" Or--"Sir Philip is _such_ a charming man!
I was talking to his lovely wife, and he asked me--" etc., etc.
Or--"You've no idea what large strawberries they grow at the Manor! Lady
Errington showed me some that were just ripening--magnificent!" And so
on. For in truth this _is_ "a mad world, my masters,"--and there is no
accounting for the inexpressibly small follies and mean toadyisms of the
people in it.
Moreover, all the London guests who were visiting Thelma came in for a
share of the county magnates' servile admiration. They found the
Winsleighs "so distingue"--Master Ernest instantly became "that _dear_
boy!"--Beau Lovelace was "so dreadfully clever, you know!"--and Pierre
Duprez "quite _too_ delightful!"
The grounds looked very brilliant--pink-and-white marquees were dotted
here and there on the smooth velvet lawns--bright flags waved from
different quarters of the gardens, signals of tennis, archery, and
dancing,--and the voluptuous waltz-music of a fine Hungarian band rose
up and swayed in the air with the downward floating songs of the birds
and the dash of fountains in full play.
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