"I don't mind—yes, if you like," replied Selina, never asking the price. "I saw Lord Winchester just now," she resumed to Mrs. Cleveland. "I did not know he had returned."
"Only a day or two since, I believe. My husband does not care to renew our acquaintance with him, so——"
"Oh, what a love of a bonnet!" unceremoniously interrupted Mrs. Dalrymple, as her eye fell on a gossamer article, all white lace and beauty, with something green sparkling and shining in it.
"Ah," said madame, coming forward, "ce chapeau me rend triste chaque fois que je le vois."
"Pourquoi?" demanded Selina, who was not quite sure of her French, but liked to plunge into a word of it now and then. In those days, French was not so universal a language, even in polite circles, as it is in these.
"Parce que je ne suis pas dame, jeune et belle. Ainsi je ne peux que le regarder de loin. Mais madame est l'une et l'autre."
Selina blushed and smiled, and fixed her eyes on the bonnet.
"It is a charming bonnet," observed Mrs. Cleveland. "What is the price?"
"Thirteen guineas, madam."
Thirteen guineas! Mrs. Cleveland shook her head. Such bonnets were not for her.