“Good-looking?”
“Just as little.”
“Very agreeable and well-mannered?”
“Rather prosy, and too military in tone for my taste.”
“Does he come under the recommendatory 'firman' of any dear friend or acquaintance?”
“Nothing of the kind. There is his passport,” said she, pointing to his visiting ticket.
“Your Ladyship used to be more difficult of access,” said George, dryly.
“Very true; and so I may possibly become again. To make selections from the world of one's acquaintance is a very necessary duty; but, as my father used to say, no one thinks of using a sieve for chaff.”
“This gentleman is, then, fortunate in his obscurity.”
“Here comes Miss Onslow,” said Lady Hester, “who will probably be more grateful to me when she learns that our solitude is to be enlivened by the gallant colonel.”