Mrs. Verulam glanced in an attracted manner at Lady Pearl.
"Ah," she said; "you, too, feel the hollowness of society?"
Mr. Rodney looked painfully shocked.
"Society hollow!" he almost whispered.
"As a drum," said Lady Pearl, in a sepulchral voice. "I envy the woman to whom its doors are closed. That Mrs. Van Adam, for instance, of whom everyone is talking."
Mrs. Verulam turned scarlet, and Mr. Rodney looked gratified.
"My little paragraph seems to have been read," he murmured.
"Pearl," said the Duchess severely, "what should you know about such a person? My dear, you forget yourself."
Mrs. Verulam gasped and looked towards the door, through which at every instant she expected to see Chloe enter the room.