What queerer consequence of their not mixing than
their talking for it was what they had arrived at
almost intimately? She wished to get away from
him, or indeed, much rather, away from herself so
far as she was present to him. She saw already
wonderful creature, after all, herself too that there
would be a good deal more of him to come for her,
and that the special sign of their intercourse would
be to keep herself out of the question. Everything
else might come in only never that; and with such
an arrangement they might even go far. This in
fact might quite have begun, on the spot, with her
returning again to the topic of the handsome girl.
If she was to keep herself out she could naturally best
do so by putting in somebody else. She accordingly
put in Kate Croy, being ready to that extent as she
was not at all afraid for her to sacrifice her if neces
sary. Lord Mark himself, for that matter, had
made it easy by saying a little while before that no
one among them did anything for nothing. " What
then " she was aware of being abrupt " does
Miss Croy, if she's so interested, do it for? What
has she to gain by her lovely welcome? Look at
her now! " Milly broke out with characteristic
freedom of praise, though pulling herself up also
with a compunctious " Oh! " as the direction thus
given to their eyes happened to coincide with a turn
of Kate's face to them. All she had meant to do
was to insist that this face was fine; but what she
had in fact done was to renew again her effect of

[[181]]

p180 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p181w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p182

v?