"Well, that is unfortunate," cried Mrs. Storey.
"What a grandee you are growing all at once, Charlotte," said her husband, facetiously; "patronising Earls and Colonels—they will want you at Almacks next. Talking of finery," continued Mr. Storey, "I was introduced to Tom Jorrocks' wife to-day, and promised you would call upon her—they are in town, for a few weeks, at ——; here's his card, Cambridge Terrace."
And Mr. and Mrs. Storey immediately plunged into the history of Tom Jorrocks and his wife, and of how rich his mother was, and what a large fortune he was making, &c., &c. While Langley and Kate conversed quietly apart.
"Is Lord Effingham a great lover of painting?"
"I believe so; he certainly understands it."
"It is curious enough; I was walking this evening with Gailliard, (who, by the way, was making many enquiries for you,) when Lord Effingham drove past us in Regent Street. Gailliard seems to have known a good deal of him abroad; he gave a curious character of him." Langley thought for some moments, and then resumed—"You remember Gailliard?"
"Oh, quite well—I should like to see him again."
"He has just returned from France, with a perfect budget of anecdotes, touching the late Revolution; he is a strange fellow," concluded Langley, musingly.
"I always wonder that M. Gailliard is not a man of greater eminence than he is."