They're cousins of hers in some way. She
seems keen to hear about this Miss Grant. But everybody wants to hear
about her! Would you like to come to quite a small intimate sort of
lunch party at Lady Meason's, and meet Miss Bland when she gets well,
and let us have a nice little cozy gossip about this _quaint_
engagement?"
Mrs. Cayley-Binns was enchanted. The one difficulty lay in the
scantiness of her information. She made up her mind, however, like a
good general, that the difficulty must somehow be overcome, and accepted
without visible hesitation. Before she left the Casino she invited the
journalist to call, with the intention of pumping him, as he seemed to
know everything about everybody of importance, and might have details to
impart concerning Prince Vanno Della Robbia. Also, on the way home she
bought an "Almanach de Gotha," and made herself familiar with the family
history of the Dukes of Rienzi, since the year 1215, when the title
first came into being.
Naturally, when the moment arrived, and everybody at Lady Meason's table
was looking eagerly at Mrs. Cayley-Binns--hitherto insignificant--she
felt forced to say something worth saying about Miss Grant. She
swallowed hard, choked in a crumb, hastily sipped the excellent
champagne Lady Meason gave at her second-best parties, and recovering
herself said that "well, really, what she knew was almost too shocking
to tell." There was a Frenchman, good-looking, evidently a sort of
gentleman, in the train with Miss Grant when she was travelling from
England.
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