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“Oh yes, I met him coming home just now; but never mind him—tell me all about the others. Did Mrs. Granby say, ‘How do you do?—What a very warm day!’ just as if she were making the responses in church? And did la belle Lizzie rush about with her young men, as usual?”

“Well, they do say that she is so taken up with this Mr. Campbell that no one else can get a word with her. All I can say is that he seemed quite pleased to sit beside me and talk sensibly. I see nothing to rave about in your Mrs. Austin, though she certainly has a nice nose. She was very much en évidence to-day in a white flannel suit—Redfern, I should say—didn’t suit her a bit. Mrs. Burton tells me that she can’t live without admiration for a single minute. And there was a young fellow, Swanny, I think they call him, or it may have been Goosey, for all I know———”

“Yes—yes—Captain Swan. Was he very much in the foreground too?”

“Oh, just hung round all the time, and allowed her to snub him before everybody. Arthur Campbell won’t put up with that sort of thing—she will find that out pretty soon. It turns out I know a lot of his cousins—Cranmers in Surrey—very nice people, and with heaps of money—