'Yes, my dear, I think I may say I am. I kept him going till I was.'
'Then he's yours?'
'My very own.'
'How nice! And awfully rich?' our young woman went on.
Mrs. Jordan showed promptly enough that she loved for higher things. 'Awfully handsome—six foot two. And he has put by.'
'Quite like Mr. Mudge, then!' that gentleman's friend rather desperately exclaimed.
'Oh, not quite!' Mr. Drake's was ambiguous about it, but the name of Mr. Mudge had evidently given her some sort of stimulus. 'He'll have more opportunity now, at any rate. He's going to Lady Bradeen.'
'To Lady Bradeen?' This was bewilderment. '"Going———"?'
The girl had seen, from the way Mrs. Jordan looked at her, that the effect of the name had been to make her let something out. 'Do you know her?'
She hesitated; then she found her feet. 'Well, you'll remember I've often told you
