“Ah—yes—very happy. In the Guards, I think. Know Douglas, don't you?”

“Yes, very slightly.”

“When did you come—to-day?”

“No; last night.”

“Must have got a buffeting; blew very fresh. You don't happen to know the odds on the Oaks?”

“Hecate, they say, is falling. I rather heard a good account of the mare.”

“Indeed,” said he, while his cold, inanimate features brightened up with a momentary flush of excitement. “Take you five to two, or give you the odds, you don't name the winner on the double event.”

A look from O'Grady decided me at once on declining the proffered wager; and his Lordship once more returned to the mirror and his self-admiration.

“I say, O'Grady, do come here for a minute. What the deuce can that be?”

[ [!-- IMG --]