Thanking his informant, the General hurried after the others and caught them up in time to be ushered with them into Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's luxurious reception-room. The handsome widow, beautifully gowned, and already apprised by speaking-tube that visitors were coming up, received them with effusion, and made no effort to conceal her surprise when the General appeared in the wake of the ladies. She rallied him on his new-found politeness, and openly avowed that he must have some secret object in seeking her good-will.
The General, disclaiming anything unusual in his conduct, bore the flow of badinage meekly, but under his gray mustache he muttered:
"Confound the woman! She is clever, or else Jem Sadgrove has blundered."
The conversation drifted into the usual channels of small talk, and by the time the General joined in he had assimilated one important fact in connection with his surroundings. The suite of apartments in which he was doing the penance of a duty call was a split suite. There was a door at the end of the room, across which a fairly heavy writing-table was placed, denoting that the door was not in use, as naturally it would have been if the room beyond had been one of those rented by Mrs. Talmage Eglinton. The discovery and his own deduction caused an odd little crease at the corner of the General's mouth, and he seized the earliest opportunity to put in his word.
"I've got some news for you, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton. You are about to be the recipient of a very high honor."
"Really! But this is extremely interesting," was the reply, accompanied by a flash of scrutiny, quickly changed to a charming smile. "Pray don't keep me in suspense, General. Am I to go for a cruise in the royal yacht, or dine with the Lord Mayor?"
"The Duke of Beaumanoir is going to ask you down to his country-place at Prior's Tarrant," said the General, imperturbably ignoring her persiflage. "I was with him this morning, and I gathered that you'll have your invitation in the course of the day. We're all going down. The Duke is Alec's new boss, don't you know, and he has taken a liking to the lot of us."
He carefully avoided his wife's eyes and those of his guests as he burst this amazing bombshell, thereby depriving himself of the sight of a toss of Leonie's pretty head and of the raising of two pairs of elderly eyebrows. His hostess had his sole attention, and she repaid it fully. For the first time in his experience of her Mrs. Talmage Eglinton changed color and seemed at a loss for words. He helped her out, and himself too, with the same old lie, and his manner was perfect—just that of the simple old soldier:
"The Duke dotes on Americans, don't you know. Says he was introduced to you by my nephew outside Beaumanoir House the day he landed, and when it came out in conversation that we knew you, he insisted on your being asked. Thought it would please Alec, don't you know."
The last sentence was spoken carelessly, as though it was an afterthought, but it had an effect that all the skill at Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's disposal could not hide—an effect transient only, but so marked that the three other women in the room, coldly hostile as they were, did not fail to note it. The flush which had tinged her cheek on hearing of the invitation deepened, and a softer light gleamed for a moment in her fine eyes.