‘Charming,’ replied Vandeloup, looking at the dainty little figure in white standing under the blaze of the chandelier; ‘she is more beautiful than ever.’ Kitty made a saucy little curtsey, and burst into a musical laugh. ‘He is just the same, Madame,’ she said merrily to the tall, grave woman in black velvet, who stood looking at her affectionately, ‘full of compliments, and not meaning one; but when is dinner to be ready?’ pathetically, ‘I’m dying of starvation.’ ‘I hope you have peaches, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, gaily; ‘the first time I met Mademoiselle she was longing for peaches.’ ‘I am unchanged in that respect,’ retorted Kitty, brightly; ‘I adore peaches still.’ ‘I am just waiting for Mr Calton,’ said Madame Midas, looking at her watch; ‘he ought to be here by now.’ ‘Is that the lawyer, Madame?’ asked Vandeloup. ‘Yes,’ she replied, quietly, ‘he is a most delightful man.’ ‘So I have heard,’ answered Vandeloup, nonchalantly, ‘and he had something to do with a former owner of this house, I think.’ ‘Oh, don’t talk of that,’ said Mrs Villiers, nervously; ‘the first time I took the house, I heard all about the Hansom Cab murder.’ ‘Why, Madame, you are not nervous,’ said Kitty, gaily. ‘No, my dear,’ replied the elder, quietly, ‘but I must confess that for some reason or another I have been a little upset since coming here; I don’t like being alone.’ ‘You shall never be that,’ said Kitty, fondly nestling to her. ‘Thank you, puss,’ said Madame, tapping her cheek; ‘but I am nervous,’ she said, rapidly; ‘at night especially. Sometimes I have to get Selina to come into my room and stay all night.’ ‘Madame Midas nervous,’ thought Vandeloup to himself; ‘then I can guess the reason; she is afraid of her husband coming back to her.’ Just at this moment the servant announced Mr Calton, and he entered, with his sharp, incisive face, looking clever and keen. ‘I must apologise for being late, Mrs Villiers,’ he said, shaking hands with his hostess; ‘but business, you know, the pleasure of business.’ ‘Now,’ said Madame, quickly, ‘I hope you have come to the business of pleasure.’ ‘Very epigrammatic, my dear lady,’ said Calton, in his high, clear voice; ‘pray introduce me.’ Madame did so, and they all went to dinner, Madame with Calton and Kitty following with Vandeloup. ‘This,’ observed Calton, when they were all seated at the dinner table, ‘is the perfection of dining; for we are four, and the guests, according to an epicure, should never be less than the Graces nor greater than the Muses.’ And a very merry little dinner it was. All four were clever talkers, and Vandeloup and Calton being pitted against one another, excelled themselves; witty remarks, satirical sayings, and well-told stories were constantly coming from their lips, and they told their stories as their own and did not father them on Sydney Smith.