Now he examined it.

With the flash of the gems Biffy sat up straight, and the others craned their heads.

Garry slipped it off his finger for the hundredth time for similar inspections, and Jack utilized the pause in the conversation to say that Corinne had received the note and that in reply she had vented most of her disappointment on himself, a disclosure which sent a cloud across Garry's face.
The cocktail hour had now arrived--one hour before dinner, an hour which was fixed by that distinguished compounder of herbs and spirits, Mr.
Biffton--and the room began filling up.

Most of the members were young fellows but a few years out of college, men who renewed their Society and club life within its walls; some were from out of town--students in the various professions.

Here and there was a man of forty--one even of fifty-five--who preferred the gayer and fresher life of the younger generation to the more solemn conclaves of the more exclusive clubs further up and further down town.