"She will not have him without your consent, dear."
And this set Julia thinking.
The next day Walter called on Percy, and played the traitor.
"Give a ball," said he.
Miss Fitzroy and her brother gave a ball. Percy, duly instructed by his sister, wrote to Julia as meek as Moses, and said he was in a great difficulty. If he invited her, it would, of course, seem presumptuous, considering the poor opinion she had of him; if he passed her over, and invited Walter Clifford and Mrs. Clifford, he should be unjust to his own feelings, and seem disrespectful.
Julia's reply:
"DEAR MR. FITZROY,—I am not at all fond of jealousy, but I am very fond of dancing. I shall come.
"Yours sincerely,
"JULIA CLIFFORD."
And she did come with a vengeance. She showed them what a dark beauty can do in a blaze of light with a red rose, and a few thousand pounds' worth of diamonds artfully placed.