"Bunny" and "Theo" and "Chris" all pricked up their ears when they heard about Mrs. Sawyer. It was another house for them to lunch or dine at; and, of course, they were expected to come to the old houses primed with all the gossip they could pick up about her. I don't know whether any of them thought _seriously_ that they had a chance with her; they must _surely_ realize that a woman prefers a man of some spirit... And, if they do, they have no excuse for standing in a ring and keeping every one else away. Of course, they were _useful_ to her. Major Blanstock found her a house in South Audley Street and helped her furnish it and found servants for her and so forth and so on. He even introduced her to Connie Maitland--as a short cut to knowing everybody, which I gather was her ambition. Certainly there is no one to equal Connie for that. You have seen men in the street, unloading bricks from a cart and tossing them, three or four at a time, from one to another? Should Connie ever sustain a reverse, she will always have a second string to her bow... Major Blanstock _tossed_ this Mrs. Sawyer to Connie, Connie _tossed_ her to me... I was expected, I presume, to _toss_ her on to some one else, but I happen to have been brought up in a different school; before I undertake the responsibility of introducing a complete stranger, I like to know _something_ about her. Goodness me, I don't suggest that my recommendation counts for anything, but for my own peace of mind, when somebody says "Oh, I met her at Lady Ann's"--there _is_ an implied guarantee--, I want to feel that my friends' confidence is not misplaced. "Now, Major Blanstock," I said, "I want you to tell me _all_ about your lovely young divinity, the rich widow. If I am to befriend her, I must know a _little_ about her." I imagine that I was not the first enquirer, for he answered with an impatience which in other days some of us might have considered uncivil. "_Is_ she rich?," he asked. "I know nothing about her. I don't even know she's a widow. I met her on the boat coming home from Buenos Aires; and, as she'd never been in London, I tried to make her feel at home and asked Lady Maitland to give her a helping hand." And that was literally all I got out of him--the fountain-head. _Connie_ knew nothing and wanted to know nothing. It was enough that Mrs. Sawyer was presentable in herself and would attach her name to _any_ subscription-list for _any_ amount. The others--people who are usually well-informed--simply handed on the gossip which they had themselves made up overnight. It was then that I approached my diplomatic friends.