n is usual.

It was midnight and the dance was now at its height. Servants were
peeping in at the windows; the garden was sprinkled with the white
shapes of couples sitting out. Mrs. Thornbury and Mrs. Elliot sat side
by side under a palm tree, holding fans, handkerchiefs, and brooches
deposited in their laps by flushed maidens. Occasionally they exchanged
comments.

"Miss Warrington _does_ look happy," said Mrs. Elliot; they both smiled;
they both sighed.

"He has a great deal of character," said Mrs. Thornbury, alluding to
Arthur.

"And character is what one wants," said Mrs. Elliot. "Now that young
man is _clever_ enough," she added, nodding at Hirst, who came past with
Miss Allan on his arm.

"He does not look strong," said Mrs. Thornbury. "His complexion is
not good.--Shall I tear it off?" she asked, for Rachel had stopped,
conscious of a long strip trailing behind her.

"I hope you are enjoying yourselves?" Hewet asked the ladies.

"This is a very familiar position for me!" smiled Mrs. Thornbury. "I
have brought out five daughters--and they all loved dancing! You love it
too, Miss Vinrace?" she asked, looking at Rachel with maternal eyes. "I
know I did when I was your age. How I used to beg my mother to let me
stay--and now I sympathise with the poor mothers--but I sympathise with
the daughters too!"

She smiled sympathetically, and at the same time rather keenly, at
Rachel.

"They seem to find a great deal to say to each other," said Mrs. Elliot,
looking significantly at the backs of the couple as they turned away.
"Did you notice at the picnic? He was the only person who could make her
utter."

"Her father is a very interesting man," said Mrs. Thornbury. "He has one
of the largest shipping businesses in Hull. He made a very able reply,
you remember, to Mr. Asquith at the last election. It is so interesting
to find that a man of his experience is a strong Protectionist."

She would have liked to discuss politics, which interested her more than
personalities, but Mrs. Elliot would only talk about the Empire in a
less abstract form.

"I hear there are dreadful accounts from England about the rats," she
said. "A sister-in-law, who lives at Norwich, tells me it has been quite
unsafe to order poultry. The plague--you see. It attacks the rats, and
through them other creatures."

"And the local authorities are not taking proper steps?" asked Mrs.
Thornbury.

"That she does not say. But she describes