he
pinned it upon her corsage. The effect was magical; every one exclaimed
with delight, and so Reggie's reputation as an authority upon dress was
made for ever. Now he was Mrs. de Graffenried's right-hand man, and
they made up their pranks together. Once they had walked down the
street in Newport with a big rag doll between them. And Reggie had
given a dinner at which the guest of honour had been a monkey--surely
Montague had heard of that, for it had been the sensation of the
season. It was really the funniest thing imaginable; the monkey wore a
suit of broad-cloth with collar and cuffs, and he shook hands with all
the guests, and behaved himself exactly like a gentleman--except that
he did not get drunk.

And then Mrs. Vivie pointed out the great Mrs. Ridgley-Clieveden, who
was sitting with one of her favourites, a grave, black-bearded
gentleman who had leaped into fame by inheriting fifty million dollars.
"Mrs. R.-C." had taken him up, and ordered his engagement book for him,
and he was solemnly playing the part of a social light. He had
purchased an old New York mansion, upon the decoration of which three
million dollars had been spent; and when he came down to business from
Tuxedo, his private train waited all day for him with steam up. Mrs.
Vivie told an amusing tale of a woman who had announced her engagement
to him, and borrowed large sums of money upon the strength of it,
before his denial came out. That had been a source of great delight to
Mrs. de Graffenried, who was furiously jealous of "Mrs. R. C."

From the anecdotes that people told, Montague judged that Mrs. de
Graffenried must be one of those new leaders of Society, who, as Mrs.
Alden said, were inclined to the bizarre and fantastic. Mrs. de
Graffenried spent half a million dollars every season to hold the
position of leader of the Newport set, and you could always count upon
her for new and striking ideas. Once she had given away as cotillion
favours tiny globes with goldfish in them; again she had given a dance
at which everybody got themselves up as different vegetables. She was
fond of going about at Newport and inviting people haphazard to
lunch--thirty or forty at a time--and then surprising them with a
splendid banquet. Again she would give a big formal dinner, and perplex
people by offering them something which they really cared to eat. "You
see," explained Mrs. Vivie, "at these dinners we generally get thick
green turtle soup, and omelette