And then, our circumstances were so much alike,--both orphans, and well off; responsible to no one for our actions; with heaps of mutual friends, and constantly staying at the same houses.

We drifted into a pleasant intimacy, and of all my friends, he was the one who made me feel most like `a man and a brother.' We discussed women by the dozen, all his special admirations in turn, and the effect of their beauty upon him, and I watched with interest to see who, at last, would fix his roving fancy.

But on one eventful day all this was changed in half an hour.

We were both staying at Overdene.

There was a big house party, and Aunt Georgina had arranged a concert to which half the neighbourhood was coming.