Page:By order of the Czar.djvu/287

Rh Dolly found herself a little out of tune with the situation. She realized that Philip was intensely absorbed, and that he answered her observations mostly in monosyllables.

Walter chatted and pointed out artistic effects, artificial and natural, and Jenny remarked more than once how kind it was of the Countess Stravensky to give them the opportunity of seeing a phase of Venetian life, which otherwise might have been outside their experience.

Continental aristocracy, Jenny went on to reflect, were less bound to the wheel of formality than the English. The countess had evidently the moment she heard of their presence in Venice despatched her messenger and cards to them without delay. It was a gracious piece of courtesy on her part, none the less pleasant that they had to thank Philip for it.

It may be said at once, for the reader's information, that the countess had a generous object in view when she invited Philip, the Milbankes and Miss Norcott to this reception.

She well knew that if ever there had been the slightest chance of a response on her part to the declaration of Philip, the tragic incident of the night had placed between them a still wider gulf. She was anxious to emphasize the finality of their separation by her marked reception of Miss Norcott as his fiancée, and by other indications of the purely Platonic sentiments she entertained towards him.

Philip, however, as the time approached for Beppo and his comrades to carry their English passengers to the Fazio Palace, found his thoughts drifting as far away from Dolly as they had drifted down the torrent of passion during that never to be forgotten journey from London to Dover.

"It will be very interesting," said Jenny, addressing Philip, "to see what society is really like in Venice,