man--would but exchange 'gulping' for 'chewing'--would only, that
is to say, reform their whole system of mastication, and thereby of
digestion, the world would be another and a happier place.

He came up now, frowning, and out of temper.

'Upon my word, Eugenie, the blindness of some people is too amazing!'

'Is it? Sit down, papa, and look at that!'

She pushed a chair towards him, smiling, and pointed to the terrace,
the woods, the sky.

'It's all very well, my dear,' said Lord Findon, seating himself--'but
this place tries me a good deal.'

'Because the ladies in the restaurant are so stout?' said Eugenie.
'Dear papa--somebody must keep these cooks in practice!'

'Never did I see such spectacles!' said Lord Findon, fuming. 'And when
one knows that the very smallest attention to their diet--and they
might be sylphs again--as young as their grandchildren!--it's really
disheartening.'

'It is,' said Eugenie. 'Shall we announce a little conference in the
salon? I'm sure the ladies would flock.'

'The amount the French eat is appalling!' exclaimed Lord
Findon--without noticing. 'And they have such ridiculous ideas about
us! I said something about their gluttony to M. de Villeton this
morning--and he fired up!--declared he had spent this summer in
English country-houses, and we had seven meals a day--all told--and
there wasn't a Frenchman in the world had more than three--counting
his coffee in the morning.'

'He had us there,' said Eugenie.

'Not at all! It doesn't matter _when_ you eat--it's what and how much
you eat. We _can't_ produce such women as one sees here. I tell you,
Eugenie, we _can't_. It takes all the poetry out of the sex.'

Eugenie smiled.

'Haven't you been walking with Lady Marney, papa?'

Lord Findon looked a little annoyed.

'She's an exception, my dear--a hideous exception.'

'I wouldn't mind her size,' said Eugenie, softly--'if only the
complexion were better done.'

Lord Findon laughed.

'Paint is on the increase,' he declared--'and gambling too. Villeton
tells me there was baccarat in the Marney's' apartment last night,
and Lady Marney lost enormously. Age seems to have no effect on these
people. She must be nearly seventy-five.'

'You may be sure she'll play till the last trump,' said Eugenie.
'Papa!'--her tone changed--'is that Elsie's chair?'

The group to which she pointed was still distant, but Lord Findon,
even at seventy, had the eyes of an eagle, and could read an