ItchancedthatFlorahadmetMr。Robbieinthecourseoftheafternoon。”Now，MissFlora”hehadsaid，”comeearly，forIhaveaPhoenixtoshowyou-oneMr。Ducie，anewclientofminethat，I
vow，Ihavefalleninlovewith”；andhewassogoodastoaddawordortwoonmyappearance，fromwhichFloraconceivedasuspicionofthetruth。Shehadcometotheparty，inconsequence，ontheknife-edgeofanticipationandalarm；hadchosenaplacebythedoor，whereIfoundher，onmyarrival，surroundedbyaposseofvapidyouths；and，whenIdrewnear，spranguptomeetmeinthemostnaturalmannerintheworld，and，obviously，withapreparedformofwords。”Howdoyoudo，Mr。Ducie？”shesaid。”ItisquiteanagesinceI
haveseenyou！””Ihavemuchtotellyou，MissGilchrist”Ireplied。”MayIsitdown？”
Fortheartfulgirl，bysittingnearthedoor，andthejudicioususeofhershawl，hadcontrivedtokeepachairemptybyherside。
Shemaderoomforme，asamatterofcourse，andtheyouthshadthediscretiontomeltbeforeus。AssoonasIwasonceseatedherfanflewout，andshewhisperedbehindit：”Areyoumad？””Madlyinlove”Ireplied；”butinnoothersense。””Ihavenopatience！YoucannotunderstandwhatIamsuffering！”