ow, you
know!" (_January_ 9, 1886).

Under the heading "Feline Amenities":

_Fair Hostess_ (to Mrs. Masham, who is looking her very best).
"How-dy-do, dear? I hope you're not so tired as you look!"

_Sympathetic Lady Guest_. "Don't be unhappy about the rain, dear
Mrs. Bounderson--it will soon be over, and your garden will be
lovelier than ever."

_Little Mrs. Goldmore Bounderson_ (who is giving her first Garden
Party). "Yes; but I'm afraid it will keep my most desirable guests
from coming!"

This last duologue is pure du Maurier. It is subtle.

"Feline Amenities" again:

"How kind of you to call--I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!"

"Oh, don't mention it.--I've not been at all bored! I've been
trying to imagine what I should do to make this room look
comfortable if it were mine!" (_November_ 22, 1892).

The "Things one would rather have expressed otherwise" is a good series
too:

_The Professor_ (to Hostess). "Thank you so much for a most
delightful evening! I shall indeed go to bed with pleasant
recollections--and _you_ will be the very _last_ person I shall
think of!"

And again, of the same series:

_Fair Hostess_. "Good-night, Major Jones. We're supposed to
breakfast at nine, but we're not very punctual people. Indeed the
later you appear to-morrow morning, the better pleased we shall all
be" (_May_ 13, 1893).

"Things one would rather have left unsaid":

_He_. "Yes, I know Bootle slightly, and confess I don't think much
of him!"

_She_. "I know him a little too. He took me in to dinner a little
while ago!"

_He_. "Ah, that's just about all he's fit for!"

_The Hostess_. "Dear Miss Linnet! would you--would you sing one of
those charming ballads, while I go and see if supper's ready?"

_The Companion_. "O, don't ask me--I feel nervous. There are so
many people."

_The Hostess_. "O, they won't listen, bless you! not one of them!
_Now_ DO!!!"

And here is a conversation that betrays the presence of one of the
currents of public feeling below the smooth surface of well-bred
twaddle:

_In the Metropolitan Railway_. "I beg your pardon, but I think I
had the pleasure of meeting you in Rome last year?"

"No, I've never been nearer to Rome than St. Alban's."

"St. Alban's? Where is that?"

"Holborn."

Some