'Does Miss Irvine keep up her acquaintance with Lady Forestfield?' asked Mrs. Hamblin innocently. 'Not a personal acquaintance,' said Mrs. Chadwick severely. 'I have forbidden that long ago; but I believe they correspond, and, so far as I can gather, Lady Forestfield has actually induced Eleanor to send Mr. Pratt to call upon her.' 'What!' cried Mrs. Hamblin, surprised out of her composure; 'Mr. Pratt has called upon Lady Forestfield?' 'Exactly; and has had a long conversation with her.' 'Conversation, too! Of what nature, in Heaven's name?' 'Of a very private and confidential nature;' said Mrs. Chadwick. 'If Lady Forestfield had expressly wanted to thwart my plans, she could not have laboured more earnestly than she seems to have done. It appears that she took her own life as the text of the sermon which she preached to Mr. Pratt, talking to him all sorts of things about the misery of marriage without love, and the difference between imaginary and real love, and a great deal more in the same style.' 'And what did Mr. Pratt say to this?' asked Mrs. Hamblin. 'He is scarcely, I should have thought, the style of man on whom such an argument would have had much effect.' 'On the contrary, he seems to have been very much impressed by it,' said Mrs. Chadwick. 'He agrees to all Lady Forestfield says, and there is quite a ridiculous friendship and confidence between the three.' 'A friendship and confidence between three people never lasts,' said Mrs. Hamblin; 'for one is always certain to be jealous of the other two. But I am much surprised at what you tell me; I confess I do not see the bond of union.' 'O, the bond of union with which they have entrapped that silly little man,' said Mrs. Chadwick, rather forgetting herself; 'is their common love of art, and their superiority over the people in society, who are supposed to be heartless and frivolous, and that sort of thing.' 'And the result of this delightful conference is, then, that Mr. Pratt has not merely been refused by Miss Irvine, but has been persuaded that she cannot love him with that pure and holy affection which is so desirable; but ought to be rather ashamed of his boldness in venturing to think of her, and quite proud of being permitted to remain her friend. Lady Forestfield's convincing powers are really very extraordinary.' 'O, I am quite disgusted with it all,' said Mrs. Chadwick; 'the time and trouble I have spent in endeavouring to secure a proper position for that girl no one can tell but myself; but I should not grudge them one atom if she had shown me the slightest gratitude.' 'The affection you have shown, and the skill you have brought to bear, have been equally ill rewarded,' said Mrs. Hamblin, who preserved her outward calmness of demeanour, although inwardly raging at Spiridion's defection.