After all, he was a man,--and the sundry artful tricks
and wiles of fashionable ladies were, naturally, beyond him. Thelma had
never met Lady Winsleigh--not even for a passing glance in the
Park,--and when she received the invitation for the grand reception at
Winsleigh House, she accepted it, because her husband wished her so to
do, not that she herself anticipated any particular pleasure from it.
When the day came round at last she scarcely thought of it, till at the
close of their pleasant breakfast _tete-a-tete_ described at the
commencement of this chapter, Philip suddenly said,--"By-the-by, Thelma,
I have sent to the bank for the Errington diamonds. They'll be here
presently. I want you to wear them to-night."
Thelma looked puzzled and inquiring. "To-night? What is it that we do? I
forget! Oh! now I know--it is to go to Lady Winsleigh. What will it be
like, Philip?"
"Well, there'll be heaps of people all cramming and crowding up the
stairs and down them again,--you'll see all those women who have called
on you, and you'll be introduced to them,--I dare say there'll be some
bad music and an indigestible supper--and--and--that's all!"
She laughed and shook her head reproachfully.
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