"And Bream?"
Mr. Rodney's face expressed a cultivated surprise.
"You know about Bream? Oh, but of course, in my paragraph I——"
"And Boswell? Oh!"
"You know about Bos—but I never mentioned its name in my——"
"Her Grace the Duchess of Southborough and the Lady Pearl McAndrew!" announced James.
Mrs. Verulam, whose mind was now fastened upon the presence of Chloe in the house, and her imminent advent into the room, rose up distractedly as two ladies slowly advanced, one smiling, and one on the contrary. The former was the Duchess, the latter was her only child. Her Grace was tall, elderly, large and respectable-looking. Lady Pearl was a trifle shorter, a trifle less elderly, a trifle narrower, and a trifle—but only a trifle—less respectable-looking. The family likeness was marked, and the Southborough family was not one in which a family likeness was an unmixed benefit.
"So glad to find you at home, dear Mrs. Verulam," the Duchess said suavely, greeting Mr. Rodney also with marked cordiality. "We quite thought you would have been out on such a lovely day. What do you say? What?"
This to James, who had suddenly returned into the room to whisper respectfully in the ducal ear.