“Well!” cried Grizel, sinking down in a soft little swirl of lace and silver by the side of the chair which held the portly black satin form, and resting one little hand on its arm with a gesture of half-caressing intimacy. “Well! Are the Mothers still meeting?”
Mrs Evans preened herself, and did her honest best to look distressed.
“My dear, I am afraid you mean to be naughty!”
Grizel nodded cheerily.
“I do... Aren’t you glad? It’s no use pretending to be shocked. You have a whole parish-full of proper people who do what they ought, and say what they should, and I come in as a refreshing change. Besides, I really mean quite well! Who knows,—after half a dozen years of Chumley influence, I may be as douce and staid as any one of them!”
At this point the obvious thing for Mrs Evans to do was plainly to express a hope such might be the case; she knew it, and opened her mouth to utter the aspiration, but as she did so she inclined her head to look down into the dimpling radiance of the bride’s face, and once again her heart softened, and she felt that mysterious pricking at the back of her eyes.
“My dear,” she said gently, “I—I think I prefer you as you are!”
Grizel did not answer, but her eyes softened, and she slipped her hand an inch forward so that it pressed against the black satin sleeve. She was thinking happily that she had already two friends in Chumley, Cassandra, and—the Vicar’s wife!
Seeing a pause in the conversation, a small woman in pink satin made a swoop for the seat next the bride, and eyed her with a bright, birdlike smile. This was Mrs Fotheringham (with a small “f”), a lady who combined having nothing to say with a positively uninterrupted flow of conversation. She overcame the apparent difficulty by pouring forth a flood of personal questions, from the storehouse of a curiosity which knew no bounds. She pounced upon Grizel now, as a hawk pounces upon its prey.
“So pleased to meet you to-night. So unfortunate to miss you when I called. I’ve been so longing to meet you. Knew you so well by name. You were Miss Grizel Dundas?”