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"Unfortunately, he only has himself to blame, though I deplore the fact that I was not with him at the time." Both Lady Constance and Lord Standon looked up, startled by his tone as much as by his words; and Jasper continued glibly: "He gave the jockey a ten-pound note last night, and, of course, the man got drunk.
"Yes, that is the question," echoed Lord Standon. "It's not a bad face though. I should vote it genuine right enough." "It's extremely dirty," yawned Lord Merivale, casting a longing look at the green grass of the park opposite and thinking of his new shorthorns in Somersetshire. "Philistine!" exclaimed his wife, tapping him playfully on the arm. "You are incorrigible. Dirty! why, that is tone."
The light of hope, new-born, flashed into his face. He sprang forward eagerly. "Constance!" he cried. "My darling! You will try to care for me then ?" He would have taken her in his arms; but she held him off at arm's length. "No! no, Adrien," she interrupted sadly. "Because I am not engaged to Lord Standon, is that any reason why I should love one who treats me so lightly?"
"And yet Leroy is not easily taken in," remarked Parselle thoughtfully. "Every man has his weak point," retorted Shelton with a shrug, "and Jasper is Leroy's one vulnerable spot. He will believe nothing against him." "He's a lucky chap, Vermont," said Standon pensively.
"I don't see the need of secrecy," he said coldly. "Have you spoken to her guardian?" meaning, of course, Lord Barminster. Unfortunately, to Lord Standon, being in love, there was only one woman in the world, and therefore only one guardian, and that one, her father, the Earl of Croywood. "Good gracious, no!" he exclaimed.
He landed in the parish of Standon, where he was assisted by the peasants. He assures us again that he came down the second time by means of the oar. He says: "I took my oar to descend, and in from fifteen to twenty minutes I arrived at the earth after much fatigue, my strength being nearly exhausted. My chief desire was to escape a shock on reaching the earth, and fortune favoured me."
"Picture galleries again?" laughed Standon, who knew that lady's weaknesses. "Yes," Shelton confessed, "and with Miss Martingdale too." The others laughed significantly. "Say no more, Mortimer," begged Lord Standon, with mock grief. "Your days are numbered. Already I see myself enacting the part of chief mourner I should say, best man if you will allow me." Shelton rose, laughing good-humouredly.
"Yes," she answered, quietly. "But he only came down for the race; and I daresay he was anxious to rejoin his fiancee." It was her uncle's turn to start, and his intense surprise told Lady Constance only too well that her speculations were correct. Adrien had believed her in love with Lord Standon, and his father had undertaken to find out the truth.
The three men, Mortimer Shelton, Lord Standon and Frank Parselle, seated themselves at a table in a comfortable recess and took stock of the room, responding to numerous nods and smiles of recognition, while grumbling at the unpunctuality of their friend. "Ten past seven!" groaned Shelton, looking at his watch. "I might have known that Leroy would be late. Shall we wait?"
"I don't know," returned the other bluntly; "but I seem to have rubbed you up the wrong way somehow " "Nonsense," said Leroy, trying hard to resume his usual warmth of manner. "What a ridiculous idea! Have you dined, or shall I ring?" He crossed the room almost hurriedly. "No, no, thanks," interrupted Lord Standon. "I'm just off again; it was only a passing idea. Sorry to have mentioned it."
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