The judge inflated his huge chest.
"Miss—Miss——"
"Miss Deane," said Sophie Carey; "Judge and Mrs. Walbrough."
Clancy, a bit fussed by the judge's heavy good humor, managed to bow.
"Ah—Miss Deane!" said the judge. "Well, Miss Deane, if you are as sensible as, despite your beauty, you seem to be, you will pay no attention to the maunderings of the woman who calls herself my wife. As a matter of fact, though she does not suspect it, I married her out of pity. She was much older than myself, and possessed a large fortune, which she did not know how to administer. And so I——"
Mrs. Walbrough took Clancy's hand. She pushed her husband away. And Clancy noticed that the hand that pushed lingered to caress. She suddenly adored the judge and loved his wife.
From up-stairs sounded now the barbaric strains of "Vamp."
Randall, who had been hovering near, rushed to her.
"The first dance? Please, Miss Deane!"