Diana was rather touched by the little confidence; somehow she didn't fancy the other had found it very easy to make, and she liked her all the better for it.
"No," she agreed, as she poured out two steaming cups of tea. "I suppose accompanying doesn't pay as well as some other things—the stage, for example. I should think Adrienne de Gervais makes plenty of money."
"She has private means, I believe," returned Miss Lermontof. "But, of course, she gets an enormous salary."
She was drinking her tea appreciatively, and a little colour had crept into her cheeks, although the shadows still lay heavily beneath her light-green eyes. They were of a curious translucent green, the more noticeable against the contrasting darkness of her hair and brows; they reminded one of the colour of Chinese jade.
"I've just been to tea with Miss de Gervais," volunteered Diana, after a pause.
A swift look of surprise crossed Olga Lermontof's face.
"I didn't know you had met her," she said slowly.
"Yes, we met at Signor Baroni's the other day. She came in during my lesson. I believe I told you she had taken a house at Crailing, so that at home we are neighbours, you see."
"Miss Lermontof consumed a biscuit in silence. Then she said abruptly:—
"Miss Quentin, I know you don't like me, but—well, I have an odd sort of wish to do you a good turn. You had better have nothing to do with Adrienne de Gervais."