about her head,
she realised only later that Dela garde had not participated.  The discovery
she had made added nothing to her comfort, and it took all her resolution to
appear normal.  She reflected that even Great- uncle Reginald would not have
detected the sham, and a pang smote her for what she had come to in these few
short weeks.

When her dance with young Oliver ended, she was at once besieged by admirers,
and within minutes had engaged herself for every further dance.

As the gentlemen  favoured moved away again, she found Eustace Silsoe at her
elbow.

"Alas!  I see I am to be unfortunate tonight.  No dances left, I fear.  Dear
Maidie, walk with me a little instead."

Maidie suppressed a shudder of distaste, and placed her hand on his arm.

She could not make a scene at a function such as this.  Besides, she had to
marry, and she must remember that Eustace had been the most determined of her
suitors.  To be sure, she disliked him intensely, but the one thing she might
be certain of was that as her husband, provided she handed him the use of her
purse, he would leave her alone.

She allowed him to guide her to one end of the enormous ballroom where a
number of sofas had been placed to enable the guests to rest between dances.

"You do not object to my company," Eustace said smoothly, standing over her
as she took a seat.

"I wonder what I have done to merit so great a change."

Maidie looked up, and her heart sank at sight of his feline smile.

"I do not know what you mean."

"Don't you?"  he said, deceptively bland.

"Perhaps you suppose that Dela garde, having established his authority so
publicly, will summarily nip my pretensions in the bud on your behalf."  A
sneer crossed his features.

"Or don't you accept his authority?"

Maidie knew not how to reply to this.  On the one hand, she wanted to
repudiate his insinuations, but on the other, she did not wish him to suppose
that she lent any credence to that hateful suggestion about Dela garde's
intentions towards her.  She was obliged to fall back upon compromise.

"You know me better than to suppose that I would tamely accept any man's
authority."

"Not even that of your prospective husband?"

"Meaning yourself?"  Maidie returned swiftly, unable to help herself.

"Or Dela garde?"

 His smile grew.

"Ah, so you have not warmed towards me at all.  I could not quite believe in
so rapid a change of heart.  Then why, I ask myself, should you be behaving
so strangely unlike yourself?"

"I am not unlike myself," Maidie protested, annoyed to feel herself blushing.

"I am merely trying to be civil."

"Come, come, Maidie, you can do better than that."  His eyes ran over her in
a way that made her acutely uncomfortable.

"I believe I have it.  For some unaccountable reason, you have decided that
perhaps I may do after all.  Now, why?"  He laughed gently as Maidie threw an
indignant look at him.

"Well, why should I cavil?  My offer stands.  I am not malignant.  I harbour
no thoughts of revenge for your unkind reception of me."

"How generous!"

"Is it not?  And remember, Maidie.  Marry me, and you may do as you
please--provided only that you agree to provide me with the lifestyle to
which I aspire."  He smiled unctuously.

"Sadly, I do not think that forty-five thousand pounds will suffice."

Maidie eyed him a moment.  He was showing his true colours now.  In the past,
he had been content to pretend that the portion set aside for her marriage
was all he wanted.  She spoke with contempt in her heart.

"How much, then, will it cost me to marry you?  I should like to know that,
Eustace, before I make up my mind."

"I am not interrupting, I trust?"  said Dela garde's voice.

Maidie jumped, and she saw the chagrin spread over Eustace's face as he
turned quickly with a muttered exclamation of annoyance.  Her heart gave a
bound, and then settled into an unsteady tattoo.

"You will forgive me if I remove my--protegee," De- la garde continued, a
veiled threat in the even tenor of his voice which Maidie at least recognised.

He reached down and took her arm above the elbow,  pulling her to her feet.
Maidie's fingers shook as he placed them within the crook of his arm.
Without another word, he walked her away from Eustace, but only a short
distance to one of the drapes that concealed an open French window.
Dela garde stepped on to the little balcony beyond and drew Maidie out.

The drapes closed, and Maidie was enveloped in semidarkness.  She forced
herself to look at Dela garde, who had released her and was leaning back
against the railing, his eyes only just visible in the pale light of a
partial moon.

"You have obviously taken leave of your senses," he said in conversational
tones.

"Merely because I allowed Eustace to talk to me?"  It was hard to maintain
her poise, but Maidie hoped that she sounded quite normal.

"Don't be stupid.  You were actively encouraging him to suppose you are
reconsidering his offer."

Their last meeting came back to her.

"Why should you care?  You told me I might marry him with your good will."

In one swift movement, he moved forward, grasping her shoulders and pulling
her towards him.  His voice was harsh.

"You know I didn't mean that!"

Maidie could not speak.  His touch, his nearness were causing the most
unsettling sensations within her.  Her heartbeat was so flurried that she
thought it must choke her.

Something of her agitation communicated itself to him, for he paused, and his
grip loosened.

"You're trembling!"

"No, I'm n-not!"  she protested helplessly.

One hand left her shoulder.  She felt his fingers caress her cheek and then
he was pushing up her chin, scanning her features in the dark.

"Maidie..."  It was a whisper on his breath.  He leaned towards her, and his
lips just brushed hers.

 As he pulled away, Maidie felt her knees shaking.  Faintness threatened to
overcome her, and she reached out to seize the railing.  He let her go and
she turned to clutch the cold iron, catching at her breath to steady it.

She heard him curse softly, but she could not look round.

"I'm sorry," he said gutturally.

"I did not want--I did not mean--It is the fault of that gown!  You
look--God!-- so alluring.  And this confounded starlight!  Oh, the devil!
Maidie, I did not intend it.  Think nothing of it.  It was nothing--a
mistake, that is all."

He had said enough.  More than enough.  He had not meant to kiss her--a
light, feathery kiss that had turned her limbs to water.  But it was nothing.
To him, it was nothing.  Her eyes pricked.

Forcing down the surge of emotion, she gripped the railing.  She must not be
affected--must not appear to be affected.  She turned her eyes heavenwards,
and saw that the night was clear.  The stars beckoned lovingly, and as of
long habit, she searched for her winter base and began to pick out her
friends.  Rigel, then Betelgeuse.  The pointer gave her Taurus, and peace
began to seep back into her veins.

"Aldebaran."  Then down again to Canis Major.

"Sirius."

She had been unaware of murmuring aloud.  Dela garde's voice startled her.

"What are you saying?"

Without thought, she seized on the safety of her familiar territory.

Pointing, she showed him Orion.

"Look along his belt--there.  That bright one is Aldebaran.  It has one of
the strongest lights.  Then, if you return to the Hunter, you must search for
his feet.  The brighter star is Rigel, but look!"  Her pointing finger moved,
drawing an arc.

"The lesser star, his other foot, will lead you to the Great Dog, and there
you can find Sirius--see how bright he is?"

 Dela garde had closed with her, was standing half behind her, perhaps in
order to follow the correct angle of her pointing finger.  His voice was a
murmur close to her ear.

"Beautiful!"

If she had not buried herself in the comfort of her celestial world, she
would have died inside with the force of his presence--so close: the arm that
almost touched her breast as it encircled her to steady him with a hold on
the railing; the warmth that emanated from him, burning the length of her
back down one side; and his hand resting lightly on her shoulder, a heavy
flame.

Dela garde heard her words, looked and saw the stars to which she directed his
attention: Procyon, and the twins Castor and Pollux.  With half his mind, he
was drawn with growing interest.  The other half wrestled only with the pull
of his desire, as the tremble of her limbs gave answer.  This was madness!
Why had she not run from him, escaped?  He could not see her face, but the
memory of it, that night in her bedchamber, gave him the image that he must
be glad was hidden from him at this moment: in this place, inflamed with a
vision of what he might have done--could still do!  --in that place, with
Maidie and her starlight lure.

Sanity hit.

"My God, what the devil am I doing?"

He thrust away from her as she turned to look at him, startled.  A sudden
smile lit her features, and she laughed.

"You are asking me?"

Then consciousness returned, and she looked quickly away.  The response had
been involuntary.  She could not think, now, why she had remained out in this
seeming wilderness with Dela garde.  Yet she did not move.

He could see the confusion even in the darkness, and a sudden urge seized
him.  Not to kiss her into submission-- to the fate he had just been
picturing--but to catch her up into his arms and simply hold her there.

The drapes moved, and Lady Hester stepped through  them.  Without thought,
both shifted swiftly away from each other, to the furthest points of the
railing.

"Dear me," said Lady Hester calmly.

"Has it occurred to either of you that you are setting tongues wagging?"

Maidie blushed in the darkness.

"Oh!  I had not thought!"

"You had better go inside, Maidie," advised her ladyship.  "The musicians are
starting up, and I am sure you are engaged for the next dance."

"Yes--yes, I am engaged for every dance," Maidie agreed.  She did not glance
at Dela garde, but slipped quickly back into the ballroom, a prey to the most
distressing reflections.

Dela garde saw his great-aunt turn to him, and threw up a hand.

"You need not say it.  Aunt he's.  I am palpably to blame.  I am fully aware
of it,"

"I should think you might be," said Lady Hester tartly.  "But I am going to
say something, nevertheless.  It is this.  If you don't wish to find yourself
obliged to marry the girl, I advise you to be more circumspect in future."

With which, she left him, and turned to follow Maidie.  Dela garde remained on
the balcony for a moment or two, cursing himself, and Maidie--and Maidie's
gown.  He could not think what had come over him.  Pray heaven the wench
found herself a decent fellow before too long!  Any more such encounters and
he could not answer for what he might do.  He pulled himself up.  What the
devil was he thinking?  It was a mistake, that was all.  A stupid mistake.
It meant nothing.  It was merely the heady combination of starlight and that
abominable gown!

Maidie, meanwhile, re-entering the ballroom, had run straight into Eustace
Silsoe.  He was reinforced by the presence of Adela, and Maidie could not but
wonder whether either, or perhaps both, had once again been witness to that
illicit idyll on the balcony.  Illicit?  To her, perhaps, to  her
unsuspecting heart.  But not to him.  No, not to Dela garde.

"Excuse me," Maidie said quickly, trying to forestall any conversation, 'but
I am looking for my partner.  I am engaged for the next dance with
Wiveliscombe.  "

"I am sure Wiveliscombe will come looking for you," Adela said, helping her
brother to crowd Maidie into a huddle against the wall.

"We will not detain you for more than a moment," Eustace added, that
un amiable smile creasing his mouth.

"What do you want?"  Maidie asked tensely.

"I do not ask what occurred behind those closed curtains," purred Adela
smugly, 'but I dare say I can guess.  But no matter for that.  Remember,
Mary, that we know the true circumstances.  "

"What if," added Eustace, taking up the thread, 'we are tempted to tell the
world the truth?  "

"That Dela garde has no real control over what you choose to do, and cannot in
fact stop you from marrying anyone."

"Then everyone will know for certain," said Eustace softly, 'that he is after
your money for himself.  "

"He will be made to look a fool," added Adela, with a malevolent look.

"What will people think of a man who deliberately lies to society for his own
gain?"

Maidie had listened with the rise of a burning sense of injustice.  Whether
or not there was any truth in their accusations of Dela garde and his supposed
intentions towards her had somehow lost its importance for the moment.  Far
more compelling was the horrid notion that these two could blacken his name,
if they chose.  Did they think she would stand by and let them do it?

"No one will think anything at all," she stated in a steely voice, 'when they
hear of my engagement to another.  "

Adela blew scorn through her lips.

"Which other?"

 "Save myself?"  Eustace added.

That was a moot point.  Maidie had no answer, but she saw rescue in the form
of her partner, who had espied her despite these cousinly attempts to conceal
her, and was coming across the ballroom to claim her.

"Excuse me, if you please," Maidie said with dignity.

"I see Wiveliscombe approaching."

She broke free and went towards him, with every evidence in her face and
voice of pleasure at seeing him.  She managed to keep up a lively
conversation every time the movement of the dance brought her together with
her partner.  But her thoughts strayed back to the little scene on the
balcony.

Why was she defending Dela garde?  She knew that the sway of her emotions made
her vulnerable.  But what of his conduct?  He had said that his actions were
unintentional.  But were they?  Quick suspicion kindled, and she almost
missed her step.

"Steady!"  muttered Wiveliscombe, reaching out a hand.

"Don't trouble--an unevenness in the floor," she said quickly, and moved on
past him.

Could it be that Dela garde's whole action was feigned?  Had he meant to
discompose her?  If it had been only that light kiss, she might not have
thought so.  Had he not swiftly apologised, explained it away as a mistake?

But what of his subsequent actions?  Why had he drawn close to her again?

How, if his apology was earnest, could he have taken the opportunity afforded
by her examination of the heavens to put her at so great a disadvantage once
more?  He must have meant it!  It must have been deliberate.  He had seen how
he affected her, how successful was his first foray.  And, pressing his
advantage, he had done all he could to move her further.  No doubt if Lady
Hester had not interrupted them, there would have been another kiss.

 To her dismay, the thought caused a flood of heat to sear her depths.  She
forced herself out of her imagination, and put all her concentration on
Wiveliscombe.  The dance, she found, was ending.  He was bowing, and the
music ceased.

"Thank you, sir," she said with forced brightness.

"That was most pleasurable."

"Was it.  Lady Mary?"  he asked, with a grin.

"Now I quite thought you had your attention elsewhere."

"No, I assure you," she uttered hastily, but with a betraying colour.  She
saw his lifted eyebrow, and gave a self- conscious laugh.

"Well, perhaps a little.  Did I miss something of importance?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On whose point of view we are considering."  He hailed a passing waiter.

"Some wine.  Lady Mary?"

"Water, if you please."

He took a glass from the proffered tray, and handed it to her.

"Lemonade, I think."

She thanked him.

"You were saying--what I had missed?"

"Ah, yes.  You did not respond to my request."

"Oh?  Forgive me.  What was the request?"

He grinned.

"That you honour me with an answer in the affirmative."

Maidie frowned.

"Don't say you made me an offer, and I did not hear you!"

Wiveliscombe gave his merry laugh.

"You did not hear me, and I certainly made you an offer--of a sort."

The last phrase caught Maidie's attention.  She recalled what Dela garde had
said of this man, that he was unlikely to marry anyone.  What, then, had he
offered?  Before she could think of alternatives, the plan sprang full-blown
into her mind.  Here was a perfect solution to both her difficult-  ties.
She could confound Dela garde--if she had read him aright--and also save him
from the machinations of Eustace and Adela.  And she need not hold
Wiveliscombe to it.  A discreet interval, to allow her to look about for
someone else, and she would cry off.  Forgetting that she had been reared to
detest duplicity, she gave her suitor a bright smile.

"Very well then, Mr Wiveliscombe, I shall give you what you ask.  Yes, I will
marry you."

If she had not determined on using him, Maidie would at once have retracted.
Taken aback, Wiveliscombe stared at her blankly.  Maidie hardened her heart.
Let it be a lesson to him to be more careful in future!

But her reluctant suitor regained his poise in a moment.  He smiled, and
raised her hand to his lips, saying with all his usual grace,

"You have made me the happiest of men.  But--er--should I not first obtain
Dela garde's good wishes?"

A dangerous light entered Maidie's eye.  She had not thought of that!  Of
course he must suppose there was that obstacle--hoped, no doubt, that
Dela garde would refuse him.  The whole black-hearted scheme of the Viscount's
now burst in upon her.  Why had she not believed it at once?

Was it not proof enough that he had acted without her knowledge or consent to
prevent her suitors from approaching her direct?  Only she so much disliked
Adela and Eustace that she had not wanted to believe it.

"You need have no fear," she told Wiveliscombe flatly.  There will be no
opposition from that quarter.  I shall tell Dela garde myself--and
immediately.  "

On the word, she turned from him, and her eyes searched the throng for the
Viscount's figure.  She caught sight of him, in the act of passing through
the ballroom door, and hurried off after him.  She caught him up in the
corridor outside.

 "Dela garde, I need a word with you."

He looked at her with a frown in his eyes.  There was no trace of the
pretended amorousness he had displayed to her on the balcony.  Of course
there was not!  Why would there be?  He could hope for nothing from her in
this public place.

"Certainly," he said, and led the way back through the ballroom, to the far
end, and into a small antechamber.

He left the door to the small room ajar, and turned to her.  She appeared to
be labouring under suppressed emotion.  He had himself well in hand,
determined not to indulge in a repetition of the idiotic passion that had
attacked him earlier.  He spoke curtly.

"What is it?"

Maidie lifted her chin.  She was glad to find that her unruly emotions were
tightly in her control.  The harder he looked at her, the easier this was.

"I wished to tell you that you may consider yourself discharged of your
duties towards me."

Dela garde's brows snapped together, and a sliver of emotion shot through him.
If this was what he instantly suspected!

"Go on," he said grimly.

"I am betrothed," Maidie announced in a ringing tone.

A jolt struck at his chest.  He drew his breath in sharply, and the dark eyes
blazed.

"The devil you are!  To whom, may I ask?"

Maidie's heart jarred uncontrollably as his eyes took fire.  But she rallied,
stiffening, and fairly threw the name at him.

"Wiveliscombe!"

Dela garde's gaze narrowed dangerously.

"We'll see that!"

He turned on his heel, and was gone.  Maidie ran out, and saw him striding
towards the ballroom door.  She would have followed, but at this moment the
musicians began tuning up again, and she saw hurrying towards her  Lady Pin
more's son, who hailed her as he approached.  She was condemned to a further
country dance, which she performed more or less automatically, answering her
partner's sallies quite at random.

What Dela garde intended she did not know.  That he had determined to
interfere she could not doubt.  Quite what he would do was a mystery that
kept her on tenterhooks throughout the dance.  She could not repress a
feeling of elation at his reception of her news, even though it argued in
favour of his diabolical plan to get her to himself.  Almost she began to toy
with the idea of allowing him to succeed with her--except when she recalled
that the apparent jealous passion must be all pretence.  Useless to dare to
dream that he might be in earnest!  If he were, what should stop him from
declaring himself?  He would not, had he any tender feelings for her, trouble
with subterfuge.  Why should he?  He need do no more than announce his
partiality, which would obviate the need to prevent her marrying anyone else.

But he would not do that, Maidie knew, abandoning the forlorn little hope.

How could it be possible that Dela garde, who had the pick of the market,
should fall for the wholly unsuitable Lady Mary Hope?  No.  The only
explanation that fitted was the one that had been supplied by Adela and
Eustace.

The dance at an end, she found herself face to face with Wiveliscombe.  He
gave her a conspiratorial look, and bowed to her partner.

"I must beg your pardon, Pin more, and wrest Lady Mary away from you."

"No, by God, you shall not!"  protested the other.

"Ah, but I shall, my dear boy.  Fear not, it is only for a moment.  You may
claim her again ere long."

Maidie allowed Wiveliscombe to draw her a little aside,  and frowned at his
look of dismay.

"You have seen De- la garde?"

Wiveliscombe spread his hands.

"Alas, yes.  He has forbidden the banns.  I am blighted, I am doomed."

He looked rather to be relieved, Maidie thought fleetingly.  But it was a
momentary distraction.  Dela garde had thwarted her.  Of course Wiveliscombe
meant to accept defeat.  He had never wanted to marry her in the first place.
There was no more thought of duplicity.  Sheer fury dictated her next
actions.  All her desire was to hit back--and immediately.  She would show
him--oh, she would show him!  There was more than one fish in the sea.

Excusing herself as quickly as she could, Maidie went in search of Sholto Lug
ton.  His was the next name on her dance card, and it happened that as he was
also searching for her, she came upon him but a moment later, after passing
among a handful of couples awaiting their turn on the dance floor.

"Sholto!"

"Lady Mary, you have not forgotten me," he cried joyfully.

"Far from it.  But come, Sholto.  I wish to speak with you a moment before we
dance.  Come quickly!"

She fairly dragged the youth into the very antechamber to which Dela garde had
taken her.  Without preamble, she plunged recklessly in.

"Now, Sholto, is there nothing you wish to ask me?"

He stared for a moment in blank disbelief.  Then stumbled out his confusion.

"Lady Mary, I do not know how to say it!"

"Be frank, Sholto," Maidie encouraged him.

"I prefer plain speaking."

He looked at her, swallowed once or twice, and looked away again.  Maidie
began to be impatient.  But before she could intervene, he tried again.

 "Lady Mary..."

Maidie sighed inwardly.

"Yes, Sholto?"

"Lady Mary..."

"I am listening."

He fell silent once more, staring at her as if he implored her understanding.
Maidie heard the musicians tuning up again, and very nearly stamped her foot.

"Do get on, Sholto!  We have very little time."

Once more he hesitated.  Then he drew a huge breath, and, to Maidie's intense
astonishment, flung himself down upon one knee.

"Lady Mary, I must beg you to consent to marry me!"

With an exclamation of impatience, Maidie reached down her hands to him, with
the intention of pulling him to his feet.  But Sholto seized her hands,
almost dragging her on top of him.

"Pray marry me!"  he repeated, in frantic tones.

"For if you do not, I think I may put a pistol to my head!"

"Hum dudgeon!  I mean--' correcting herself hurriedly and trying to release
her hands '--there is no need to go to such an extreme.  Certainly I will
marry you.  Pray get up!"

But instead of complying, or expressing his delight at her acceptance, Sholto
remained frozen in his position, and his horrified gaze shot to the doorway.
Maidie turned her head, and very nearly cried aloud with vexation.

Dela garde stood on the threshold, surveying the scene with a sardonic
expression spreading across his countenance.

Chapter Ten Q^z^^s^Q JVlaidie drew herself up, trying to overcome the
instant discomposure that attacked her at sight of the Viscount.  She spoke
in what she hoped was a repressive tone.

"This, sir, is a private interview."

It had no effect whatsoever.  Dela garde gave her one scorching glance and
turned his attention to her suitor.

"Get up, Lug ton," he said in disgusted accents, 'and stop making a cake of
yourself--or I shall be obliged to boot you out of the door!  "

The boy released Maidie's hands, and got sheepishly to his feet.

"Your p-pardon, sir," he managed, with what dignity he could muster, 'but you
must know that Lady Mary has consented to--to marry me.  "

"Yes, I have," Maidie aver red.

Dela garde did not even look at her.  Instead, his glance ran from the youth's
head to his heels and back again, and remained on the fiery blush at his
cheeks.

"Perhaps you are not aware, Lug ton, that Lady Mary cannot marry without my
consent."

"That is not--' " And that consent," he went on, speaking over the top of
Maidie,

"I

categorically refuse to give.  "

 "You have no right--' Maidie began.

"That will do!"  he snapped, throwing a look at her that spoke volumes.

Her breath caught, and she subsided, quite unable to retain her spirits on
the receiving end of such a look.  Besides, what could she do?  Sholto was
looking terrified, as well he might, and, without him standing firm, she
could scarcely hold him to a betrothal.

"Sir, I--I did not know," Lug ton said, rather faintly, and with a
reproachful look at Maidie.

"In that case, I shall overlook your conduct," said De- la garde, in a voice
of such magnanimity that Maidie longed to hit him.

When Sholto did not move, he added,

"You need not wait."

"But our dance!  I mean.  Lady Mary is--' " Lady Mary will be sitting out the
next dance.  "

Maidie's fury shot straight through the emotional turmoil of the evening.

She watched the youth make a disconsolate exit, and turned her fulminating
gaze upon De- la garde.

"So now you are at liberty to dictate with whom I may dance, as well as whom
I may marry?"

"I don't care who you dance with," he returned, 'but I have not finished with
you yet.  If you think I am going to release you to go and find some other
poor fool to inveigle into a subterfuge betrothal, you may think again.  "

"Subterfuge?  Do you suppose I did not mean it?"

"You meant, as I am perfectly aware, to set me at defiance."

"What do you mean by this?"  Maidie demanded rather desperately.

"What do you hope to gain?"

The brown eyes were hard.

"I might ask the same question of you.  Why are you indulging in these
idiotic engagements?  To what end?  And don't waste your breath  telling me
that you wish to marry either of those equally unsuitable pretenders, because
I tell you now that I do not believe it."

"I don't care what you believe!"  Maidie returned, almost in tears.

"I told you I would marry whomever I chose."

"And I told you that you underrated my power."

Maidie regarded him impotently.  Aware of the stinging sensation at her eyes,
she withdrew her gaze, turning from him abruptly.  Of what use to attack him?
He would not confess his plot, of course he would not.  For he must suppose
that it would only end in her running away.  Perhaps she would run away.
Only would he not chase after her, and bring her back?

To her dismay, she felt him move behind her.  His hand was at her shoulder,
turning her.  She felt its warmth but briefly, for he shifted back again, and
she knew his eyes were on her, though she did not dare to look.

"Maidie," he began on a more gentle note that put her at once on the alert,
'why are you behaving in this nonsensical fashion?  There can be no need for
you to rush into a betrothal like this.  All I am trying to do is to prevent
you from making a mistake that you will regret your life long.  "

Was that all?  Was that truly all?  She could not forbear looking up into the
dark gaze.  It had softened, and her heart jerked.  She longed to ask the
question, but she could not--without revealing her reason for asking it.  She
found another instead.

"Do you mean to refuse every suitor?"

His lips compressed, and the gentler note vanished.

"Until you find the right man, yes."

"Of whom you are to be the judge."  Rat, and dull.

"As you are obviously incapable of making any sensible judgement, yes."

 Maidie eyed him, trying to read his face.

"I see," she said at length.

There is no more to be said, then.  "

For a moment, he surveyed her frowningly.

"What is it you are planning, Maidie?  I warn you that I mean what I say.
Don't try to outwit me!"  She made no remark, and he sighed.

"I have no wish to act the tyrant, but you force me to it."

She bit her lip against an automatic retort, and turned away again.

"If I am the goad, perhaps it would be best if I relieved you of my presence."

He recognised the gruff little voice.  It was the one she used to conceal her
emotions, when she felt herself to have been taken at fault.  At once
Dela garde knew that, under all the defiance, she was deeply hurt.  Remorse
bit into him.  He recalled his earlier conduct on the balcony with a good
deal of self-reproach.  He was conscious once again of a wish to put his arms
about her--only for comfort.  That was impossible.  He must content himself
with soft words.  But when he spoke, what came out of his mouth was not at
all what he had intended to say.

"I have no wish to be relieved of your presence, Maidie."

Her glance flicked round, and he discerned wary suspicion in her eyes.  Did
she not believe him sincere?  It was borne in upon him that a number of
things she had said to him seemed to indicate as much.  Puzzled, he frowned
without intent.

"Why do you look at me like that?"

She shrugged, and looked away again.

"How should I look at you?  In the way that you looked at me--on the balcony?
Is that what you wish?"

"Of course not!"  he burst out involuntarily.

"I told you-- that was an accident."

Maidie's wide-eyed gaze was turned back upon him.  Her voice was flat.

"An accident.  I see.  Then believe it as  much an accident that I became
betrothed to Wiveliscombe."

Maidie eyed the two elder ladies from her chair to one side of the fireplace
in the green saloon, and tried to school her features to an expression of
bewilderment.

"I do not know what you mean.  Lady Hester.  There is nothing the matter, I
assure you."

It was plain that she was not yet a master of duplicity, for her hostess
exchanged a disbelieving glance with the Worm, seated next to her on the
small sofa opposite, and then returned her gaze to Maidie's face.

"Then why has Ida reported that she heard you crying in the night?"

Maidie cast a glance of reproach at her duenna's face.  That worthy looked
guilty, and her unquiet fingers kneaded at a handkerchief held between them.

"Dearest Maidie," she said imploringly, 'do not be angry with me!  What else
could I do but beg for dear Lady Hester's aid, when you refuse to confide in
me?  "

"There is nothing to confide.  Worm," Maidie said flatly.

She came under the sceptical eye of Lady Hester.

"Now that I know to be untrue.  Do not imagine that I did not observe you go
apart with Laurie a second time."

"What has that to say to anything?"  asked Maidie, annoyed to feel herself
colouring up.

"What is more," pursued Lady Hester inexorably,

"I saw you come away from that convenient little antechamber, and for the
third time it was Laurie who followed you out."

"Well, why don't you ask Dela garde what occurred?"  Maidie demanded in a
fretful tone.

"I am sure it is far more his doing than mine."

"What is far more his doing?"

"That I am not yet betrothed!"  Maidie burst out, unable  to help herself.

"If Dela garde has his way, I shall never be so."

Lady Hester twinkled.

"I take leave to doubt that."

She came under the beam of Maidie's wide-eyed gaze.  "Why?  Are you in his
confidence?"

A frown drove the twinkle away.

"You sound excessively suspicious, Maidie.

What is in your mind?  "

Maidie averted her eyes, annoyed with herself for having given so much away.

"Nothing."

"If it is nothing," put in her duenna in distress, 'why should you spend half
the night weeping, Maidie?  " She peered across at her charge, and evidently
made a discovery.

"Good heavens, I believe you are in love!"

Maidie rose abruptly from her chair, and flew to the window, making valiant
efforts to choke down the instant rush of sobs to her throat.

There was silence in the room behind her, more significant than the concerned
clucking that had begun this interview.  She drew a painful breath.  That had
been foolish!  She could not more surely have confirmed her duenna's
intuitive guess.  What now was she to do?  Denial would be fruitless.  But if
she admitted it, would they not probe to discover the identity of the man
upon whom she had bestowed her affections?

"Who is he, Maidie?"  came from the Worm, as if she read her thought.

Maidie stiffened, rallied her de fences, and turned to face them again.  She
found that both the elder ladies had risen, and so she kept her distance, as
if by this she might better hold out against their curiosity.

"Is it one of those whom Lord Dela garde has dismissed?"  pursued her duenna.

She glanced at her cousin.  "If so, I am sure that Lady Hester might perhaps
persuade him to alter his mind.  Could you not?"

"I do not know that I wish to," Lady Hester said slowly,  and Maidie was
dismayed to see the comprehension in her eyes.

"But surely--' began the Worm, and was silenced by her cousin's lifted finger.

Lady Hester had not shifted her gaze from Maidie's face.  She came slowly to
the window embrasure, and Maidie watched her approach with a good deal of
consternation.  But when she reached her.  Lady Hester put up her hands to
Maidie's cheeks and held her so, scanning her face.

"You look drawn, Maidie," she said gently.

"If I had thought that it would bring you this much unhappiness, I would
never have encouraged it."

Maidie did not pretend to misunderstand her.  She winked away the wetness
that rose to her eyes.

"He--he does not truly want me," she said huskily.

Lady Hester's hands dropped.

"I am not at all sure that I agree with you."

"You are thinking of his determination to refuse to see me married to
another.  But it is not what you think--what you might be pardoned for
imagining."  A sudden irrational hope lit her breast, and she looked at Lady
Hester in painful enquiry.

"Unless--has he said anything to you, ma'am?"

"Alas, no," she admitted.

"At least, I have talked to him on the matter, but that was some days ago.
His conduct has certainly borne out what I then suspected."

"What--what did you suspect?"  Maidie dared to ask.

Lady Hester smiled.

"That he is more drawn to you than he has himself any idea of."

"Drawn to me," Maidie repeated dully.

"Yes, perhaps.  But that.  Lady Hester, is not enough."

By a supreme effort of will, Dela garde had managed to hold aloof from Maidie
for two whole days since Tues-  day's ball.  He hoped that giving her a
sensation of freedom, however illusory--for he had every intention of
maintaining his strict guardianship--might induce her to refrain from
engaging herself any further.  He trusted that he had made it abundantly
plain that he would not allow her to continue in such promises, even if she
made them.

What was more, Riseley had reported that his prompt intervention on the night
of the Rank mis ton's ball had resulted in a falling off on the part of
Maidie's would-be suitors.  That Corringham had added a rider to the effect
that Dela garde's conduct was rapidly earning him the reputation of having
designs upon Maidie himself, he did not allow to disturb him.  Let the world
think what it might.  He had little doubt that he had the Shurland faction to
thank for such tattle.  Maidie's safety meant more to him than the transitory
tarnish of his own reputation.  His integrity was at stake--and her whole
life!

If there was a part of him that feared to be too much in Maidie's company, he
firmly suppressed it.  She plainly distrusted him.  He did not wish to be
provoked into giving her further reason.  He was glad of the lack of
engagements these two days, for it had given him all the excuse he needed to
abjure her society.  Tonight, however, there was a musical evening, and he
braced himself to withstand any attempt by Maidie to provoke him into another
quarrel.

When he had changed into appropriate raiment, and entered the drawing-room to
await the announcement of dinner, however, he found only Lady Hester and Miss
Worm- ley in possession.

"Where is Maidie?"

"She has gone to visit Sir Granville Wilberfbss again," said Lady Hester.

"Is she not coming with us tonight?"

"Apparently not."

Dela garde grunted, trying to will away a sensation of  disappointment.

"Well, I suppose she cannot come to any real harm there."

"She is unlikely to engage herself to marry an old man, if that is what you
mean," said his great-aunt calmly.

He cast a quick glance at her.

"Do I detect a note of censure?  I should have thought you would be glad that
I am doing my best to prevent her from ruining her life."

"Oh, yes."

"What do you mean, " oh, yes"?"  demanded Dela garde irritably.

"I beg of you to believe, my lord," twittered the Worm nervously, 'that I am
indeed very glad.  "

He thanked her, and pointedly ignored the burgeoning mischief in his
great-aunt's face.

Dinner was almost over when a note addressed to Lady Hester was brought in.
She broke the seal and read it.  Next moment, she half rose from her chair,
exclaiming in a startled tone,

"Lord save us!"

Dela garde frowned across at her, aware that the Worm did likewise.

"What is it?"

Lady Hester raised troubled eyes from the missive.

"She has not gone to Sir Granville."

"Maidie?"  Instant alarm gripped Dela garde.

"Where then is she?"

"She has eloped with Sholto Lug ton!"

"What?"

Dela garde was on his feet, only half aware that Miss Wormley's wineglass had
clattered to her plate.  Wholly ignoring her clucking, he moved around the
table and seized the note from his great-aunt's hand.

"What the devil?"  -- he uttered, running his eyes rapidly down the sheet.

"Has she run mad?  By God, I'll murder her!"

"You will have to catch her first," pointed out Lady hester tartly.

"Can you do so?  She has been gone at least three hours."

"But where?"  quavered the duenna, moving around the table and twitching the
note from Dela garde's hand.

"North, I imagine," he said.

Miss Wormley gaped at him.

"Not--not Gretna Green!"

"No, no, Ida, surely not," Lady Hester soothed.

"She is of age."

"But Lug ton is not," the Viscount said.

"Yes, but he will have his mother's permission.  There is no need for them to
take such an extreme step."

"Oh, isn't there?"  scoffed Dela garde.

"You don't suppose that looby has the faintest notion how to get himself a
special licence, do you?  As for Maidie, she would not even know that she
needed one to get married in a hurry anywhere else.  Of course they are
heading for Scotland."

"But this is dreadful!"  cried Lady Hester, over the whimpers of the Worm.

"You must stop them, Laurie!"

Dela garde was already on the move.

"I intend to."

The butler had been standing as if rooted to the spot, still holding the
salver upon which he had brought the fatal note.  Dela garde seized him by the
shoulder.

"Lo wick, tell Samp ton to fig out my phaeton--instantly!  And send Liss to
my dressing-room!"

He was gone from the room on the words, running up the stairs two at a time.
It took him less than five minutes to strip off his evening wear and drag on
breeches, frock- coat and top boots, aided by his valet who flew to obey his
barked commands.  He was shrugging himself into his greatcoat even as he left
his dressing-room, and rammed the hat on his head as he ran down the stairs,
the valet puffing behind him.

At the bottom, he was detained by Lady Hester, the Worm weeping in her rear.
He seized his driving gloves  from Liss with an impatient hand, and began to
drag them over his fingers.

"What is it.  Aunt he's?"

"A word, if you please, before you go," she said, her tone more severe than
he had ever heard it.

"In private."

"Quickly, then."

He moved to open the door to the little parlour.  Lady Hester passed through.
He went in and shut the rest of the household out.

"Well?"

"Do you have any idea why the child has chosen to run off in this way?"

asked his great-aunt, fixing him with a steady regard.

Dela garde gave a short laugh.

"Am I supposed to be able to read her mind?

She is determined to ruin herself!  "

"Or to escape you, Laurie."

He was brought up short.  He stared at her, and sighed out his breath.

"Is she that much afraid of what I may do?"

Her brows rose.

"Why should she be afraid?"

"I wish I knew."  A frown creased his brow, as all the inconsistencies of
Maidie's behaviour towards him suddenly coalesced into a definite whole.

"She suspects me of--what?  Some design, not unconnected with her possible
marriage, I think."

"Have you any design?"

Dela garde looked at her.

"Only to see her happy.  For that, I will do whatever is consistent with what
I conceive to be my duty towards her."

"Your duty.  And that is all?"

All?  What did she mean?  He thought he detected a measure of disapproval in
Aunt he's's voice.  Or was it disappointment?  He shrugged it off.  Time was
pressing.

"What else?  At this moment my sole concern is to save her from her own
fbolhardiness."  He went to the door and wrenched it open.

"I must go!"

 Lady Hester followed him out into the passage, saying urgently,

"Deal gently with her, Laurie!"

"Gently?"  he echoed, turning his head briefly as the porter swung open the
front door.

"She may count herself fortunate to escape a throttling!"

But as the miles sped by beneath his horses' hooves, and anxiety overlaid the
anger, he found himself gripped by the conviction that it was all his own
fault.  He had bullied her, taken high-handed action that she must feel to be
an insult to her intelligence--and he had kissed her.  The memory of it,
fleeting though the kiss had been, came into sharp focus in his mind.

His heart lurched.

Abruptly it came to him why he had so assiduously been avoiding her.  Not for
any of the reasons he had glibly given himself.  but because he was afraid
that he would be overcome by the desire to kiss her again!  Through his head
rattled a series of images--the entirety of his conduct towards her these
last days, that he must now recognise to have been as eccentric as her own!
Or, if not eccentric, to have only one sane basis.  He could not tolerate her
betrothal, that was certain.  But it had nothing to do with the unsuitability
of her choices--though they were ridiculous.  He could laugh at himself, if
his senses were not so ravaged by the discovery.  For it afforded him no
pleasure whatsoever to realise that the thought of her marriage to another
had charged him with murderous jealousy!

He wanted Maidie.  Flame whipped across his loins, and he jerked on the
reins.  There was an uneven ripple among his team, and his groom gave out an
exclamation of concern.  Dela garde dragged his attention to where it was
needed, and became for some moments wholly intent upon controlling his horses.

"Would you wish me to take the reins?"  Samp ton asked him, when the team was
once again steady.

"No, I have them in hand."

 But he had better command his thoughts if he did not wish to endanger his
cattle a second time.  Command his thoughts?  Would that he could!  What the
devil was he to do?  A more misplaced desire he could not have contemplated.
Should he marry her for it?  Try to marry her!  He did not flatter himself
that Maidie would accept him.  Even if she would have him, what would that
avail him?  A somewhat grim despondency came over him.  Was it to be supposed
that Maidie, of all women, might delight in amorous intrigue with her
husband?  She did not want a bedfellow!  All she required of a man was that
he should leave her alone with her wretched stars.  It was scarcely
complimentary to one's pride to know that one must come a poor second in
importance to the planets!

But she had responded to him, he recalled, with a resurgence of warmth that
he fought down, forcing his attention back to the road ahead.  On the
balcony, he had felt how she was affected.  He could win her, were he to make
the attempt.  There was the nub.  Win her to what?  There could only be
marriage.  Anything else was out of the question.  And marriage to Maidie was
not a proposition that he could readily contemplate.  Apart from the heady
attraction of her sensual allure, her attributes were quite opposite to those
suitable to his wife.

Dela garde found that he was slowing his horses.  Why was he chasing after her
like this?  Why stop her from marrying Lug ton?  It was what she wanted.

The boy would offer her no opposition.  He was unlikely to wish for anything
more than the forty-five thousand pounds that would be his due.

He would not trouble her, and she might observe the heavens to her heart's
content--and welcome.

That she would be heartily bored by his youth and inexperience was quite
unimportant.  As was the fact that she would never know what it was to give
herself in exquisite ;  suiT ender to a man who would take delight in
pleasuring her, in acquainting himself with every secret-He pulled himself
up, realising where his thoughts were tending.  He discovered that his breath
had shortened, and the outrageous images.  in his head were heating his blood
to fever pitch.  No, he could not endure it!  A savage determination gripped
him.  Whatever else, Maidie was not going to marry Sholto Lug ton!

Dela garde caught up with the runaways some miles north of Welwyn.  He'd had
news of them at the posting- house, in a chaise and two that had changed
horses there less than two hours before.  A chaise and two!  No wonder he had
readily gained upon them.  The description was unmistakable.  There could not
be more than one couple on the road where both lady and gentleman were
endowed with so distinctive a head of hair!  They were travelling as brother
and sister, it seemed, and had spoken of pushing on for another stage before
stopping for the night.  It was past eleven when Dela garde's phaeton swept
into the village of Knebworth and halted by the single inn while Samp ton ran
inside to make the usual enquiries.

"They are here, my lord," he reported when he came out.  "I understand that
Lady Mary has just retired.  The young gentleman is in the coffee room."

Dela garde was already descending from the vehicle, and his groom went to the
horses' heads.  "See them watered and rested, Samp ton."

"Will your lordship be remaining here for the night?"   "I doubt it.   We
can get another change back at Welwyn."   He walked into the inn, and the
landlord, who had already come bustling out after the groom's enquiry, led
him to the coffee room and opened the door.

It was a small apartment, with a fireplace and a single large round table in
the centre, surrounded by a number of  chairs, at one of which Dela garde
spied the red head of Mr Sholto Lug ton.

The boy was in the act of drinking from a tumbler as he looked up.  Seeing
Dela garde, he leapt from his seat, choked violently and fell into a fit of
coughing.

Dela garde was obliged to thump him on the back several times before he
recovered.  By the time he had pushed the boy back into his chair and handed
him some water, the whole situation seemed to him to have taken on the nature
of a farce.  Lug ton sipped at the water, looking altogether ready to burst
into tears.  Amusement drove away Dela garde's resentment.

"You need not imagine that I am going to call you out," he said sardonically.

"I don't for a moment suppose that the notion for this escapade came out of
your head.  Which is Lady Mary's room?"

"I--I don't know, sir," said Sholto unhappily.

"She went up with the landlady but a few moments ago."

"Very well."  He went to the door, and turned there.

"You stay put, Lug ton.

I am not yet done with you!  "

An expression of deep foreboding crept across the young man's face, but
Dela garde hid a grin and went into the hall.  A fright would do him no
harm--even though he had undoubtedly been dragooned into his shocking conduct
by Maidie.  Let it be a lesson to him not to hang about eccentric heiresses.

It did not take Dela garde long to find the landlady and send her up to
Maidie's room with a curt message.  In a very short space of time, she came
running down the stairs.  She stopped short at sight of him standing in the
hall, and eyed him in silence for a moment.

The sight of her held him equally silent.  Whether it was an effect of the
dimly lit hall, he did not know.  But she looked pale and drawn, and he
thought he detected a distinct unhappiness in her features.  Something gave
in his  chest.  He had no chance to think about it, for Maidie spoke at
last--dully, without expression.

"What have you done to Sholto?"

Dela garde drew a breath, and found it ragged.

"Nothing at all.  Unless you blame me for his choking on his drink when he
saw me."

Concern entered her eyes, and turning, she went into the coffee room.

Following, Dela garde saw that the youth had risen, and as she reached him,
Maidie took his hand and held it between both her own.

"Are you all right, Sholto?  Did he frighten you?"

The boy flushed.

"No, I--that is--' He seemed to pull himself together a little.

"His lordship has been most-- most understanding."

Maidie did not look at Dela garde.  She reached up and held the back of one
hand to the young man's cheek.

"I am truly sorry, dear Sholto.  I should not have led you into this.  Can
you forgive me?"

"No, no--I mean--only too happy!"  He seized her hand and held it rather
tightly, casting an apprehensive though challenging glance at Dela garde.

"Lady Mary, I will come with you, if you still wish it.  Only--only I don't
think you should, you know."  He swallowed.

"It ain't the thing."

"No, I know it is not," Maidie agreed.

Her smile, Dela garde thought, was a little tremulous.  A shiver went through
him, as of an ill wind.  This was not the Maidie he knew.  The life seemed
quite to have gone out of her.  She had not at all the appearance of a female
frustrated in an elopement.  She was--yes, passionless.

Dela garde was beset by a feeling of unreality.  In a situation which would
have thrown most young ladies into hysterics, Maidie behaved in a prosaic
fashion that was distinctly out of place.  Instead of upbraiding the marplot
who had interrupted her flight, and declaring her intention of flouting him
at the first opportunity--a reaction that  Dela garde had every reason to
anticipate--she politely requested him to wait while she arranged for the
disposal of her erstwhile suitor.

"I have paid for the hire of the chaise, Sholto, so you may use it to have
yourself driven back to town," she told him kindly, adding in a motherly way,

"I think you should set forward at once.  It will be better to wake in your
own bed, and then the events of today will seem very much like a horrid dream
and you may readily forget them."

Not content with this recommendation, she sent Dela garde to request the
landlord to have the horses put to upon the hired vehicle, and herself helped
Sholto into his coat, pressed his hat and gloves upon him, and went out to
see him into the coach.

From the doorway of the inn, a bemused Dela garde watched her wave Lug ton
off, and stand for a moment in the inn yard as the chaise bowled away down
the road.  Then she turned and came up to Dela garde, still speaking in that
toneless voice.

"Are you tired?  Do you wish to take some refreshment before we go?"

"Do you?"  Dela garde asked.

"I will drink a glass of wine, perhaps, if you are having something."

She might have been on a morning call!  Feeling baffled, Dela garde bowed her
back into the inn, and ordered wine and cakes for Maidie, and ale with a
sandwich for himself.  He was tired, but there could be no question of
remaining here for the night, with Maidie unchaperoned.  He had as well have
left her here with Lug ton as stay with her himself!

"I will fetch my things," she said, and went on up the stairs.

By the time she returned, burdened with a small portmanteau and a hooded
travelling cloak, the refreshments  were on the table.  Dela garde put down
his tankard and rose, relieving her of the portmanteau.  He surveyed her
narrowly in the light of the two extra candelabra which the landlord had
thoughtfully provided and placed on the mantelpiece.  Maidie looked paler
than ever, and the oddest sensation struck Dela garde when he noted her
reddened eyelids and realised that she had been crying.  His heart seemed to
wish to rise up and choke him, and it was a moment or two before he could
command himself sufficiently to hand her to a seat at the table.

They sat in silence for a while.  Maidie sipped at her wine, and crumbled a
cake in her fingers, her gaze averted from Dela garde's.  He did not know if
she was even aware of his steady regard, and at length he could no longer
tolerate her seeming indifference.

"For pity's sake, Maidie!"  She jumped slightly, and looked across at him.

"Reproach me!  Revile me, if you will--scream, cry!  But say something."

He was treated to her wide-eyed look.

"What should I say?  Thank you for rescuing me from my own folly?  I am sure
that is what you believe you have done."

Dela garde felt his chest go hollow.

"Are you telling me that I have not?"

He drew a breath.

"Are you in love with the fellow?"

A tiny smile appeared fleetingly upon her lips.

"With Sholto?  Oh, Dela garde, really!"

Relief made him want to laugh out, but he bit it back, saying with a faintly
mocking air,

"I am glad that your heart is not broken."

Maidie made a queer little noise, like a gasping sob, and put a hand to her
mouth.  She regained control swiftly, seizing her wineglass and sipping at
its contents with dedicated concentration.

Dela garde caught it all with a growing feeling of dismay.  He stared at her,
wondering whether or not to voice  the thought in his mind.  But he found
that he could not.  She was in love!

Hopelessly, it would seem.  If not with Lug ton, then with whom?  Not--surely
not with Wiveliscombe?  Tightness gripped his chest, and he dwelled with
savage satisfaction upon a vision of his hands about that gentleman's throat.

Just then Maidie looked at him again.

"Should we not be setting off?"

He agreed, glad of the distraction.  In the bustle of departure, he had no
leisure to think any further upon the hideous notion that had come to him.

But the phaeton was, soon bowling along, the road clearly visible under a
moonlit sky, and once he had assured himself that Maidie was wrapped up
warmly enough against the cold night air, he found his thoughts straying back.

Maidie would not by any means be the first female to have fallen for
Wiveliscombe's charms.  His amours were notoriously successful.  Dela garde
remembered, with uncomfortable clarity, Maidie's expression when they had
that first argument over him.  He had suspected then that she more than half
liked the fellow.  An unpleasant possibility occurred to him: perhaps she had
not been throwing down the gauntlet when she became entangled in that
engagement.  It had been obvious to him both that Wiveliscombe was only too
delighted to be rescued from the betrothal, and that it had been Maidie who
had engineered it.  He would not put it past her to defy convention and ask
the gentleman to marry her!  What he had not supposed, and now began to fear
may well have been the case, was that she had done it because she had formed
an attachment to Wiveliscombe.  She was far too intelligent not to have
recognised his reluctance--which would account for her present depression of
spirits.  Had she taken Lug ton because she felt her case to be hopeless?

He glanced down at Maidie by his side, and discovered  that she had fallen
asleep.  Her head had slipped forward, jogging uncomfortably.  Dela garde
transferred the reins to one hand, and gently shifted her head to rest
against his shoulder, pulling the hood more closely about her against the
wind.

By the time he stopped for the last change, it was nearly four in the
morning.  Samp ton was obliged to get down and go through the yard of the
posting-house to wake the ostlers in the stable.  Maidie's head had slipped
again, and Dela garde placed an arm about her, trying to make her more
comfortable.  Glancing up, he saw that the stars were out in force, and was
smitten with a sudden unbearable sense of loss.

In a moment, it was borne in upon him that Maidie was awake, and then that
she was crying.  His arm tightened about her involuntarily, and he dipped his
head to hers.

"Maidie, Maidie," he murmured softly.

"Don't weep... don't."

Without thinking what he was doing, he found her lips with his own and
mouthed them gently, tasting the salt of her tears.  Her lips moved under
his.  His blood warmed swiftly.  Her mouth was tender, trembling at his
touch.  He pressed her lips closer, and she answered.  Heat quickened within
him.  The kiss deepened, and the soft moan that escaped her throat drove him
to force her lips apart.  The touch of velvet there shot fire into his loins
and he groaned.

And then the sound of footsteps and the clatter of hooves penetrated his
absorption.  He felt Maidie struggle in his hold, and reluctantly broke away.
He glanced round to see his groom returning with a couple of ostlers and a
team of horses, and gave up the reins into his groom's hands for the change.

By the time he was at leisure to turn back to Maidie, she had huddled away
from him to the other side of the carriage seat, her face averted.

 Oh, good God!  What the devil had he done?  He had entirely forgotten her
distressed state of mind.  To take advantage of her vulnerability was the act
of a blackguard.  He toyed with the notion of making an apology, and decided
that she had been upset enough.  What explanation could he give?

Scarcely, under the circumstances, that he could not resist her!  When the
phaeton was underway again, he initiated a light discussion about the stars,
which in no way reflected his own state of mind, but which lasted until they
arrived back in Charles Street.

The household had been roused upon instructions Lady Hester had given before
she had retired.  In fact neither she nor the Worm, as they had told Maidie,
had been able to do more than doze lightly now and then.  Maidie had
dissolved into tears again at their concern, and had sobbed out her story and
apologies while she was whisked to her room and put to bed.

Before exhaustion claimed her, she knew herself to be forgiven.

Unsurprisingly, when she woke at last next day, the hour was considerably
advanced.

She learned, as Trixie helped her to dress, that Lady Hester and Miss Wormley
had risen some time ago and had given directions that Maidie was not to be
disturbed.  Both ladies, it appeared, had gone out for a drive in the park,
information which Maidie received with equanimity.  Trixie's next piece of
news was less welcome.

"His lordship give me his orders, too, m'lady."

"Oh?"  said Maidie, with less nonchalance than she felt.  "What were they?"

"He's waiting to see you as soon as ever you've breakfasted."  i This
disclosure effectively killed Maidie's appetite.  She ^ felt quite sick,
wondering what Dela garde could have to |  say to her that he had not said
last night.  The memory of events added nothing to her comfort.

The depression of spirits that had gradually crept over her during her
abortive elopement had worsened with the intervention of Dela garde.  If he
had only thundered at her, she might have revived.  Useless to pretend that
she had not expected--even hoped?  --for his chasing after her to fetch her
back.  Indeed, she had pictured a very different scene--one in which
Dela garde's indignation was a demonstration of a warmer feeling towards her
than she knew him to harbour.  He had not been in the least indignant!

Indeed, he had conducted himself quite as if he was indifferent to her
fate--so long as he had carried out what he conceived to be his duty.

Maidie could feel resentment now, when the protestations of Lady Hester and
the lamentations of the Worm had shown her what behaviour was to be expected
from those who did care what happened to her.  And then that hateful, that
exquisite kiss.  How could he do it?  Was it to make her realise that her
escapade had in no way jeopardised his plans?  Then, having reduced her to a
quivering jelly, all he could find to talk about was the subject of
astronomy.  For once in her life, the heavens had been the last thing Maidie
had wanted to discuss.  If she was not so very much in love with Dela garde,
she might have hated him for that!

"What constellations can you direct me to tonight?"  he had asked, as lightly
as if she had not eloped at all.

Fortunately, it was second nature to her to pick something out merely by
glancing at the heavens.  With spring approaching, the Great Bear was rising
high overhead, and Maidie had rather listlessly begun there.

Dela garde knew that one, as most people must, and she had led him star by
star down to the brightly glowing Arcturus.

 "Do you know every one by heart?"  he had asked, on a note of awe.

"Hardly.  There are millions, and some too far distant and thus too small to
be worthy of note.  One learns to find a path about the celestial map by star
pointers, though it is the shapes of the constellations and the brightest
stars that guide the way."

Dela garde had let out a laugh.

"You have it all so pat."

"I have been doing it since I was eight."

For some reason, he had remained silent for several moments after that.

Maidie had felt herself tensing up again, and sought at random for some
innocuous remark lest she again gave way to her overwhelming emotions.  She
found one.

"The eastern astronomers say that they can foretell the future by the stars."

She thought Dela garde started.  But he answered readily enough,

"So I believe."  She felt him move beside her, and turned her head to find
him looking down at her, his face a pale oval in the gloom.

"Can you?  Foretell the future, I mean."

She met his eyes briefly and quickly turned away.

"How should I be able to?"

"I thought you might hazard a guess at mine," he said lightly.

"What do the stars foretell for me, Maidie?"

Maidie had been unable to answer.  After a while, he had laughed, a harsh
sound in the night.  To her relief, they had arrived back at Charles Street a
short time later.

She approached with trepidation the saloon where she had been told he was
awaiting her, and steeled herself to withstand the promptings of her own
heart which might give her away.  Softly opening the door, she entered and
saw him standing at the window looking out, his back to the room.

Something in his stance recalled that very first day when he had been bemused
by her coming and unable  to concentrate for his morning head.  It was a
wistful memory, for she had been heart whole then.

Dela garde must have felt her presence, for he turned sharply.  He was pale,
she thought.  From lack of sleep?  He seemed older somehow, his voice and
manner overly formal.  Maidie felt distanced.

"I trust you are rested?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Thank you for coming."  He moved into the room and gestured towards a chair.

"Sit down."

She took the chair to one side of the fireplace, and De- la garde seated
himself on the little sofa opposite.  There was silence for a moment or two.
Dela garde crossed one shapely leg over the other and contemplated his boot.
Maidie surveyed the gilt over mantel with intense interest.

"Devil take it, this is absurd!"  burst from him suddenly.

He got up and took a hasty turn about the room.  Maidie watched him.  He
caught her eye, and sat down again, leaning forward slightly.

"Maidie, I have thought and thought about all this.  Have I been too
restrictive?"  He looked away.

"Why do I ask you?  Of course I have!"

Maidie forced herself to speak, but she could not conceal the gruffness in
her voice.

"I know that you have only had my interests at heart."

"I wish that were true," he said involuntarily.

She cast her wide-eyed gaze upon him.

"Haven't you?"

"No--yes!  At least, I--' He broke off, drew a hasty breath, and began again.

"All I wanted to say to you was that I withdraw my objections.  You have been
right all along.  It is no concern of mine.  You can be the only judge of
what will suit you.  Marry whomever you wish!"

Chapter Eleven Q^z^ps^Q JVlaidie gazed at him.  Of what possible use was it
to tell her to marry whomever she wished?  She had run away with Sholto Lug
ton because she could not bear the thought of marriage with the only man whom
she did wish to wed.  At least not the kind of marriage she had believed he
wanted.  Now it appeared that he did not wish for a union with her at all!

"If you mean that, why did you stop my elopement?"  she demanded, out of the
despair that rushed in on her.

Dela garde threw up his hands.

"It was your elopement that made me realise how wrong I had been.  I cannot
be sorry that I interfered, if you are not in love with Lug ton."  He paused,
looked away briefly, and back again.

"I

only hope your fancy has alighted will alight on someone worthy.  "

Maidie clasped her fingers tightly together in her lap, and did not look at
him.  Her voice was low.

"I have no fancy."

There was a pause.  Then Dela garde's voice came again, harsh.

"I don't believe you."

Her head came up.

"Why should I lie?"  she demanded  in a stronger voice.

"And why would I elope with one man if I were in love--had a fancy for
another?"

"Perhaps because he had not a fancy for you," Dela garde answered deliberately.

She flinched, and he thought again, with venom, of Wiveliscombe.  Maidie got
up, and he automatically rose as well.  She looked at him, and the hurt in
her eyes pierced him.

"If you really mean to leave me free to make a choice, I am glad of it, and
must thank you.  I am sorry to have given you so much trouble."

Dela garde stopped her as she reached the door.

"There is one more thing."

Maidie turned.

"Yes?"

He appeared to have difficulty in meeting her eyes.

"I forgot myself last night.  I should not have--' He broke off, glanced at
her and away again.

"Another accident?"  Maidie suggested.

"Oh, the devil!"  He swept to the window, and spoke without turning.

"Accept my apologies."

Maidie said nothing.  She waited a moment, but he did not speak.  There
seemed nothing more to say.  As Maidie passed through the door, she thought
she heard him call her name.  If he had, she ignored it.  She could bear no
more.

By the time she next emerged from the seclusion of her bedchamber, an hour or
so later, the elder ladies had returned and Dela garde had evidently gone out.
She invited Lady Hester and Miss Wormley to congratulate her on having won
the withdrawal of Dela garde's opposition.  "I beg your pardon?"

said Lady Hester blankly.  "Dela garde has said I may marry whomever I
please," Maidie repeated stonily, moving to stand before the fireplace.

 Her duenna, seated as usual next to Lady Hester on the little sofa from
where Dela garde had announced his change of mind, looked at that lady, and
then back at Maidie, clearly unable to decide whether this was to be regarded
as good news.

"Well, that is--that is very well done of him," she twittered.

"I think.  Do you agree.  Lady Hester?"

"My dear Ida, it entirely depends upon his motive."  Her brows rose at Maidie.

"Did he give one?"

"He says that my elopement made him realise that he was wrong, and that he
hopes my fancy has alighted upon someone worthy," Maidie reported evenly.

"Ah, I see," said the elder lady, and Maidie stiffened as she saw the
twinkle.  Lady Hester put up a restraining hand.  "Don't poker up!  You did
not, I do sincerely trust, give him to understand that your affections are
engaged."

Maidie whisked restlessly away.

"He guessed it--I think.  I denied it--or I think I did."  She turned to look
back at them.

"He said he did not believe me."  She frowned direfully at Lady Hester.

"Is that funny?"

"It is delightful!"  But the elder lady muffled her amusement and rose to
come and put an arm about her young friend's shoulders.

"Come, dear child, don't look daggers at me.  Save them for Laurie.  I
declare, I have a very good mind to box his ears for him!"

Mystified, Maidie opened her eyes at Lady Hester.

"I cannot think what you would be at."

"I know, but never mind.  When you are my age, you will have the same
privilege of laughing at the blind folly of your fellows."  She kissed
Maidie's cheek.

"Would you care for some advice?"

"Very much indeed," said Maidie sighing.

Lady Hester gave her a hug and let her go.

"Abandon these die-away airs, my dear, and bury yourself in that  hobby you
love so much.  Leave your future to take care of itself, and the right man
will very soon find you out."

It was sound sense, and Maidie resolved to do her best to carry out the first
part of this programme at least.  For Lady Hester's sake, if-nothing else.
She had not thought how poor a companion she must be, wearing her heart on
her sleeve in this melancholy fashion.  Besides, it was a foolish waste of
time and energy, moping about after a man who plainly did not return her
affection.  Great-uncle would have heartily disapproved.

Besides, it was important not to appear in the least conscious tonight, for
their engagement was at the Shuriand house in Hanover Square.  One of the
reasons Maidie had chosen to elope the previous day was in the hopes of
avoiding the necessity of attending this event.  But this was now inevitable,
and she could only hope that Eustace and Adela would have too much to do to
trouble her.

So it proved, although she was frequently aware of Eustace watching her.

But Maidie was hard put to carry out the rest of Lady Hester's advice, for
her suitors were as assiduous as ever.  Even Sholto Lug ton came up to her,
with a sheepish grimace.

Under cover of some idle chatter, he whispered,

"Lord Dela garde has just told me I should appear to favour you still, so that
no one may suspect anything."

She thanked him, casting an involuntary glance about for the Viscount.  She
could not see him, and suppressed a sense of disappointment at his failing to
intervene in her affairs.  He had promised he would not, and she had besides
refrained from going apart with any of her attendant cicisbeos.

She had no desire to be tete-a-tete with any of them, and was unable now to
imagine how she had ever contemplated matrimony even with the amusing
Wiveliscombe.  As well, perhaps.  There were new faces, but although Hamp
ford, Bulkeley and the Rank mis ton son had not  given up, Wiveliscombe was
conspicuously absent from her circle.

A fact which Dela garde had noted with scarcely veiled satisfaction.

"Better a wounded heart, than a lifetime of slights and betrayal."

"What was that, old fellow?"  asked Corringham.

Lord Riseley snorted.

"Muttering again, is he?"  He moved to stand by Dela garde, laying a hand on
his shoulder.

"No use glowering at them, dear boy.  Either you forbid the banns, or you
leave her be."

Dela garde turned his head.

"I have given my word, Peter."

"I know you have," said his friend, shaking his head.  "Stupid thing to do,
if you ask me.  Only look at the collection of riffraff she has about her!"

"Thank you, I have seen them," Dela garde said shortly.  "And you are adding
nothing to my comfort."

"Well, what in Hades possessed you to back down, old fellow?"  protested
Corringham reasonably.

Dela garde had no reply to make to this, but Riseley answered for him.

"Taken leave of his senses!"  He laughed.

"Mind you, I've a notion he did that a few weeks back."

"What the devil do you mean, Peter?"

Riseley clapped Dela garde on the back.

"Never mind!"  He grinned.

"Lay you odds she takes the Rank mis ton boy."

"Oliver?"  uttered the Viscount scoffingly.

"She will not.  If for no other reason than that she can't wish for that old
cat as a mother-in-law."

"There is something in that," Corringham conceded.

"For my money, it will be Hampfbrd."

Dela garde uttered a short laugh.

"Are you mad?  Maidie can't abide him!  He was out of the running at the
start."

"Well, she can't take Bulkeley, that is sure," Corringham argued.

"So who else is there?"

 Dela garde caught a glance exchanged between his two friends, and frowned.

"What are you two at?  There are plenty of prospects.  She does not have to
choose among these."

"No, no," agreed Corringham soothingly.

"She might meet anyone at any time.  There's no saying."

Riseley let out another snort.

"Oh, isn't there, by God!  She don't need to meet anyone new.  What about
Wiveliscombe?"

Dela garde's breath shortened.  He glared at his friend.  "What about
Wiveliscombe?"

"Well, look at it, dear boy.  Fellow has to settle down some time.  May as
well do so with someone who can provide him with the ready."

"He has a point, Laurie," Corringham agreed.

"The fellow seems deucedly attractive to the fair sex."

"Oh yes, devil of a fellow!  Tell you what, Laurie.  If I were one of your
Maidie's court, I'd snap her up sharpish--before Wiveliscombe gets to
thinking too deeply about letting her slip through his fingers."

It had been difficult enough to stand aside while Maidie basked in the
adulation of as ineligible a set of potential marriage partners as one could
imagine.  After this hideous conversation, it was well-nigh impossible.
Dela garde found himself disinclined to linger in the company of his friends,
and curtly excused himself, withdrawing to a more secluded vantage point from
where he could watch who approached Maidie.  If that abominable reprobate
dared to go anywhere near her, there would be nothing for it but to break his
word!

To his relief, Wiveliscombe kept his distance.  But he was no better pleased
to see Eustace Silsoe move in and take Maidie aside for a moment or two.  He
was half inclined to go across and rescue her, but he had done so in  the
past, and the results were not happy.  She would do better without his
intervention.

But Maidie was never more sorry that Dela garde had withdrawn his protection.

"Now, how have you persuaded your scrupulous champion to relax his officious
guardianship, my dear Maidie?"

She lifted her chin, determined that Eustace should not guess her state of
mind.

"There was no persuasion.  He has merely recognised that I am capable of
judging for myself."

The feline smile appeared.

"But how very clever of him!"

A wisp of disquiet flitted through Maidie's heart.

"Why do you say that?"

"Your naively never ceases to amaze me," said Eustace, laughing gently.

"I

suppose it is one of the drawbacks of being yourself so very frank.  You are
the easiest of dupes, Maidie.  "

Resentment burgeoned within her.  She might be a novice in the fashionable
world, but she knew Dela garde--or at least, she had thought she knew him.

Unease stirred again.

"How am I duped?"  she asked forthrightly.

Eustace leaned closer that his words would reach her ears alone.

"You have been lulled into a false sense of security.  It is a good ploy, but
an obvious one.  Dela garde's recognition has more to do with your rebellious
spirit than your judgement, I fear."

"How so?"  asked Maidie, but recalling her many quarrels with the Viscount,
his words had an ominous ring of truth.

"He sees that the more he intervenes, the readier you will be to throw
yourself into matrimony--however unsuitable the match.  He steps back, and
you desist."  Eustace drew away and smiled again, though his voice was cold.
"Dela garde must be congratulating himself on the success  of his tactics.
Your conduct tonight has been most prudent.  You are all unsuspecting,
Maidie.  He may pounce at his leisure."

Seated on her stool -before the telescope, her eye to the piece, Maidie
shifted the stem in a slow but comprehensive sweep until she found her
marker.  If her calculations were correct, the comet should be at a point
within inches of this spot.  The mapped-out path was on the open chart on the
whatnot at her side, and she came away momentarily to check exactly where the
comet last had been.

It was nearly three in the morning, and she had abandoned any attempt to
sleep.  Recalling Lady Hester's advice, Maidie rose out of her bed, dragged
on her dressing- robe, and set about star-gazing in earnest.  She must do
something to distract her mind!  Anything to unburden herself of the
incoherent mutterings of her heart.  All the fault of that hateful Eustace,
with his insidious murmurings.

If the exercise of comet chasing did not quite banish the distressing effects
of the thoughts Eustace had set in motion, the meticulous nature of the task
of recording her findings proved sufficiently engrossing to dull them.  She
checked through the eyepiece again.  Yes, there it was!  Precisely where her
amended calculations, made after the visit with Sir Granville, had predicted.
She drew up the circle that was created by the telescopic frame, and began
to chart in the pattern of stars that would fix the comet's current location.

Her concentration intensified, for she had to check, come away to draw, and
check again, several times over.  Great-uncle Reginald had been strict about
the necessity for accuracy.  He would not accept shoddy work, and doing tasks
over again had taught Maidie to be meticulous.

The click of the door latch did not penetrate her absorption.  Dela garde
stood for several moments in the door way, watching her in silence.  Sleep
had proved elusive, and he had been walking the corridors.  Was it mere
accident that he found himself outside her bedchamber door?  He did not think
so.  Stealthy sounds from within had told him that she was also awake.  He
had not knocked.  He had not meant to disturb her at all.  He'd had no notion
of coming in!  Yet here he was, and the sight of her stargazing caught at him
with unbearable poignancy.

Dela garde felt shut out, and the desire to be part of it, to be one with her
obsession, possessed him to the exclusion of discretion or forethought.

He moved softly forward.

Maidie felt him as a presence only seconds before he reached her.  She turned
her head on a gasp, saw him, and would have cried out.  But Dela garde slipped
so swiftly on to the stool behind her, his arms encircling her body, and the
fingers of one hand pressing silence on her lips, that the cry died in her
throat.

"Hush!  It is only I," came the whisper directly into her ear, and the lips
there brushed at her cheek and her hair, his chin snuggling into her neck.

Maidie did not know that her hands were clasping tightly to his arms, for the
shock had been so instantly overlaid with sensation that she was powerless to
think, let alone consider her own actions.  Warmth enveloped her everywhere
his body touched with hers: at her back, at her upper limbs, and within
seconds at her breasts as his tight hold loosened enough that he could cup
one heavy softness in his hand.

"Maidie, Maidie... God, my Maidie!"  he groaned beneath his breath, and the
fingers at her mouth moved to turn her head so he might find her lips with
his own.

Flame coursed through her as the soft mouthing pressed her lips apart and
Dela garde tasted deeply of the wine within.  Maidie's hands nailed wildly,
and then gripped down either side, seizing on his limbs for purchase.  De
la garde moaned at her touch, and instinct sent her fingers rippling down the
hard flesh of his thighs.  He kissed her deeper still, and his own hands
moved: one to press her womb, pulling her hard against him, the other to drag
away the bulk of her dressing-robe, that he might caress the inner softness
of her thigh through the thin silk of her nightgown.

Afire, clutching helplessly wherever her fingers rested, Maidie came from his
kiss to gasp in air, and frenzied, unable to help herself, as he nuzzled into
her shoulder, she sought desperately with her lips for his again, kissing
across the hard line of his jaw, and murmuring his name.

"Laurie.-oh, Laurie!"

His hold tightened, strengthened by a deep sense of intimacy engendered by
her use of his name.  He answered her need, and for some moments the kiss
became all.  She twisted a little in his hold, and her fingers came up,
seizing at his face, twisting and turning in his hair, as the fierce
intensity of his passion burned into her bones.

Dela garde released her mouth, and she fell limply against him, weak and
quivering with the aftermath of this wild assault.  But there was no
diminution of his feverish pursuit.  While his lips tantalised at her neck
and shoulder, his hands went down, and his fingers moved to draw away the
silken folds, all that lay between his tempestuous desires and the intimate
lair of their fulfilment.

"Shall I keep you, Maidie?"  he murmured darkly into the ardour of her dreams.

"Shall I make you mine?"

The words grazed the contours of her clouded mind, but his fingers, streaking
across the flesh he was laying bare, spoke louder.  The stark flash of sanity
threw her hand into uncontrollable reflex.  She seized on his larger one with
vicious force, halting it dead.  Every muscle in her body strained to rock
hard power, and Dela garde froze.

"Stop!"  It was guttural, and tense.

"Get away from me!"

 Shock sobered him, and he shifted slightly, creating space enough to enable
Maidie to slip from his hold.  She stood up, whirled, and backed away from
him, clutching at the edge of one French door.

With dawning horror, Dela garde watched the concealing folds of her
disarranged garments falling back into place, and faced the hideous
recognition of what he had so nearly done.  He got up slowly from the stool,
his gaze on the livid pallor of her starlit features, the enormous depths of
her haunted eyes.  He had no words.

His hand came up in a gesture not yet formed, and was halted by the quick
shake of her head.

"Go!"  It was a plea, breathless and deathly still.

"Leave me--pray."

In that instant it came to Dela garde that in all the world there was nothing
she could have asked of him that he wanted less to do.  But that very
knowledge commanded him.  One last glance, searing him to the core, and he
turned from her, and departed.

It was long before Maidie slept.  She did not weep, for it was a despair too
deep for tears.  Painstakingly, she went through the routine to put aside her
work and to close up the telescope.  Shutting the French windows, she
prepared herself again for bed, and lay staring sightlessly into the dark.

It was a heavy thing to have one's faith shattered.  In the man one loved, it
was almost too great a burden to be borne.  She knew now that, despite
everything, she had never truly believed in the slanders of Eustace Silsoe.
To have them proved, and in a manner that had torn down her de fences, laying
her soul bare for Dela garde to read, was a blow from which she would not
readily recover.  She had given her heart to a cheat!

She must have slept at last, she realised, for she woke to a sunlit dawn that
crept in through the gaps in the curtains that she had improperly shut about
her bed.  Groaning at the heaviness of her head, she turned back into her
pillows and tried to recapture sleep.  It would not come.

At length Maidie grew too frustrated to remain in bed.  Throwing aside the
bed-curtains, she got up and rang for her maid, and then stood staring
blankly at the empty stool before the shut-up telescope, vainly trying to
make herself believe that the entire episode was a figment of her fevered
imagination.  The betraying kindle at her loins belied her, and she wished
fervently that she had never conceived that ludicrous scheme to foil Adela's
plans.  At this distance in time and events, it appeared to her the madness
that Dela garde had called it.  Would that he had not allowed Lady Hester to
overbear his rejection!

Trixie's entrance gave her occupation to keep the thoughts at bay, and
tidings that threw her into considerable disorder.

"Early, m'lady?"  she said, upon Maidie's apologising for calling her at such
an hour.

"Why, bless you.  Miss Maidie, what are you thinking of?"

"Well, it is barely past dawn, Trixie."

The maid trilled with laughter, and went to fling aside the heavy drapes.

"It ain't dawn, not by a long way.  Look!  It's after noon."

"After noon?"  Hastening to the French windows, Maidie stared aghast.  The
sun was indeed high overhead.

"Oh, Trixie, no!  Why did you not wake me?"

"I would have, m'lady, only his lordship ups and tells me on no account to
disturb you."

"His lordship?"  repeated Maidie faintly.

"And," added Trixie, with round-eyed emphasis, 'if he ain't gone and said the
same to her ladyship and Miss Wormley both!

"Don't you trouble the wench," says he.

 "I happen to know," says he, "as she ain't slept nowise well last night."
" " What?  " squeaked Maidie.

"Yes, miss," nodded the girl fervently.

"Then his lordship comes right out and says as you didn't get no sleep in his
carriage tother night to speak of when he fetched you back from running off
to Gretna, and losing sleep two nights in a row ain't good for you, and I
don't know what more besides.  Then her ladyship--' answering the startled
question in Maidie's own mind '--arst him how come he knows as you never
slept last night, and his lordship colours up something horrible!"

So indeed did Maidie upon receipt of this alarming information.  What in the
world was Lady Hester to think?  And the Worm would be scandalised!  How
could Dela garde be so mad?  Or was it merely carelessness?  No-- worse.  She
had responded to him with so much abandon that he must feel certain of
her--despite her belated but violent rejection.  Was he still determined to
pursue his design to woo her into marriage?  Of course he was!  The words he
had whispered, that had only touched her consciousness last night, came back
to her with startling clarity.  Shall I keep you?  Then he had only pretended
to let her go!  Shall I make you mine?  What, seduce her into submission?
Oh, so sure of her as he was, he did not scruple to speak so openly before
the household.

Maidie quivered with consciousness.  She could not face the inevitable
questions.  How would she reply?  How speak to her hostess of her
great-nephew with the disparagement that she must use?  Could she bear to
disillusion Lady hester as she had been stripped of illusion?  Not after
her kind affection.  And there was no confiding in the Worm.  Not any more.

For the two had become such bosom friends that it was but a short whisper
from the ears of the Worm to those of Lady Hester.  She could not see either
of them  until she had better command of her emotions.  Yet she knew not how
to avoid them.

Providence intervened, in the guise of an unexpected letter among the pile of
correspondence that Trixie had brought in.  For want of anything else to do,
while she waited for her maid to fetch up some sort of light refreshment for
her from the kitchens, she flipped disinterestedly through the several
invitations and a few tradesmen's accounts.  Then she came across the sealed
missive and picked it up.

The handwriting was unknown to her.  Faintly intrigued, she broke the seal
and unfolded the letter.  It was from one of the assistants at the Royal
Observatory, extending a flattering invitation from the Astronomer Royal
himself--who had heard of her through the instrumentation of Sir Granville
Wilberfoss--to visit at Greenwich.  He had been acquainted with her
great-uncle Reginald, and he looked forward to meeting her.  A few weeks
earlier such a letter would have thrown Maidie into transports.  As it was,
she read in it only a hope of salvation as she took in that the invitation
was for that day.

A carriage would call for her at two o'clock, trusting that it was
convenient.  If not, she had only to send a note with the coachman and the
visit would be rearranged for another occasion.

Maidie fairly leapt at Trixie the instant she returned, demanding to know the
precise time.  Discovering that it was but twenty minutes to the appointed
hour, Maidie began quickly to eat.  She learned, upon inquiry, that Lady
Hester and the Worm were in the green saloon, and that Dela garde was out.
Relieved, Maidie directed Trixie to go down and ask Lo wick to send to her
bedchamber immediately upon arrival of the chaise.

She wrote a brief note for Lady Hester and, placing it with the letter, told
Trixie to deliver it after she had left  the house.  When the footman tapped
on the door, Maidie was ready.  She slipped noiselessly down the three
flights of stairs, the footman in attendance, and was out of the house and
away in the carriage so thoughtfully provided before anyone other than the
servants even suspected that she had woken up.

Dela garde stared at the two letters in his hand, beset by a hideous feeling
of incapacity.  Something was not right, but the exact point eluded him.
Maidie's own note to Aunt he's had obviously been written in agitation--that
he could comprehend.  He had himself been conscious all day of a like
sensation.  That, and the obtrusive and unshakeable desire to experience it
all again--and more!  The impossibility of it had kept him away from Charles
Street until close upon the dinner hour.

Now he wished fervently that he had given in to temptation, and come home
sooner.  Soon enough to have prevented this ill-considered flight.  Flight?
A memory clicked into place.  He looked up.

"This must be a blind!"

"What can you mean, Laurie?"  demanded his aunt.

"I own I have been anxious myself, but--' " The Astronomer Royal is away,"
Dela garde broke in, the urgency that was rising up inside him finding
expression in the curtness of his tone.

"I saw it in the Morning Post the other day.  The paragraph caught my
eye--because of Maidie's obsession, I must suppose.  He is gone upon a matter
of business--to Italy, I believe."

Lady Hester was already rising from the little green- striped sofa,
consternation in her eyes.

"But that would indicate that--' " That the letter is a forgery!  " finished
Dela garde grimly.

"But who would write such a?"  -- She stopped, a dawning comprehension in her
countenance that made Dela garde's jawline harden.

"Eustace Silsoe!"

"My thought exactly."

Lady Hester came up to him, tightly grasping his arm.  "Laurie, you do not
suppose that Maidie herself has written it?  Is it yet another attempt at
escape?"

"From me, you mean," Dela garde said bitterly.  But he brought up the letters
again, intently surveying them both.  After a moment, he shook his head.

"It is not the same hand.  Even were one of them disguised, some slight
resemblance must have been discerned."

The saloon door opened, and Dela garde turned as one with Lady Hester.  The
sudden hope was instantly dispelled as Miss Wormley walked quickly into the
room.  She was holding out yet another sealed missive.

"This has just come for you.  Lord Dela garde.  I ventured to bring it, for--'
" Give it to me!  " He snatched it from her hand, breaking the seal with
fingers that were not quite steady, and spreading open the sheet.

"Dela garde--' the note abruptly ran '--I am gone to Scotland with the man I
truly love.  It is useless to attempt to follow me, for I am determined on
this course--Mary Hope."

The world spun briefly.  Unaware that the note fell from his hand, along with
the other two letters he had been holding, Dela garde swung to the window
embrasure, and stood there, supporting himself with a hand gripping one of
the straight-backed Chippendale chairs'.  In a moment the dizziness receded,
but it was succeeded by an emotion no less distressing.  A sensation of loss
so intense that Dela garde thought his heart must crack.

The man she truly loved!  Not then Eustace Silsoe, but Wiveliscombe!  And he
had driven her to this.  The memory of last night came back to him--a torment
then, an agony now!  How blind  he had been!  Even then, fool enough to
mistake his own heart.

"But this is not Maidie's hand!"

The Worm's voice, raised in shocked protest, penetrated his inward
absorption.  He turned to discover Aunt he's close behind him, an echo of his
own pain in her eyes.  He looked past her to where Miss Wormley stood,
peering closely at the note she had brought to him.  She looked up.

"My lord, I know this writing, for all she has attempted to pass it off as
Maidie's."

"She?"  said Lady Hester, echoing the question in Dela garde's mind as they
both moved swiftly back to the centre of the room.

"Lady Shurland--Adela," explained the Worm.

"It is her hand, I am sure of it."  She ventured to touch Dela garde's arm.

"And Maidie would never sign herself so, my lord.  Not to you."

The faintest of hopes began to struggle out of the black despair in
Dela garde's heart.

"No," he said slowly, taking the letter and staring at the signature, 'you
are right.  She would not.  " His eyes clouded again.

"But she is in love!"

"Lord save us!"  uttered Lady Hester in exasperated accents.

"Are you still so blinkered, Laurie?  Of course she is in love--with you!"

Dela garde's heart stopped.  He gazed at his great-aunt, poised between hope
and stupefaction.

"Oh, dear!"  broke from the Worm.

"Oh, dear Lady hester, pray, do you think?"

"Nonsense, Ida.  The matter is far too urgent for concealment now.  Besides,
cannot you see that Laurie has at last come to his senses?"

But Dela garde was still too dazed to be affected by the lurking twinkle.

"Aunt he's, don't trifle with me, I beg of you!  If this is the truth--' " My
dear boy, why in the world do you suppose she ran  off with Lug ton?
Because she believed you to be indifferent.  "

"Indifferent!  Good God, I was never that!  Only I did not realise--' He
broke off, suddenly regarding the letter again.

"This Adela would have us believe that Maidie has run off again to Gretna.
Only Lady Shurland cannot know that an attempt has already been frustrated.
Not even Maidie would be so idiotic twice in the same week!"

"Then Ida's fears have not been groundless," said Lady Hester, with an
unaccustomed grimness in her face.

"Eustace Silsoe has indeed kidnapped her, aided and abetted by Adela."

"Yes, for she would never have gone with him willingly," said the Worm,
anxiety spreading across her features.

"Pray, my lord, go after them!"

"You may be sure I will," said Dela garde, all the heat of his emotions
coiling into rage.

"But I am not going north this time.  A little too clever, these pretty
schemers."

"You think they are laying a false scent?"

"I am sure of it.  Aunt he's."

"But you will not go to Greenwich?"  objected Miss Wormley.

"I must begin on that route.  The coach must have gone some way towards
Greenwich or Maidie would suspect the cheat," Dela garde said, crossing to the
bell-pull and tugging it with violence.

"Gracious, yes!"  exclaimed Lady Hester.

"Besides, what need of his taking Maidie north?  They are both of age.  As
long as he has a special licence, he may wed her at any time."

"But she is not willing!"  protested the Worm despairingly.

"How could he persuade her to marry him?"

Dela garde's eyes burned, and his voice was roughened at the edges.

"Very easily.  If he succeeded in holding her somewhere for a day or two, she
would have no choice  but to wed him, for she would have not a shred of
reputation left,"

Both ladies gazed at him in horror.  Lady Hester sank on to the sofa, a
stricken look in her eyes.  Dela garde strode to the door, and turned.

"You need have no fear, either of you.  If Eustace Silsoe marries Maidie, it
will be over my dead body!"

Maidie trudged wearily into the yard of the Cross Keys inn in the village of
Charlton Wood.  The farm hand who had allowed her to ride in his cart had
assured her that she was now but four or five miles from Greenwich.  Mr To-
pham of the Cross Keys would, the lad was sure, help her to reach her goal,
and at Greenwich she was certain to be able to hire a conveyance to take her
back to London.

She was chilled, hungry and dishevelled, but the welcoming lights of the
Cross Keys put heart into her as she walked past the single vehicle standing
in the yard.  The glance she gave it was cursory.  But that single look swept
light into her heart.  A phaeton and four!  Surely she knew those horses?  An
ostler was at their heads, talking to a groom in livery, who turned at that
instant.

"Samp ton!"  cried Maidie joyfully.

"Lordy, miss, is it you?"  returned the groom, in equal delight.

"If that don't beat all!  We've been searching for you all over."

"Where is Lord Dela garde?"  she demanded eagerly, hardly aware of the instant
tattoo that flittered through her pulse.

"Inside, m'lady.  Asking after you!  Shall I fetch him?"

But Maidie was already halfway to the door of the inn, calling out,
breathless with need,

"Dela garde!  Dela garde!"

An exclamation sounded from within.  Then came hasty footsteps, and the
Viscount erupted from the doorway just as Maidie reached it.  He paused on
the threshold, stared  for several seconds-in a suspension of belief, and
then swept her up into a smothering embrace.

It was as if the shattering events of the day had blasted the barriers apart.
Maidie's despair of last night, and De- la garde's wicked scheme were alike
forgotten, dispelled by the balm of the passionate murmur in her ear.

"Maidie ... Maidie ... I thought you were lost to me!"

For some moments the violence ofDela garde's feelings made it impossible for
him to release her.  But at length he became aware of the sob in, her throat,
and his arms loosened so that he could look into her face.

"You are safe!  Good God, what you have put me through!"  He saw her tears,
and instantly reached up to brush them away.

"Don't weep, my dearest love."

The endearment only caused Maidie's tears to flow the faster.

"Oh, don't call me that!  You cannot mean it."

Dela garde grinned.

"Can I not?  We'll see that!"  He put an arm about her, and threw a command
over his shoulder to his groom.

"Stable them, Samp ton!

We will be dining here.  "

The next moments passed for Maidie like a dream.  De- la garde issued
instructions left and right as he drew her into the inn.  But in a very short
space of time she found herself alone with him in a little parlour, with the
door closed, and his dark eyes burning down into her own as he held her by
the shoulders, much too close for comfort.

"Of all the occasions on which I have wanted to strangle you, Maidie, I
believe this to be the worst!"

"Why should you wish to strangle me?"  Maidie demanded indignantly.

"If you strangle anyone, let it be Eustace!"

"That goes without saying," he said shortly, and shook her.

"But you--abominable little wretch!  Do you know what you have done to me?
You have turned my life up274 Misfit Maid but to wed him, for she would have
not a shred of reputation left."

Both ladies gazed at him in horror.  Lady Hester sank on to the sofa, a
stricken look in her eyes.  Dela garde strode to the door, and turned.

"You need have no fear, either of you.  If Eustace Silsoe marries Maidie, it
will be over my dead body!"

Maidie trudged wearily into the yard of the Cross Keys inn in the village of
Charlton Wood.  The farm hand who had allowed her to ride in his cart had
assured her that she was now but four or five miles from Greenwich.  Mr To-
pham of the Cross Keys would, the lad was sure, help her to reach her goal,
and at Greenwich she was certain to be able to hire a conveyance to take her
back to London.

She was chilled, hungry and dishevelled, but the welcoming lights of the
Cross Keys put heart into her as she walked past the single vehicle standing
in the yard.  The glance she gave it was cursory.  But that single look swept
light into her heart.  A phaeton and four!  Surely she knew those horses?  An
ostler was at their heads, talking to a groom in livery, who turned at that
instant.

"Samp ton!"  cried Maidie joyfully.

"Lordy, miss, is it you?"  returned the groom, in equal delight.

"If that don't beat all!  We've been searching for you all over."

"Where is Lord Dela garde?"  she demanded eagerly, hardly aware of the instant
tattoo that flittered through her pulse.

"Inside, m'lady.  Asking after you!  Shall I fetch him?"

But Maidie was already halfway to the door of the inn, calling out,
breathless with need,

"Dela garde!  Dela garde!"

An exclamation sounded from within.  Then came hasty footsteps, and the
Viscount erupted from the doorway just as Maidie reached it.  He paused on
the threshold, stared  for several seconds" in a suspension of belief, and
then swept her up into a smothering embrace.

It was as if the shattering events of the day had blasted the barriers apart.
Maidie's despair of last night, and De- la garde's wicked scheme were alike
forgotten, dispelled by the balm of the passionate murmur in her ear.

"Maidie... Maidie... I thought you were lost to me!"

For some moments the violence ofDela garde's feelings made it impossible for
him to release her.  But at length he became aware of the sob in, her throat,
and his arms loosened so that he could look into her face.

"You are safe!  Good God, what you have put me through!"  He saw her tears,
and instantly reached up to brush them away.

"Don't weep, my dearest love."

The endearment only caused Maidie's tears to flow the faster.

"Oh, don't call me that!  You cannot mean it."

Dela garde grinned.

"Can I not?  We'll see that!"  He put an arm about her, and threw a command
over his shoulder to his groom.

"Stable them, Samp ton!

We will be dining here.  "

The next moments passed for Maidie like a dream.  De- la garde issued
instructions left and right as he drew her into the inn.  But in a very short
space of time she found herself alone with him in a little parlour, with the
door closed, and his dark eyes burning down into her own as he held her by
the shoulders, much too close for comfort.

"Of all the occasions on which I have wanted to strangle you, Maidie, I
believe this to be the worst!"

"Why should you wish to strangle me?"  Maidie demanded indignantly.

"If you strangle anyone, let it be Eustace!"

"That goes without saying," he said shortly, and shook her.

"But you--abominable little wretch!  Do you know what you have done to me?
You have turned my life up274 Misfit Maid but to wed him, for she would have
not a shred of reputation left."

Both ladies gazed at him in horror.  Lady Hester sank on to the sofa, a
stricken look in her eyes.  Dela garde strode to the door, and turned.

"You need have no fear, either of you.  If Eustace Silsoe marries Maidie, it
will be over my dead body!"

Maidie trudged wearily into the yard of the Cross Keys inn in the village of
Charlton Wood.  The farm hand who had allowed her to ride in his cart had
assured her that she was now but four or five miles from Greenwich.  Mr To-
pham of the Cross Keys would, the lad was sure, help her to reach her goal,
and at Greenwich she was certain to be able to hire a conveyance to take her
back to London.

She was chilled, hungry and dishevelled, but the welcoming lights of the
Cross Keys put heart into her as she walked past the single vehicle standing
in the yard.  The glance she gave it was cursory.  But that single look swept
light into her heart.  A phaeton and four!  Surely she knew those horses?  An
ostler was at their heads, talking to a groom in livery, who turned at that
instant.

"Samp ton!"  cried Maidie joyfully.

"Lordy, miss, is it you?"  returned the groom, in equal delight.

"If that don't beat all!  We've been searching for you all over."

"Where is Lord Dela garde?"  she demanded eagerly, hardly aware of the instant
tattoo that flittered through her pulse.

"Inside, m'lady.  Asking after you!  Shall I fetch him?"

But Maidie was already halfway to the door of the inn, calling out,
breathless with need,

"Dela garde!  Dela garde!"

An exclamation sounded from within.  Then came hasty footsteps, and the
Viscount erupted from the doorway just as Maidie reached it.  He paused on
the threshold, stared  for several seconds in a suspension of belief, and
then swept her up into a smothering embrace.

It was as if the shattering events of the day had blasted the barriers apart.
Maidie's despair of last night, and De- la garde's wicked scheme were alike
forgotten, dispelled by the balm of the passionate murmur in her ear.

"Maidie.-.Maidie.-.I thought you were lost to me!"

For some moments the violence ofDela garde's feelings made it impossible for
him to release her.  But at length he became aware of the sob in her throat,
and his arms loosened so that he could look into her face.

"You are safe!  Good God, what you have put me through!"  He saw her tears,
and instantly reached up to brush them away.

"Don't weep, my dearest love."

The endearment only caused Maidie's tears to flow the faster.

"Oh, don't call me that!  You cannot mean it."

Dela garde grinned.

"Can I not?  We'll see that!"  He put an arm about her, and threw a command
over his shoulder to his groom.

"Stable them, Samp ton!

We will be dining here.  "

The next moments passed for Maidie like a dream.  De- la garde issued
instructions left and right as he drew her into the inn.  But in a very short
space of time she found herself alone with him in a little parlour, with the
door closed, and his dark eyes burning down into her own as he held her by
the shoulders, much too close for comfort.

"Of all the occasions on which I have wanted to strangle you, Maidie, I
believe this to be the worst!"

"Why should you wish to strangle me?"  Maidie demanded indignantly.

"If you strangle anyone, let it be Eustace!"

"That goes without saying," he said shortly, and shook her.

"But you--abominable little wretch!  Do you know what you have done to me?
You have turned my life up side-down, and you have made it impossible for me
to live without you!"

Maidie had been upon the point of retorting in kind, but this last utterance
wiped that response from her lips.  She gazed up at him, mute.

He read the shock in her eyes, and remembered the suspicion she had shown him.

"Why do you look at me like that?  Don't you believe me?"

"I don't know," Maidie said truthfully, her voice a trifle hoarse.

"You might make me believe anything--try to."

Dela garde released her, swept with instant hurt.

"Why?  Why should I do that?"

Maidie's heart sank at his tone, and she had all to do not to fling herself
back into his arms.  She must know the truth, she must.  She forced herself
to say it.

"To gain my trust.  If you had always meant to--to marry me.  For convenience
only."

"Whose convenience?"  he asked sardonically.

"Yours, or mine?"

"Both?"  Maidie ventured.

"You know that I meant to marry only to be spared further importunities.  Why
should you not make use of that?"  Suddenly the pent-up emotions of the last
few days broke free, and it all tumbled out.

"It is not as if you could wish me to be with you, to be a companion to you.
I am not a fit wife for a fashionable peer, I know that well enough.

But you need an heir.  My portion must be useful, though I acquit you of
outright fortune-hunting--' "I thank you!"

'--but it would be convenient, would it not--' hardly hearing his ironic
interruption '--to have a wife who wished only to be let alone to spend her
time stargazing?  Who would not importune you in any way, but let you alone
to continue in your present way of life, and--' "Let me tell you," Dela garde
broke in, his voice tight  with suppressed violence, 'that I am far more
likely to interfere with your star-gazing than to let you alone at it.
Nothing arouses me more than the way you look in starlight!  "

Maidie's lip trembled, and her heart hammered in her chest.

"I know--and you could so easily seduce me in those circumstances.  It is
what made me half believe what Eustace and Adela said."

Dela garde's face changed.

"They said it?  And you believed them!"

"It is of no use to look at me so hatefully, Dela garde," Maidie uttered
forcefully.

"I tried not to believe it, but everything you said to me--everything you
did--' " Made you suspect me all the more?  "

"Yes," she admitted.

"I felt that you wanted me--' " Desperately, God help me!  "

'--but you gave no sign that you felt--that there was anything more than
that.  "

"Because I did not know it myself!"  He seized hold of her again.

"Maidie, I did not want to love you!  It has happened entirely against my
will--which is why I have refused to recognise it.  You drive me demented!"
He laughed suddenly, and pulled her closer.

"And I know very well that I have much the same effect on you.  As for
this--' With which, his lips came down on hers in a kiss so intense that
Maidie half-swooned in his arms.  But as he came away and loosened his hold,
she threw her own arms up around his neck and kissed him back.  Dela garde
dragged her hungrily against him, exchanging with her a deep caress that
drove fire down his loins.  He felt Maidie's response, and groaned his
despair, for he knew he must stop before fulfilment.

Maidie's skin was flaming where his body met hers, her pulse rioting wildly,
her limbs crushing tightly against De la garde's.  She sagged when he put her
firmly away from him, holding her at arm's length.

"Will you marry me, wretch?"  he demanded gutturally.

"For love alone?"

"Devil take it, do you doubt me still?"

"But, Dela garde, I am so very much not the wife for you."

"Which is all the proof you need, simpleton," he said smilingly as he dragged
her close again.

"You cannot suppose there is any inducement other than love which could
persuade me to make such a sacrifice!"

Maidie dissolved into giggles.

"Nor I, indeed, for I had no mind to give myself to so temperamental a
creature as you.  As well marry a bear!"

Dela garde laughed, and kissed her again, deeply.

"God!"  he groaned, with difficulty withdrawing his mouth from hers.

"You need not imagine I will wait for the marriage bed--of that I warn you
now."

"Is it eccentric in me to answer that I do not wish you to wait?"  Maidie
asked breathlessly.

"Delightfully eccentric," Dela garde murmured against her mouth.

"And I will take that for a yes."  He brushed her lips in a way that left her
weak, adding,

"Not that it matters, for you are going to marry me, if I have to drag you to
the altar."

Maidie was in no condition to reply to this, for her lips were otherwise
engaged, and her bones threatened to abandon the struggle to hold her up.

But at length Dela garde finally disengaged himself, declaring that if he was
not to take her there and then--and if, moreover, they were to get any
dinner!  --they must restrain themselves for a time.

In very short order, Maidie found herself in a bedchamber, with the landlady
pouring hot water from a jug into a basin, and hovering with an offer of
combs and brushes.  Maidie did what she might to tidy herself from the
further  dishevelment caused by Dela garde's assaults.  The cool water did
much to revive her, and she began to have leisure to reflect on the
extraordinary coincidence that had brought Dela garde to this place at just
the right moment.

Back in the private parlour, she discovered that covers had been laid for
them, together with a number of interesting silver dishes awaiting their
pleasure.  Joining Dela garde at the table, Maidie realised that it was many
hours since she had eaten.  As they consumed a light repast, she gave him an
account of her escape.

Eustace's advent had been the most dreadful shock.  Upon the carriage
entering Greenwich, it had begun to slow down.  Looking from the let-down
window, Maidie had seen the signpost, expecting the Royal Observatory to come
presently into view.  Instead, the coach had paused by the village green.
The door had opened, and Eustace Silsoe had leapt into the coach, which had
started up again immediately, and had gained a furious pace before Maidie had
been able to gather her wits.

"He made no secret of his intentions," she told Dela garde.

"He meant to take me back to East Dean.  He has a small house about fifteen
miles from the Shurland home."

"He meant to hold you there?"

"Yes, for he planned for us to be married quite respectably in the East Dean
parish.  There is a new incumbent in the rectory, who is in a string with
Firm in."

"The rectory is in Shurland's gift?"

"Exactly.  But I had no mind to fall in with his scheme."  She perceived that
Dela garde was looking murderous, and her heart leapt.

"Why do you look like that?"

"Because I would like to kill him!"  Dela garde announced fiercely.

"He may count himself fortunate that you have prevented me from coming up
with him--tonight, in any event."

"What do you mean to do?"  Maidie asked, a throb of emotion in her breast.
It was a heady sensation to discover that the man one loved was intent upon
avenging one's honour!

Dela garde's eyes narrowed, and he sipped his wine.  "That need not concern
you.  Tell me how you got away."

"But it does concern me, Laurie," Maidie protested.

"I do not want--' " Maidie," he warned, 'don't imagine that my partiality
will prevent me from quarrelling with you!  Will you have the goodness to
answer my question?"

Maidie twinkled with sudden merriment.

"I hit Eustace on the head with my reticule, and he fell unconscious."

"Your reticule?"  scoffed Dela garde.

"Don't be stupid.  Tell me the truth at once!"

"It is the truth.  Only you see, I had my hand telescope inside it.  I had
taken it with me, for I wanted to ask for some advice about replacing it."

She saw that Dela garde was looking sceptical, and took up the reticule that
she had laid beside her on the table.  She handed it across to him.

"See for yourself."

Dela garde took it, opened it, and brought out a squat brass tube that readily
telescoped out.  He closed it again, and glanced across at her, one eyebrow
raised.

"I begin almost to feel sorry for the fellow!  Where did you perpetrate this
daring escape?"

"Just past Lewis ham," Maidie answered.  I saw a lad with a cart going the
opposite way, and seized the opportunity.  I hit Eustace, and jumped out of
the coach, and then bribed the farm boy to take me up.  He was but the first
of three, who brought me by stages to this place.  "

She might have kept to the main post road, but she believed that Eustace,
once he regained consciousness, would scour for her on that route.  He would
hardly guess that she would return by a circuitous way to Greenwich.

"And you would not have met me so fortuitously," De la garde pointed out.

"I had been asking for you at every inn in every village round about
Greenwich for the past hour and more, only to try to discover which way he
had taken you."  He told her about the letter that Adela must have forged,
and explained why he had opted for Greenwich

Maidie eyed him a little uncertainly.

"Did you believe that I had run away with Eustace?"

"No, I thought you had run away with Wiveliscombe."

Maidie stared.

"How came you to think of him?"

Dela garde took a painful breath, as the memory of that hideous suspicion
returned.

"I believed that you were in love with him."

"With Wiveliscombe?  Oh; no!"

"Is it any more ridiculous than the suspicions you have harboured of me?"

he demanded.  He eyed her bodingly.  "By the by, Maidie, do you know what
strikes me?"

"No, what?"

"There is one thing you have not said.  I have said it, more than once.  But
you.  Lady Mary Hope, have not."

Maidie opened her eyes at him.

"But what is it?"

Dela garde rose from his chair and went around the table.  Catching her hands,
he pulled her up, holding her so.

"In all this tender talk, you have not once mentioned your own
feelings--about me."

"But you know how I feel," Maidie protested, colouring up.

"Do I, Indeed?  Allow me to point out to you that I am no mind reader."

"You wish me to say it?"

"No, I wish you to fly to the moon!"  Dela garde snapped.  "Of course I wish
you to say it, simpleton!  And you had better, with frequency and tenderness,
if you know what is good for you."

 Maidie gazed at him wide-eyed.

"Is this your idea of love talk?"

"No.  It is my idea of bringing you to heel."  He shook her.

"The devil take you, wench--say it!"

Maidie smiled at him, and Dela garde's heart melted.  He could not resist
kissing her.  She drew away a little, and reaching up her fingers, delicately
touched his face.

"This," she said softly, 'is my brightest star.  If I had to choose but one
to gaze upon throughout my life, I would forsake all others for this one.  "

She reached up to him and her lips brushed his.

"Does that answer you?"

Dela garde's dark eyes glowed.

"Yes, star-gazer, that answers me indeed.  And yet you claimed you could not
foretell the future!"

Maidie's widening gaze searched his.

"Meaning?"

"Oh, I will not have you abandon the heavens entirely," he assured her,
drawing her into his arms.

"Merely at interludes throughout the night--for refreshment such as this."

And Maidie, giving herself up to his passion, was moved to approve this very
agreeable compromise.