"It wouldn't matter, of course, what you wore," said Mrs. Eldridge, and wished Pamela had been there to hear the way she said it. "In our position we have to be more careful. I find it difficult to dress myself and the girls nicely without spending too much on it."
"Oh, but you always look so beautifully dressed," said Lady Crowborough. "And as for girls, I was only thinking at lunch how perfectly charming they looked. They really are the sweetest looking girls, both of them; and so clever and taking too. Of course I always admired them as little girls; but pretty little girls don't always grow up so pretty. Both Pamela and Judith have. I'm not sure that Judith won't be even prettier than Pamela by and by."
"Yes, I think they are pretty, both of them," said Mrs. Eldridge judicially. "And they are looking their best to-day. Excitement always improves young girls, and they have been so looking forward to coming here, ever since we had your kind note."
Her artistic sense reproached her for having gone perhaps a trifle too far, but Lady Crowborough by now was extremely anxious to cast away the tiresome impediments of reserve. "Oh, you must bring them over more often," she said, "especially now we have my niece staying with us. I was saying to my husband only yesterday, we don't see half enough of the Eldridges, and we've always been such close friends. There was a little trouble, I know, between my husband and yours, but that's all over now, and it never affected us, did it? Couldn't we arrange a little picnic together somewhere—just ourselves and your children? I should like Patricia to know Alice and Isabelle. They're not so pretty as Pamela and Judith, but they are pretty, and they're such clever and amusing children. I often wish I had a daughter of my own. I think you're lucky in having four of them."
Mrs. Eldridge allowed herself to relax. "Four daughters are rather a responsibility in these days," she said. "We couldn't do without one of ours, even Alice and Isabelle, who are perfectly hideous, but darlings all the same. Still, it's far less anxiety to have an only son, as you have; especially when he's so well-behaved, as Horsham."
Lady Crowborough felt the change of atmosphere, and all her responsive petals unfolded to it. "I don't mind saying to such an old friend as you," she said confidentially, "that we were a little afraid of Horsham's becoming rather wild at one time. But that's all over. He is taking life quite seriously now, though I'm glad to say that it doesn't prevent his being bright and gay in a way that a young man ought to be."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Mrs. Eldridge, and again wished that Pamela were there to hear her—or if not Pamela, somebody who could appreciate her.
"I should like Horsham to marry early and settle down," said Lady Crowborough. "I don't approve of very early marriages as a rule, but in his case I think it would turn out well."
"I'm sure he would make a good husband," said Mrs. Eldridge. "His wife would never have a moment's anxiety about him."
"No, I don't think she would. And do you know, dear Mrs. Eldridge, I've a fancy in my head that he is thinking about it already."