"
"You will come to the ball tomorrow evening, won't you?" she asked.
"I suppose I shall have to," he said. "If I win, though mind I feel
sure that I shan't, it will seem odd if I don't come. If I lose, it
will look as if I sulked."
"You must come," she said, "and you must have a dance with me. You
have not been keeping your word, Major Mallett. You said that you
would always be the same to me, and you are not. You have never
once asked me to dance with you, and you are changed altogether."
"I try to be--I try hard, Bertha; but just at present it is beyond
me. I cannot stand by and see you going--" and he stopped abruptly.
"Well, never mind, Bertha. It will all come right in time, but at
any rate I cannot stand it at present. Goodbye."
And without giving her time to reply, he hastily left the room.
Bertha stood silent for a minute or two, then quietly followed him
out of the room.
The next day Ryde was astir early. It was the Queen's Cup day.
Eight yachts were entered: three schooners--the Rhodope, the
Isobel, and the Mayflower; four cutters--the Pearl, the Chrysalis,
the Alacrity, and the Phantom; and the Osprey, which was the only
yawl.
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