“Ah good afternoon, how sweet of you to come” cried their hostess.
“Not at all” Selia said “we were only too [118] ]pleased to visit you.” And they went into the room. There was a lot of folks there eating off plates in their laps and all murmured and gazed to see the heroes of the hour enter, so Selia and Mr. Withersq sat down and had some plates passed to them and stretched out for what food they could find lying about.
Near by Mr. Withersq sat a youngish lady with plentiful ginger hair and robed in violet with out-shooting lips and an ernest apperence.
“Do tell me” she burbled in a rich voice “how you write such beautiful poems?”
But Mr. Withersq who had just tucked a cress sandwich in his mouth could not say much only growling in reply at which no one seemed cross but all present cooed and moaned, saying “Ah how simple he is” and “How true” for it was very much like the first party and “How true” was still the [119] ]fashion, like red hats sometimes appear and are worn awhile and then drop out.
“He had poetry in him all the while” said Selia “but it did not come out.”
So now the Countess came to sit beside her, and pawed at her hand in love.
“Do you think the great man would come to my little riverside home one day” uttered she, “do please dear lady beg darling Mr. Withersq to come down to my little party at Maidenhead next week. There will not be much to entertain in fact we have only got two funny people coming at present but we have an excellent gramafone and perhaps the boats would give him some new idears.”
All listened. Many of the ladys were chewing on strings of coloured beads hung about their necks and their ears waved for the answer.
“Have you got any Harry Lauders” said [120] ]Selia for fun “for he is very partial to them.” Her Harold was making warning faces to her but she would not heed. Oh what an error. You could hear the brick drop. But the Countess had tact to give a little snickering laugh.