"Do come over to the ball at Nice to-night," the girl urged presently as they stood with hands clasped gazing into each other's eyes. "It will be nothing without you."
"Ah! darling, that's very nice of you to say so, but I think we ought to be discreet. Your mother has invited the Count to go with you."
"I hate him!" Dorise declared. "He's all elegance, bows and flattery. He bores me to death."
"I can quite understand that. But your mother is fond of his society. She declares that he is so amusing, and in Paris he knows everyone worth knowing."
"Oh, yes. He gave us an awfully good time in Paris last season--took us to Longchamps, and we afterwards went to Deauville with him. He wins and loses big sums on the turf."
"A born gambler. Everyone knows that. I heard a lot about him in the Travellers' Club, in Paris."
"But if mother telephones to you, you'll come with us--won't you?" entreated the girl again.
The young man hesitated. His mind was full of the tragic affair of the previous night. He was wondering whether the end had come--whether Mademoiselle's lips were already sealed by Death.
He gave an evasive reply, whereupon Dorise, taking his hand in hers, said: "What is your objection to going out with us to-night, Hugh? Do tell me. If you don't wish me to go, I'll make an excuse to mother and she can take the Count."
"I have not the slightest objection," he declared at once. "Go, dearest--only leave me out of it. The bal blanc is always good fun."
"I shall not go if you refuse to go," she said with a pout.
Therefore in order to please her he consented--providing Lady Ranscomb invited him.
They had wandered a long way up the narrow, secluded valley, but had met not a soul. All was delightful and picturesque, the profusion of wild flowers, the huge grey moss-grown boulders, the overhanging ilexes and olives, and the music of the tumbling current through a crooked course worn deep by the waters of primeval ages.
It was seldom that in the whirl of society the pair could get a couple of hours together without interruption. And under the blue Riviera sky they were indeed fraught with bliss to both.
When they returned to the town the dusk was already falling, and the great arc lamps along the terrace in front of the Casino were already lit. Hugh took her as far as the entrance to the Metropole and then, after wishing her au revoir and promising to go with her to Nice if invited, he hastily retraced his steps to the Palmiers. Five minutes later he was speaking to the old Italian at the Villa Amette.