The Collises haven't said to me
they're that, and I haven't said what I am; but we know. I'm paying
fourteen guineas a week for my visit, and I've a sneaking idea her
ladyship's saving up the best room for other friends who'll give more. I
could live at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, I expect, for that
price, but you see the catch is that Lord and Lady Dauntrey can
introduce their guests to swell people. I wouldn't meet the right kind
if I lived in a hotel, even with a first-rate chaperon. I know, for I
came to Monte Carlo with an Australian friend, for a few days on my way
to England. It's no use being at a resort if you don't get into the
smart set, is it?"
"I suppose not," said Mary. "But I think I care more about places than
people."
"I don't understand that feeling. I want to get in with the best. And
though Lord Dauntrey's poor, and I imagine disappointed in expectations
of money with her, he must be acquainted with a lot of important titled
people. He's a viscount, you know, and that's pretty high up."
"I didn't know," Mary confessed. "I don't know anything about society."
"You seem to have led a retired sort of life," Miss Wardropp remarked,
though without much curiosity, for she was not really interested in any
woman except herself, or those connected with her affairs. "Surely you
read about their wedding in South Africa last Spring?"
"No. I have never read newspapers."
"I don't bother either, except society news and fashion pages.
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