“How very amusing,” she cried, rising from her chair. “Ha! ha! She hopes Mr. Edward Craddock will be satisfied with Mrs. Mayston Ryle.”
The two Miss Hancocks said “Ha! ha!” in chorus. Then, the great lady’s carriage being announced, she bade the assembly good-night, and swept out with a great rustling of her violet silk. The party might now really be looked upon as concluded, and the others obediently flocked off.
When they had put the Glovers down, Bertha nestled close to her husband.
“I’m so glad it’s all over,” she whispered; “I’m only happy when I’m alone with you.”
“It was a jolly evening, wasn’t it,” he said. “I thought they were all ripping.”
“I’m so glad you enjoyed it, dear; I was afraid you’d be bored.”
“Good heavens, that’s the last thing I should be. It does one good to hear conversation like that now and then—it brightens one up.”
Bertha started a little.
“Old Bacot is a very well informed man, isn’t he? I shouldn’t wonder if he was right in thinking that the government would go out at the end of their six years.”
“He always leads one to believe that he’s in the Prime Minister’s confidence,” said Bertha.