Geraldine had her little private laugh before Adrian came up to her with a great ship in his arms—-

“Take care of this, Aunt Cherry.  She is going to sail on the Ewe.  I bought her with the sovereign Uncle Fernan gave me.”

Geraldine gave the ship her due admiration, and asked after the masque.

“Oh, that went off pretty well.  I wouldn’t have been Fely!  All the ladies went and said ‘Pretty dear!’ when he sang his song about the bat’s back.

Disgusting!  But then he has not been a fellow at school, so he made his bow and looked as if he didn’t mind it.”

“And Francie?”

“Francie looked perfectly stunning.  Everybody said so, and she sang-—well, she sang better than she did at home; but she was in an awful funk, though I kept on looking at her, and shouting bravo to encourage her; and she must have heard my voice, for I was just in front.”

“I hope she was encouraged.”

“But she is very stupid.  I wanted to take her round to all the stalls, and show her what to buy with the five Jubilee sovereigns Uncle Fernan gave her, for you know she has never been anywhere, or seen anything.  I thought she would like it, and besides, all our fellows say they never saw such an awfully pretty girl, and they can’t believe all that hair is her own—-she had it all down her back, you know-—so I told them I would let them have a pull to try.”

“Poor Francie!  She declined, I suppose?”

“Well, there was that ridiculous swell, Fergus’s cousin, Ivinghoe, and he has taken her off to see the stupid flowers in the conservatory.  I told Sophy I wondered she permitted such flirting, but of course Francie knew no better.”

“Oh! and you couldn’t stop it?”

“Not I, though I called her over and over again to look at things, but Lord Ivinghoe always hung about and gave one no peace.  So I just told Sophy to look after her, and came off to tell you.  Oh my! here is old Miss Mohun coming up.  I shall be off.  I want some chocolate creams.  Mrs. Simmonds has got some splendid ones.”

Miss Mohun was coming, in fact.

“Well, Geraldine, the masque was a great success.  People beg to have it repeated, so many could not get in.  And it is worth at least a hundred pounds to us.  People whose opinion is worth having were quite struck.  They say your brother really ought to have been a great composer and singer.”

“I think he might have been if he had not given up his real passion to come to the help of my dear eldest brother.  And he is really happier as he is.”

“I knew there was conquest in his face.  And that dear little elf of a boy-—what a voice!  So bright and so arch too.  Then the Miranda—- she took all by surprise.  I believe half the spectators took her for the Little Butterfly.”

“Ah, the poor Little Butterfly is flown.  There was nothing for it but to make Francie act, as she had taken the part once before.”