"But I tell you he is! If--if he were more masterful I should like him better! I like a man to be a man and not--a--a pranked-out doll!" "How you have changed!" sighed her aunt. "I thought that was just what you did not want. Didn't you send your Philip away to become a beau?" "He is not my Philip--Aunt! I--no, of course I did--didn't. And if I d-did, it was very st-stupid of me, and now I'd rather have a--a masterful man." "Ay, we're all like that in our youth," nodded her aunt. "When you grow older you'll appreciate the milder sort. I nearly married Jerry Fletcher. Luckily I changed my mind and had Malmerstoke. God rest his soul, poor fellow! Now I shall have Tom, I suppose." Cleone broke into a hysterical laugh. "Aunt, you are incorrigible! How can you talk so?" "Dreadful, isn't it? But I was always like that. Very attractive, you know. I never was beautiful, but I made a great success. I quite shocked my poor mother. But it was all a pose, of course. It made me noticed. I was so amusing and novel--like you, my love, but in a different way. All a pose." "Why, is it still a pose, Aunt?" "Oh, now it's a habit. So much less fatiguing, my dear. But to return to what I was saying, you--" "Don't--don't let's talk--about me," begged Cleone unsteadily. "I--hardly know what possesses me, but--Oh, there's the bell!" Lady Malmerstoke dragged herself up. "Already? Clo, is my wig on straight? Drat the men, I've not had a wink of sleep the whole afternoon. A nice hag I shall look to-night. Which of them is it, my dear?" Cleone was peering out of the window. "'Tis James and Jennifer, Aunt." She came back into the room. "It seems an age since I saw Jenny." Lady Malmerstoke studied herself in her little mirror. "Is she the child who lives down in the country?" "Yes--Jenny Winton, such a sweet little thing. She has come up with Mr. Winton for a few weeks. I am so glad she managed to induce him to bring her!" Cleone ran forward as the two Wintons were ushered in. "Jenny, dear!" Jennifer was half a head shorter than Cleone, a shy child with soft grey eyes and mouse-coloured hair. She flung her arms round Cleone's neck. "Oh, Clo, how prodigious elegant you look!" she whispered. "And oh, Jenny, how pretty you look!" retorted Cleone. "Aunt Sally, this is my dear Jennifer!" Jennifer curtseyed. "How do you do, ma'am?" she said in a voice fluttering with nervousness. "I am very well, child. Come and sit down beside me." She patted the couch invitingly. "Is this your first visit to town, my dear?" Jennifer sat down on the edge of the couch. She stole an awed glance at Lady Malmerstoke's powdered wig. "Yes, ma'am. It is so exciting." "I'll warrant it is! And have you been to many balls, yet?" "N-no." The little face clouded over. "Papa does not go out very much," she explained. Cleone sank on to a stool beside them, her silks swirling about her.