He turned with these words, passed his amazed listener, and walked on. And Stanhope resumed his saunter, looking like a man in a dream.
That evening he made his first voluntary call at Warburton place.
Alan and Winnie, two months later, were married, and Stanhope was among the wedding-guests.
“Warburton Place will have a new mistress, Mr. Stanhope,” Leslie said to him. “I am going to abdicate in Winnie’s favor.”
“Entirely, Mrs. Warburton?”
“Entirely; I have fought it out, and I have conquered, after a hard struggle. Alan and Winnie, when they return, will reign here. Papa and I are already preparing our new home. We shall not be far away, and we will divide Daisy between us.”
Later in the evening, Mrs. Follingsbee captured him and inquired:
“Have you heard Leslie’s last bit of Quixotism?”
“No, madam.”