Dick repeated all that he could remember.
"Know any of them?" he asked.
"No," replied Drake, with relief.
"The fifth," mused Nell, thinking of her dress. "It is very short
notice."
"It's only a scratch affair; but, all the same, I should wear my white
satin with Brussels lace, and put on my suite of diamonds and rubies, if
I were you," advised Dick.
Nell laughed, as she glanced up at Drake.
"I am just wondering whether I have outgrown my nun's veiling," she
said simply. "It's the only dress I have. I'm afraid"--she
hesitated--"I'm afraid you will think it a very poor one!"
"Are you?" he said significantly. "You never can tell. Perhaps I shall
admire it."
As he spoke he asked himself whether he should send up to Bond Street
for some jewels for her; but he resisted the temptation. Later on, when
they were married, he would give himself the treat of buying her some of
the things women loved. Even in the matter of the engagement ring he had
held himself in check, and only a very simple affair encircled the third
finger of Nell's left hand.
They found Mrs. Lorton in a flutter of excitement, and she handed Drake
the note of invitation with the air of an empress conferring a patent of
nobility.
"Very good people," she said; "though not, of course, the crème de la
crème. I am included in the invitation, but I shall not accept. The
scene would but recall others of a more brilliant description in which I
once moved--er--not the least of the glittering throng. No, Eleanor, you
will not need a chaperon. You have Drake, who, I trust, will enjoy
himself in what may be novel circumstances," she added, with affable
patronage.
"You will not need a new dress, Eleanor--Dick tells me that he must have
a new suit."
"Oh, no; I am all right!" said Nell cheerfully.
She found that the old frock could, with a little alteration, be
utilized, and for several evenings Drake sat and watched her as she
lengthened the skirt and bestowed new lace and ribbons upon the thing,
and, as he smoked, imagined how she would look on the night of the
dance. He knew that not one of the other women, let them be arrayed in
all the glory of the Queen of Sheba herself, would outshine his star.