ise them a little, they do deserve it!' said generous Elfride.

'Well, I do. See how the Duchess of----waves to and fro in her seat,
utilizing the sway of her landau by looking around only when her head
is swung forward, with a passive pride which forbids a resistance to
the force of circumstance. Look at the pretty pout on the mouths of that
family there, retaining no traces of being arranged beforehand, so well
is it done. Look at the demure close of the little fists holding the
parasols; the tiny alert thumb, sticking up erect against the ivory stem
as knowing as can be, the satin of the parasol invariably matching the
complexion of the face beneath it, yet seemingly by an accident,
which makes the thing so attractive. There's the red book lying on the
opposite seat, bespeaking the vast numbers of their acquaintance. And
I particularly admire the aspect of that abundantly daughtered woman on
the other side--I mean her look of unconsciousness that the girls
are stared at by the walkers, and above all the look of the girls
themselves--losing their gaze in the depths of handsome men's eyes
without appearing to notice whether they are observing masculine eyes or
the leaves of the trees. There's praise for you. But I am only jesting,
child--you know that.'

'Piph-ph-ph--how warm it is, to be sure!' said Mr. Swancourt, as if his
mind were a long distance from all he saw. 'I declare that my watch is
so hot that I can scarcely bear to touch it to see what the time is, and
all the world smells like the inside of a hat.'

'How the men stare at you, Elfride!' said the elder lady. 'You will kill
me quite, I am afraid.'

'Kill you?'

'As a diamond kills an opal in the same setting.'

'I have noticed several ladies and gentlemen looking at me,' said
Elfride artlessly, showing her pleasure at being observed.

'My dear, you mustn't say "gentlemen" nowadays,' her stepmother answered
in the tones of arch concern that so well became her ugliness. 'We have
handed over "gentlemen" to the lower middle class, where the word is
still to be heard at tradesmen's balls and provincial tea-parties, I
believe. It is done with here.'

'What must I say, then?'

'"Ladies and MEN" always.'

At this moment appeared in the stream of vehicles moving in the contrary
direction a chariot presenting in its general surface the rich indigo
hue of a midnight sky, the wheels and margins being picked out in
delicate lines of ultramarine; the servants