Lady Malmerstoke pushed a bracelet farther up one plump arm.
"H'm!" she said. "It's very unfashionable, my dear, not to say bourgeois."
"Oh, fiddle!" answered Cleone. "Who thinks that?"
"I really don't know. It is what one says. To be in the mode you must be fatigued to death."
"Then I am not in the mode," laughed Cleone. "Don't forget, Aunt, that I am but a simple country-maid!" She swept a mock curtsey.
"No," said her ladyship placidly. "One is not like to forget it."
"What do you mean?" demanded Cleone.
"Don't eat me," sighed her aunt. "'Tis your principal charm—freshness."
"Oh!" said Cleone doubtfully.
"Or it was," added Lady Malmerstoke, folding her hands and closing her eyes.