He wiped his moustache, and made a great business of it.

“Oh! a man I do business with,” he said; “nobody of any consequence. He does not know you, I’ll answer for it.”

She drew a long breath.

“Not until this moment have I realized what I have done,” she said, and he saw her lips tremble.

“Don’t be uneasy, Lady Grace,” he said, soothingly. “Let me discharge this cabman and call another——”

“Very well,” she said; then she added, tremulously; “but will you not come back with me?”

“Of course I will!” he assented, promptly, and he seized his hat. “I will come and see Lord Peyton——”

“My father is away, yachting,” she said; “but come as far as the house, if you will.”

“Yes!” Then he stopped and turned crimson, and stared at her, the picture of a man embarrassed beyond measure.

“Oh, what is it now?” she exclaimed, almost clasping her hands.