"
"Admirable philosophy," she laughed scornfully, "but when one is
bored to death in the present one must look forward or backward for
consolation."
He continued his lunch in silence for a while.
"I am rebuked!" he said.
There came a pause in the courses. He looked at her critically.
She was very handsomely dressed in a walking costume of dove-coloured
grey. The ostrich feathers which drooped from her large hat were
almost priceless. She had the undeniable air of being a person of
breeding. But she was paler even than usual, her hair,
notwithstanding its careful arrangement, gave signs of being a
little thin in front. There were wrinkles at the corners of her
eyes. She knew these things, but she bore his inspection with
indifference.
"I wonder," he said reflectively, "what we men see in you. You
have plenty of admirers. They say that Grefton got himself shot
out at the front because you treated him badly. Yet--you are not
much to look at, are you?"
She laughed at him. Hers was never a pleasant laugh, but this time
it was at least natural.
"How discriminating," she declared. "I am an ugly woman, and men
of taste usually prefer ugly women. Then I am always well dressed.
I know how to wear my clothes. And I have a shocking reputation.
A really wicked woman, I once heard pious old Lady Surbiton call me!
Dear old thing! It did me no end of good.
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