Cassandra assented absently. She was not interested in old ladies, but she was interested in watching Grizel as she talked. Her practised eye took in every detail of her appearance, and every detail was right. She studied her features, her expression, the waves of her soft fair hair, the swiftly moving hands, and sat smiling, appearing to listen, while her thoughts raced ahead, planning future meetings, seeing herself blessed with a friend who would fill the empty gap. "I shall be jealous of the old ladies if you give them too much of your company!" she said, with a charming smile which accentuated the flattery of the remark. Grizel smiled back with a little nod of acknowledgment, and Cassandra lifted her muff as if preparing to depart, asking casually the while: "Have you good news of your sister-in-law, Miss Beverley? I knew her slightly, and admired her a great deal. She went to India, I think?" Grizel's eyes danced with animation. "She did. Yes. To visit a friend. We saw her off at Marseilles, my husband and I, and a fortnight later we were sitting in a cafe, drinking coffee, and flirting outrageously, when we suddenly saw the name of the ship on a poster! It had been in a collision in the Indian Ocean; and the passengers had to take to the boats. If another ship had not come to the rescue, they might all have been drowned." "What a terrible experience! How sad for the poor girl, just when she was starting for such a delightful visit!" "Not at all sad. Not at all. A very good thing," said Grizel unexpectedly. "Katrine had been wading through trivialities all her life; a big experience was just what she needed. Besides--as a matter of fact... there was a _Man_!" "Aha!" cried Cassandra, immediately fired with feminine interest. "On the ship?" "Pre-cisely! Fastening her into life-belts, bidding her a tragic adieu, waving a gallant hand from the sinking prow." "Just so. I understand! And when is the wedding to be?" Grizel's face lengthened in dismay. "Goodness me--I haven't _told_ you, have I? No one is to know for a couple of months. How on earth did you guess? _Please_ don't speak of it to a soul. You see, it's a trifle awkward, because as a matter of fact the real man,--it wasn't the real man,--I mean it _was_ the real man really, only he pretended--" Cassandra held up a protesting hand. "I think you'd better leave it alone! You didn't tell me anything; I guessed, but I'll promise to forget forthwith, and be agreeably surprised when I hear the news a few months hence. _Don't_ tell me any names!" Before Grizel could reply the whizz of an electric bell sounded through the house, and both women involuntarily groaned, foreseeing an end to their _tete-a-tete_, but the next moment Grizel's eyes brightened. "It's a _man_!" she whispered ecstatically. "It's a man. I can hear his dear boots! My first man caller! Oh joy! Oh rapture!" "Captain Peignton."