‘On dit that when it was notified to the party most interested, there was a rider to the bill, excluding my Lord’s relations.’
‘Ha, ha, ha,’ faintly laughed Mr. Annesley. ‘What have they been doing so remarkable?’
‘Nothing,’ said Lord Squib. ‘That is just their fault. They have every recommendation; but when any member of that family is in a room, everybody feels so exceedingly sleepy that they all sink to the ground. That is the reason that there are so many ottomans at Heavyside House.’
‘Is it true,’ asked the Duke, ‘that his Grace really has a flapper?’
‘Unquestionably,’ said Lord Squib. ‘The other day I was announced, and his attendant was absent. He had left his instrument on a sofa. I immediately took it up, and touched my Lord upon his hump. I never knew him more entertaining. He really was quite lively.’
‘But Diana is a favourite goddess of mine,’ said Annesley; ‘taste that hock.’
‘Superb! Where did you get it?’
‘A present from poor Raffenburg.’
‘Ah! where is he now?’
‘At Paris, I believe.’