Mrs. Bludlip Courtenay’s eyes lightened with malignity.

“What, that man who objected to our smoke?”

Lady Beaulyon nodded.

“And I think Roxmouth sees it!”—­she added.

‘Pipkin’ looked weirdly meditative and curiously wizened for a moment.  Then she suddenly laughed and clapped her hands.

“That will do!” she exclaimed—­“That’s quite good enough for us!  Mrs. Fred will pay for that information!  Don’t you see?”

Lady Beaulyon shook her head.

“Don’t you?  Well, wait till we get back to town!”—­and ‘Pipkin’ took up her false hair and shook it gently, as she spoke—­“We can do wonders—­wonders, I tell you, Eva!  And till we go, we’ll be as nice to the girl as we can,—­go off good friends and all that sort of thing—­tell her how much we’ve enjoyed ourselves—­thank her profusely,—­and then once away we’ll tell Mrs. Fred all about John Walden, and leave her to do as she likes with the story.  That will be quite enough!  If Maryllia has any sneaking liking for the man, she’ll do anything to save his name if she doesn’t care about saving her own!”

“Oh, I see now!” and Lady Beaulyon’s eyes sparkled up with a gleam of malice—­“Yes—­I quite understand!”

‘Pipkin’ danced about the room in ecstasy,—­she was half undressed for the night, and showed a pair of exceedingly thin old legs under an exceedingly short young petticoat.

“Maryllia Vancourt and a country parson!” she exclaimed, “The whole thing is too delicious!  Go to bed, Eva!  Get your beauty sleep or you’ll have ever so many more wrinkles than you need!  Good-night, dearest!  If Maryllia declines to know us, we shall soon find excellent reasons for not knowing her!  Good-night!”

With a shrill little laugh, the lady kissed her dear friend affectionately—­and if the caress was not returned with very great fervour, it may be presumed that this coldness was due more to the unlovely impression created by the night ‘toilette’ of the Ever-Youthful one, than anything else.  Anyway the two social schemers parted on the most cordial terms, and retired to their several couches with an edifying sense of virtue pervading them both morally and physically.

And while they and others in the Manor were sleeping, Maryllia lay broad awake, watching the moonbeams creeping about her room like thin silver threads, interlacing every object in a network of pale luminance,—­and listening to the slow tick-tock of the rusty timepiece in the courtyard which said, ’Give all—­take nothing—­ give—­all—­take—­no—­thing!’—­with such steady and monotonous persistence.  She was sad yet happy,—­perplexed, yet peaceful;—­she had decided on her own course of action, and though that course involved some immediate vexation and inconvenience to herself, she was satisfied that it was the only one possible to adopt under the irritating circumstances by which she was hemmed in and surrounded.