"It is true," said Austin Ambrose.
"Blair—Blair, of all people!—going to make such a fool of himself as that! Why, he must be out of his mind!"
Austin Ambrose shrugged his shoulders.
"I think he is," he said, coolly. "I never saw him so mad. He simply raves about her like a schoolboy. She's everything that is beautiful and angelic. Oh! he is most completely gone, my dear Lottie."
Lottie bit her lip.
"The nicest and handsomest fellow in London," she murmured. "To be picked up by a—a slavey! What a beastly shame it is! What a fool he must be! What's her name?"
"Margaret Hale," said Austin Ambrose, instantly. "You understand, Lottie, that I am telling you what I would tell to no one else."
She nodded.
"And it's about this you came to see me?" she said.
"Yes," he said; "I want you to help me save Blair from this folly. Of course it would ruin him. He would never be able to hold up his head again."