Both were staying at the hotel, and were respectively named--Mrs Masterman, and Mrs Ray Jefferson. Mrs Masterman was a widow. Mrs Ray Jefferson had a husband. He was an American, blessed with many dollars, amassed on the strength of an "Invention." When Mr Jefferson spoke of the Invention, people usually supposed it to be of a mechanical nature. As they became more familiar with him, they learnt that it was something "Chemical." No one quite knew what, but it became associated in their minds with "vats" and "boilers," and large works somewhere "down Boston way." There could be no doubt of the excellence of the Invention, because Mr Ray Jefferson said it was known, and used all over Europe, and its success was backed by dollars to an apparently unlimited extent. The Inventor and his wife had sumptuous rooms, but they were not averse to mixing with their "fellow-man," or rather "woman,"--for Mrs Jefferson rejoiced in the possession of certain Parisian _toilettes_, and was not selfish enough to keep them only for the eyes of her lord and master. She was grudgingly but universally acknowledged to be the best-dressed woman in the hotel--except, of course, when she was in the Turkish Baths, which unfortunately reduced its frequenters to one level of apparelling, a garment which made up in simplicity for any lack of elegance. The shape was always the same--viz., short in the skirt, low in the neck, and bare as to sleeves. The material was generally pink cotton, or white with a red border. Mrs Jefferson was quite American enough to have "notions" on dress, more or less original and extravagant. Finding her companion was unusually silent this morning, she gave up her thoughts to the devising of a special toilet for the Bath. These garments were so hideous, she told herself, that it was no wonder people looked such guys in them. Still there was no reason why she should not have something _chic_ and novel for herself--something which should arouse the envy of, and make the wearer appear quite different to, the other women. The choice of style was easy enough--something Grecian and artistic--but the material discomposed her. It was hardly possible to have a bath of this description without one's garment getting into a moist and clinging condition--leaving alone the after processes of shampooing, _douche_, and plunge. So silk, or satin, or woollen material was out of the question, and cotton was common, not to say vulgar.