"Don't like her!" he sneers. "No, of course not. That's just like a woman. The moment a man praises one of your own sex to you, it's quite sufficient reason for you to dislike her. Pray, what's your objection?"
Lauraine colours faintly.
"She is loud and fast. She ridicules every good and honest feeling, and I think she is very malicious."
"The secret of her success perhaps," laughs her husband. "People are afraid of her sharp tongue. Tant mieux. But she is at all events a woman one would not get tired of. Few know how to make themselves more agreeable."
"To men, perhaps."
"Well, that's paying us a great compliment. A woman making herself agreeable to women is taking a great deal of trouble for no purpose unless, of course, they have the entrée where she has not. But Lady Jean goes everywhere."
"And Lady Jean's husband?" asks Lauraine.
Sir Francis laughs. "Well, one doesn't see much of him certainly. But he's worth nearly a million, for all that. The earl wouldn't have let his daughter marry him if he hadn't been."
"Was Lady Jean poor?"
"Very poor. The Earl of Killery had six daughters. She was the youngest, and the only one who has married. She's been married six years now."