"When I make a mistake, it will be time to ask questions," observed Miss S. with dignity. "For the present you may take what I say. I can wait to be proved right, Madame Zabriska."
"I've no doubt you're right; only I thought Janie would have told me," said Mina; she had no wish to quarrel with Miss S.
"Janie Iver's very secretive, my dear. She always was. I used to talk to Mrs Iver about it when she was a little girl. And in your case——" Miss S.'s smile could only refer to the circumstance that Mina was Major Duplay's niece; the Major's manœuvres had not escaped Miss S.'s eye. "Of course the funeral will be very quiet," Miss S. continued. "That avoids so many difficulties. The people who would come and the people who wouldn't—and all that, you know."
"There are always so many questions about funerals," sighed Mrs Trumbler.
"I hate funerals," said Mina. "I'm going to be cremated."
"That may be very well abroad, my dear," said Miss S. tolerantly, "but you couldn't here. The question is, will Janie Iver go—and if she does, where will she walk?"
"Oh, I should hardly think she'd go, if it's not announced, you know," said Mrs Trumbler.
"It's sometimes done, and I'm told she would walk just behind the family."
Mina left the two ladies debating this point of etiquette, Miss S. showing some deference to Mrs Trumbler's experience in this particular department, but professing to be fortified in her own view by the opinion of an undertaker with a wide connection. She reflected, as she got into her pony carriage, that it is impossible even to die without affording a good deal
of pleasure to other people—surely a fortunate feature of the world!