"Possibly because she did not care a straw about it, for one thing; for another, she makes no false pretences, is notoriously good-natured, and enormously rich, and she has also a fair supply of homely honesty and a brusque wit."
"And where did her fortune come from?"
"Ah! now you go beyond me!" said Sir Horace, "from piracy, for all I know!" and he laughed. "Madame is rather like the stock character of a pirate's wife. But one thing is certain, the money is all there. Madame will give us a first-rate dinner to-night, so don't eat a heavy lunch. It will be none of your Homburg affairs, no occasion to bring your purse and ask for the bill at dessert!"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, it's a good old local custom. Friends invite you to dine at their hotel, and you go. They pay for the flowers, and perhaps the coffee—everyone settles for themselves—and there you are!"
"There I should not be," rejoined his nephew, with a laugh of contempt.
"I grant that it is undoubtedly a moderate form of entertainment, but you meet your acquaintance. Of course, there are other dinners, too, the dear familiar kinds. See here—" suddenly coming to a halt in front of a flower stall not far from Ritter's Hotel, and lifting as he spoke a bunch of exquisite roses to his face—"I'll send this to the aunt; the old lady likes little attentions. Do you buy one for the niece. We can leave them with the hall porter as we pass."
"Oh, but I say," expostulated his companion, "I don't like to send a bouquet to a girl I've only spoken to once; she would think it such awful cheek."
"Not at all," replied Sir Horace, "it is perfectly correct here. At Homburg you do as Homburg does. I know my way about, my boy; pay up and look pleasant; four marks, and—oh, you may as well pay for me too. I've no change. I'll make it all right by-and-by."
Captain Haig nodded, as he produced a small gold piece and handed it across the stand, well aware that he was about to present not one, but two bouquets.