'I suppose we must concede that it was neatly done, and that Captain Rallywood deserves his success,' agreed Adolf with some constraint.
Unziar's generosity rose to the occasion.
'Our gain in the Guard is your loss in the Cavalry, Colonel Jenard,' he said handsomely.
Jenard acknowledged the implied compliment, and went off leaving the three Guardsmen together.
'We shall have to swallow the Englishman after all,' said Colendorp blackly. 'How came you to miss him, Unziar?'
Unziar raised his eyebrows.
'Who can tell? Luck, I suppose,' replied he. 'But I, for one, am not sorry. The man's worth keeping.'
'He shapes well,' commented Adolf. 'But how will the chief take it?'
'I am going to find the Colonel and tell him what has happened,' said Unziar. 'I don't know how you fellows feel about it, but I say for myself that the Guard might have done a good deal worse.'
Colonel Wallenloup was at that moment engaged in promenading the ballroom with Valerie Selpdorf on his arm. She belonged to that sufficiently rare type of girl whose society is sought and enjoyed by those older men who, as a rule, are content to stand by and watch the current of younger life sweep by them, men who are in no sense gallants, but who find a strong attraction in talking to a young and clever woman on all kinds of subjects that too often lie outside the domain of the thoughts of youth. Youth, engrossed in the problem of self, persistently ignores those far more varied and profound problems to be found hidden in more experienced hearts and lives.