out for the house. I grieve to admit it, but Kathleen had utterly

forgotten Billy by this, and was no more thinking of him than she was

of the Man in the Iron Mask.

She was with Kennaston, you see; and her thoughts, and glances, and

lips, and adoration were all given to his pleasuring, just as her life

would have been if its loss could have saved him from a toothache. He

strutted a little, and was a little grateful to her, and--to do

him justice--received the tribute she accorded him with perfect

satisfaction and equanimity.

[XXIV]