“Ah, but you must tell me how all this has been brought about. I promise never to molest you again—​never to trouble you, but how, in the name of all that’s wonderful, have you managed to become a lady of fashion, for such I presume you are?”

“Your surmise is a correct one.”

“How has it been done? That’s what I want to know.”

“By moving in good society in the first place, and in the next becoming the wife of an honourable and wealthy gentleman.”

“Good society—​how was that managed?”

“Easily enough. We had a good introduction.”

“We. Who do you allude to besides yourself?”

“Mrs. Bristow, to be sure.”

“What! John Bristow’s wife?”

“Certainly—​none other. She came into a fortune.”