This arrangement continued half an hour, when a dislocation of the statu quo was made by the departure of Mr. Maxwell.  When the exit was completed, Mrs. D’Alloi turned to place her puppets properly again.  But she found a decided bar to her intentions.  Peter had formed his own conclusions as to why he had been set to entertain Madame Mellerie, not merely from the fact itself, but from the manner in which it had been done, and most of all, from the way Mrs. D’Alloi had managed to stand between Leonore and himself, as if protecting the former, till she had been able to force her arrangements.  So with the first stir Peter had risen, and when the little bustle had ceased he was already standing by Leonore, talking to her.  Mrs. D’Alloi did not look happy, but for the moment she was helpless.

Peter had had to skirt the group to get to Leonore, and so had stood behind her during the farewells.  She apparently had not noticed his advent, but the moment she had done the daughter-of-the-house duty, she turned to him, and said:  “I wondered if you would go away without seeing me.  I was so afraid you were one of the men who just say, ‘How d’ye do’ and ‘Good-bye,’ and think they’ve paid a call.”

“I called to see you to-night, and I should not have gone till I had seen you.  I’m rather a persistent man in some things.”

“Yes,” said Leonore, bobbing her head in a very knowing manner, “Miss De Voe told me.”

“Mr. Stirling,” said Mrs. D’Alloi, “can’t you tell us the meaning of the Latin motto on this seal?” Mrs. D’Alloi held a letter towards him, but did not stir from her position across the room.

Peter understood the device.  He was to be drawn off, and made to sit by Mrs. D’Alloi, not because she wanted to see him, but because she did not want him to talk to Leonore.  Peter had no intention of being dragooned.  So he said:  “Madame Mellerie has been telling me what a good Latin scholar Miss D’Alloi is.  I certainly shan’t display my ignorance, till she has looked at it.”  Then he carried the envelope over to Leonore, and in handing it to her, moved a chair for her, not neglecting one for himself.  Mrs. D’Alloi looked discouraged, the more when Peter and Leonore put their heads close together, to examine the envelope.

“‘In bonam partem,’” read Leonore.  “That’s easy, mamma.  It’s—­why, she isn’t listening!”

“You can tell her later.  I have something to talk to you about.”

“What is that?”

“Your dinner in my quarters.  Whom would you like to have there?”

“Will you really give me a dinner?”

“Yes.”

“And let me have just whom I want?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, lovely!  Let me see.  Mamma and papa, of course.”

“That’s four.  Now you can have two more.”

“Peter.  Would you mind—­I mean——­” Leonore hesitated a moment and then said in an apologetic tone—­“Would you like to invite madame?  I’ve been telling her about your rooms—­and you—­and I think it would please her so.”