The musicale that followed was a fitting finish. The hosts arrived about ten o'clock, and half an hour later began to enjoy $25,000 worth of music. The house was comfortably filled with the smartest of the smart. The Skimphony Orchestra silenced them, and then Furioso's splendid voice rang out from the smoking-room. After he had sung several thousand dollars' worth, Herr String, the eminent 'cellist, supported by the full Skimphony, played beautifully. Roardika, Hemstop, and several other high-priced artists followed him. Furioso closed the programme with _"Ah mio, mi mio."_ After Furioso, supper. And such a supper! The Radigans' chef is an artist. When the duke comes for Miss Veal and the new house is done, they will show the town how to do things. CHAPTER XI _An Awfully Good Time_ Since her engagement to Plumstone Smith, Jr., was announced, Miss Pearl Veal is having what in Society is called an awfully good time. This means that her day ends in the early morning and she awakens about noon; stands around other people's drawing-rooms at teas for some hours; hurries home to change her costume for dinner; sits smiling through a half-dozen courses; is whirled away for a few acts of opera; hustled off to dance till close to dawn. Society has taken her up. People are doing things for her. Consequently, I am beginning to fear that she will lose the color she brought from Kansas City; that the lines of her face, once so round and soft, will straighten and harden; that she will give up smiling and take to talking, or become phonographic, like Miss Marion Speechless.