He stepped firmly on, delighted to be here, eager to perceive his hostess.

Mrs.Jacks, for a moment, failed to remember him; but needless to say that this did not appear in her greeting, which, as she recollected, dropped upon a tone of special friendliness.

To her, Piers Otway was the least interesting of young men; but her husband had spoken of him very favourably, and Mrs.Jacks had a fine sense of her duty on such points.

Piers was dazzled by the lady's personal charm; her brilliantly pure complexion, her faultless shoulders and soft white arms, her pose of consummate dignity and courtesy.

Happily, his instincts and his breeding held their own against perilous circumstance; excited as he was, nothing of the cause appeared in his brief colloquy with the hostess, and he acquitted himself very creditably.