ell the maid to order a carriage; and, as he was staying at
home, to bore himself in Addie's absence in his little smoking-room,
smoking cigarette on cigarette, he saw his wife step into the brougham
at four o'clock and was struck with the elegance of her dress. He
shrugged his shoulders, in gloomy disapproval; he was in a bad temper
these days; he too was permanently upset by that rotten libel, that
confounded rag, against which he had been helpless. He threw himself on
his sofa again and smoked and smoked, could not make up his mind to
dress and go to the Plaats, was almost unconsciously avoiding his
friends.

Constance felt very calm, but had retained a certain bitterness all this
time. The thought just occurred to her how Bertha would take her visit;
but, even though the family treated the question differently, she meant
to show Bertha that she considered it an obvious thing to call on her
at-home day.

When her brougham stopped, she saw a couple of carriages waiting; the
door was opened by the parlour-maid, even before she had rung; the
butler, recognizing her, bowed, preceded her up the stairs, opened the
door wide and announced her:

"Mrs. van der Welcke...."

Constance entered the drawing-room, where a few people, mostly ladies,
were moving in the semi-darkness. But it was not so dark that she did
not at once notice that Marianne looked at her in surprise, with such
spontaneous, unconcealed surprise that it gave her something of a shock.
She shook hands with Marianne with an easy smile and went up to Bertha;
and Bertha also, as she very plainly noticed, was surprised and blinked
her eyes as she rose. And Bertha, woman of the world though she was and
accustomed to treat all manner of difficult drawing-room situations,
seemed uncomfortable as she welcomed her sister:

"Constance."

She said it almost inaudibly and hesitated a moment whether to introduce
her to a lady sitting beside her. But it was only for a moment; and then
Bertha said, with her usual voice of the rather tired hostess, who
performed her social duties because she had to:

"Mrs. van Eilenburgh; my sister, Mrs. van der Welcke."

Constance bowed, calmly and indifferently, said a word or two. Bertha
mentioned a couple of more names; and Constance made a casual remark
here and there, coolly and calmly. But she was really dismayed, for the
first lady to whom Bertha had introduced her was mistress of the robes
to the Queen and a niece of De Sta