She found Mrs. Shiffney dressed to go out.
"Oh, Susan, what a mercy to see you! We are going to the Ritz. We shall be by ourselves. I want you to advise me what to do. Things have got so mixed up. Is the motor there?"
"Yes."
"Come along, then."
At the Ritz, although she met many acquaintances, Mrs. Shiffney would not join any one for lunch or let any one join her.
"Susan and I have important matters to discuss," she said, smiling.
Her face and manner had completely changed directly she got out of the motor. She now looked radiant, like one for whom life held nothing but good things. And all the time she and Susan were lunching and talking she preserved a radiant demeanor. Her reward was that everyone said how handsome Adelaide Shiffney was looking. She even succeeded in continuing to look handsome when she found that Susan had made private plans for the immediate future.
"I've promised to go to Algiers," Susan said over the œufs en cocotte, when Mrs. Shiffney asked what was to be done to make things lively.
"To Algiers! Why? What is there to do there? You know it inside out."
"Scarcely that. I'm going to stay with Charmian Heath."