_Mrs. de Trappe._ [_Peevishly._] Yes, please take them away. [_Waving her hand in the direction of_ Banish _and_ Featherleigh.] Edith and I have many secrets to discuss. Of course she will tell you [_to_ Lord Dol.] everything I have said when we are gone, and I shall tell Arthur and James all she has said as we go home. But it is so amusing to think ourselves mysterious for twenty minutes. [_As the men go out laughing, she turns to_ Lady Doldrummond _with a sigh_.] Ah, Edith, when I pause in all these gaieties and say to myself, Violet, you are about to marry a second husband, I cannot feel sufficiently thankful that it is not the third. _Lady Dol._ The third? _Mrs. de Trappe._ To face the possibility of a third honeymoon, a third disappointment, and a third funeral would tax my courage to the utmost! And I am not strong. _Lady Dol._ I am shocked to see you so despondent. Surely you anticipate every happiness with Mr. Banish? _Mrs. de Trappe._ Oh, yes. He has money, and Arthur thinks him a very worthy sort of person. He is a little dull, but then middle-class people are always so gross in their air when they attempt to be lively or amusing; so long as they are grave I can bear them well enough, but I know of nothing so unpleasant as the sight of a banker laughing. As Arthur says, City men and butlers should always be serious. _Lady Dol._ Do you think that the world will quite understand--Arthur? _Mrs. de Trappe._ What do you mean, Edith? A woman must have an adviser. Arthur was my late husband's friend, and he is my future husband's friend. Surely that should be enough to satisfy the most exacting. _Lady Dol._ But why marry at all? why not remain as you are? _Mrs. de Trappe._ How unreasonable you are, Edith! How often have you urged me to marry Mr. Banish, and now that it is all arranged and Arthur is satisfied, you begin to object. _Lady Dol._ I thought that you liked Mr. Banish better. _Mrs. de Trappe._ Better than Arthur? No, I am not so unkind as that, nor would James wish it. I am marrying because I am poor. My husband, as you know, left nearly all his money to Julia, and I feel the injustice so acutely that the absurd settlement he made on me is spent upon doctor's bills alone. If it were not for Arthur and one or two other kind friends who send me game and other little things from time to time, I could not exist at all. [_Draws off her gloves, displays a diamond ring on each finger, and wipes her eyes with a point-lace pocket-handkerchief._] And when I think of all that I endured with De Trappe! How often have I been roused from a sound sleep to see the room illuminated and De Trappe, rolled up in flannel, sitting by the fire reading "Lead, kindly Light." What an existence! But now tell me about Julia. I hope she does not give you much trouble. _Lady Dol._ I only hope that I may keep her always with me.