"Well," said Julian, with a smile on his lip and a tear in his
eye, "I never envied any man as I envy _him!_"
With those words he left the room.
CHAPTER XV.
A WOMAN'S REMORSE.
HAVING warmed his feet to his own entire satisfaction, Horace
turned round from the fireplace, and discovered that he and Lady
Janet were alone.
"Can I see Grace?" he asked.
The easy tone in which he put the question--a tone, as it were,
of proprietorship in "Grace"--jarred on Lady Janet at the moment.
For the first time in her life she found herself comparing Horace
with Julian--to Horace's disadvantage. He was rich; he was a
gentleman of ancient lineage; he bore an unblemished character.
But who had the strong brain? who had the great heart? Which was
the Man of the two?
"Nobody can see her," answered Lady Janet. "Not even you!"
The tone of the reply was sharp, with a dash of irony in it. But
where is the modern young man, possessed of health and an
independ ent income, who is capable of understanding that irony
can be presumptuous enough to address itself to _him?_ Horace
(with perfect politeness) declined to consider himself answered.
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