What a mistake he had made! He could never get over this gulf which he himself had thrust between them. This was no guise in which to meet a woman of her high breeding. Under his breath he cursed the impulse that had urged him to decline to attend the ball at the British embassy. There he would have met her as his own true self, a soldier, a polished gentleman of the world, of learning and breeding. Nancy would have brought them together, calls would have been exchanged, and he would have defied Karloff. Then he chid himself for the feeling he had against the Russian. Karloff had a right to love this girl, a right which far eclipsed his own. Karloff was Karloff; a handsome fellow, wealthy, agreeable; while James was not James, neither was he wealthy nor at present agreeable. A man can not sigh very well on horseback, and the long breath which left Warburton's lips made a jerking, hissing sound.
"Have you ever ridden with women before. James?"
"Several times with my major's daughter,"—thoughtlessly.
"Your major's daughter? Who was your regimental colonel?"
James bit his lips, and under his breath disregarded William's warning about "cussing."
"Permit me, Miss Annesley, to decline to answer."
"Did you ride as an attendant?"
"Yes; I was a trooper."
"You speak very good English for a stable-man."
"I have not always been a stable-man."