"How glad they are it is over!" said Mrs. Ormonde. "Look at that tall girl in pink. You see those sparkles in the roses on her corsage and in her hair; they are all diamonds. I know the white glitter. What airs she gives herself! I suppose she is an heiress, and, I dare say, not half as rich as you are."
"Don't be too sure. I am no millionaire," began Katherine, when she was interrupted by a voice she knew, which said, "I had no idea it was to be such a ghastly concern as this!" and turning, she found De Burgh close behind her.
"What offends you?" she asked, smiling.
"All this trilling and shrieking. There's tea or something going on downstairs. You had better come away before they have a fresh burst; they are carrying up a big fiddle."
"Tea!" exclaimed Mrs. Ormonde. "Oh, do take me away to have some!"
"Here, Darrell," said De Burgh, coolly, turning back to speak to some one who stood behind him. "Here's Mrs. Ormonde dying for deliverance and tea. Come, do your devoir."
Darrell hastened forward, smiling, delighted. With a little pucker of the brow and lifting of the eyebrows Mrs. Ormonde accepted his arm.
"Now, Miss Liddell," said De Burgh, offering his; and not sorry to escape from the heated, crowded room, Katherine took it and accompanied him downstairs.
"I did not think you knew Lady Barrington," said Katherine, as he handed her an ice.
"Know her? Never heard of her till you mentioned her name the day before yesterday."