She was having an evening to her heart.  Ray’s attack on Corliss had no dimming effect; her thought of it being that she was “used to his raving”; it meant nothing; and since Ray had prophesied she would tell Corliss about it, she decided not to do so.

The naval young gentleman and Valentine Corliss were the greatest of all the lions among ladies that night; she had easily annexed the lieutenant, and Corliss was hers already; though, for a purpose, she had not yet been seen in company with him.  He was visibly “making an impression.”  His name, as he had said to Richard Lindley, was held in honour in the town; and there was a flavour of fancied romance in his absence since boyhood in unknown parts, and his return now with a `foreign air’ and a bow that almost took the breath of some of the younger recipients.  He was, too, in his way, the handsomest man in the room; and the smiling, open frankness of his look, the ready cordiality of his manner, were found very winning.  He caused plenty of flutter.

Cora waited till the evening was half over before she gave him any visible attention.  Then, during a silence of the music, between two dances, she made him a negligent sign with her hand, the gesture of one indifferently beckoning a creature who is certain to come, and went on talking casually to the man who was with her.  Corliss was the length of the room from her, chatting gayly with a large group of girls and women; but he immediately nodded to her, made his bow to individuals of the group, and crossed the vacant, glistening floor to her.  Cora gave him no greeting whatever; she dismissed her former partner and carelessly turned away with Corliss to some chairs in a corner.

“Do you see that?” asked Vilas, leaning over the balcony railing with Richard Lindley.  “Look!  She’s showing the other girls—­don’t you see?  He’s the New Man; she let ’em hope she wasn’t going in for him; a lot of them probably didn’t even know that she knew him.  She sent him out on parade till they’re all excited about him; now she shows ’em he’s entirely her property—­and does it so matter-of-factly that it’s rubbed in twice as hard as if she seemed to take some pains about it.  He doesn’t dance:  she’ll sit out with him now, till they all read the tag she’s put on him.  She says she hates being talked about.  She lives on it!—­so long as it’s envious.  And did you see her with that chap from the navy?  Neptune thinks he’s dallying with Venus perhaps, but he’ll get——­”

Lindley looked at him commiseratingly.  “I think I never saw prettier decorations.  Have you noticed, Ray?  Must have used a thousand chrysanthemums.”

“Toreador!” whispered the other between his teeth, looking at Corliss; then, turning to his companion, he asked:  “Has it occurred to you to get any information about Basilicata, or about the ancestral domain of the Moliterni, from our consul-general at Naples?”

Richard hesitated.  “Well—­yes.  Yes, I did think of that.  Yes, I thought of it.”