"There was once, if my memory serves me rightly, an Apostle of the name of Peter who chose to consider some of the creatures made by his own Maker in the light of vulgarians; and a sheetful of specimens descended on Peter's head to warn him against the folly of finding any of God's creations common or unclean. Of course we've no proof that shrimps were included----" "I say, Jim, don't rag!" Barry threw away his cigarette rather impatiently. "I'm in earnest--oh, I know it sounds beastly snobbish, but still, shrimps at tea----" "Are unusual, though really, if you try them, first-rate." Herrick had filled his pipe, and now took up the match-box. "Seriously, Barry, I know what you mean. So long as we have false standards of gentility I suppose the sight of a shrimp in conjunction with the tea-pot will cause us to shrivel up. But I'll guarantee that neither Mrs. Anstey nor Miss Lynn turned a hair at the sight." "Rather not! They ate them as if they really liked them--and if that wasn't a snub to the awful Martin woman--well, she went, anyway, driven away by our combined vulgarity, I suppose, and we had quite a decent time when she had gone." "Well? If Lady Martin was driven from the field, and you were left the victors, what's the trouble?" "The trouble is this. Lady Martin, being a spiteful woman, and knowing perfectly well that Mrs. Anstey meant to teach her a lesson, will lose no opportunity of spreading the story abroad; and in time it is certain to come to Rose's ears." "Ah!" He spoke thoughtfully. "That is it, is it? And Mr. Rose will--er--resent the tale?" "You see it's this way." Barry gave way to the impulse to confide in his friend, to whom all his boyish confidences had been given. "Rose is a real good sort, and wouldn't for the world let Toni suspect that he knows he's married beneath him, as the world calls it." "The world? Ah!" There was a light scorn in the tone. "Oh, I know--we both know it's all rot, that sort of thing. But still, as the world goes, one has to remember it; and somehow, although Rose is genuinely fond of his wife, I doubt whether his love would stand much--well, ridicule." "Ah! And I suppose the child did make herself rather ridiculous in her attempts to welcome a cousin to whom she is doubtless attached." "It isn't only that." Having once begun, Barry unburdened himself still further. "You know, although I admire Mrs. Rose immensely, and she's a ripping kid really, I'm not a bit sure that the marriage will be a success." "Why not, Barry?" "Well, they're unsuited to one another in heaps of ways. Toni is, as I say, a dear little girl, but she's only half-educated, and not in the least intellectual. Sharp in her way--the way of a quick-witted woman--shrewd, and no fool. But you know Rose is rather an exceptional fellow." "So I have always understood."