“Have you seen your friend the duchess lately?” she asked, with a disarming smile, not wishing to appear merely curious.
“Yes; I saw her on Friday, at a ball. She was in great form.”
“You danced with her?”
“Yes. She’s not a good dancer.”
“Then you only had one, I suppose?”
“No, three.” He smiled a little. “We sat out two.”
“You ought to have felt highly honoured.”
“Oh, I don’t know. She is very amusing. A very funny thing happened last week. Out of sheer devilry, she and a friend and two men went to the Covent Garden Fancy Dress Ball, disguised of course, and just for an hour or two. To their horror, after the procession, the friend was handed a large glass-and-silver salad bowl, as a prize for being the best ‘twostep’ dancer in the room. Of course she had to go off with the beastly thing; but she was so proud of winning it, she couldn’t resist giving their escapade away, and it got round everywhere.”
“I wonder if our escapade with Lady Bounce is out yet? I haven’t seen Hal since Thursday.”
“Oh yes, it is,” eagerly; “the duchess had heard about it. She was pumping me to know who was in the joke. We are longing to see Quin and hear the latest, but he is down east.”