Alicia Drake--a vision of pale pink--had just appeared in the long gallery at Tallyn, on her way to dinner.

Her dress, her jewels, and all her minor appointments were of that quality and perfection to which only much thought and plentiful money can attain.

She had not, in fact, been romancing in that account of her afternoon which has been already quoted.

Dress was her weapon and her stock in trade; it was, she said, necessary to her "career." And on this plea she steadily exacted in its support a proportion of the family income which left but small pickings for the schooling of her younger brothers and the allowances of her two younger sisters.

But so great were the indulgence and the pride of her parents--small Devonshire land-owners living on an impoverished estate--that Alicia's demands were conceded without a murmur.