Beyond the Rocks

Barbara was a good sort; he remembered now he had met her before

somewhere. She had evidently taken to the new cousin; but Mildred had

not.

Hitherto Mildred had been the undisputed and acknowledged beauty of

every party, and she resented Theodora's presence because she was

clever enough not to have any illusions upon the matter of their mutual

looks. She saw Theodora was beautiful and young and charming, and had

every advantage of perfect Paris clothes. Uncle Patrick had been a fool

to ask her, and she must take measures to suppress her at once.

Sir Patrick, on the other hand, was very pleased with himself for having

given the invitation. He had made inquiries, and found that Josiah was a

man of great and solid wealth, with interests in several things which

could be of particular use to himself, and he meant to obtain what he

could out of him.

As for Theodora, no living man could do anything but admire her, and Sir

Patrick was not an Irishman for nothing.

Hector behaved with tact; he did not at once fly to his darling, but

presently she found him beside her. And the now habitual thrill ran over

her when he came near.

He saw the sudden, convulsive clasp of her little hands together; he

knew how he moved her, and it gave him joy.

The next batch of arrivals contained Lord Wensleydown, who showed no

hesitation as to his desired destination in the saloon. He made a

bee-line for Theodora, and took a low seat at her feet.

Hector, with more caution, was rather to one side. Rage surged up in

him, although his common-sense told him as yet there was nothing he

could openly object to in Wensleydown's behavior.

The little picture of these five people--Barbara engaging Josiah, and

the two men vying with each other to please Theodora--was gall and

wormwood to Mildred. Freddy Wensleydown had always been one of her most

valued friends, and for Hector she had often felt she could experience a

passion.

Lord Wensleydown had an immense cachet. He was exceedingly ugly and

exceedingly smart, and was known to have quite specially attractive

methods of his own in the art of pleasing beautiful ladies. He was

always unfaithful, too, and they had to make particular efforts to

retain him for even a week.

Hector knew him intimately, of course; they had been in the same house

at Eton, and were comrades of many years' standing, and until Theodora's

entrance upon the scene, Hector had always thought of him as a coarse,

jolly beast of extremely good company and quaintness. But now! He had no

words adequate in his vocabulary to express his opinion about him!