He included them all in one sweeping gesture.
"Mr. Benham, let me present you to my friends. Mrs. Juno, Mrs. Venus, Mrs. Impertinence, Mrs. Pallas. We are very young, sir, although so ancient. I myself am Mr. Paris of Troy."
They laughed, and looked with friendly interest at Jasper, who had responded with a rather perfunctory bow.
"Mr. Benham looks disappointed about something," said the little red-haired woman with a provocative glance.
"Mars cheated of a battle, eh! Meester Benham, pardon me, but I have been delighted by your droll people."
"Oh!"
"A little, old man drinks too much—goddesses, forgive me—and a whole county is in consternation. You call the French excitable, sir, but, by St. Louis, you run us close. I was disappointed in the stolidity of the English."
Jasper suspected the presence of malicious raillery. De Rothan's figure filled his consciousness. He felt ready to quarrel with the man and quite ready to forget the ladies.
"What did you expect, sir?"
"Less scuffling into clothes, and the pulling on of stockings inside out. Little things—but significant."