‘You won’t forget—­I know how busy you are—­her cards for your party?’

‘They shall be posted before I sleep the sleep of conscious innocence.’

‘And real benevolence,’ said Merton.

‘And revenge,’ added Mrs. Brown-Smith.  ’I have heard of his bragging, the monster.  He has talked about me.  And I remember how he treated Violet Lebas.’

At this moment the Vidame de la Lain, a tall, fair young man, vastly too elegant, appeared, and claimed Mrs. Brown-Smith for a dance.  With a look at Merton, and a sound which, from less perfect lips, might have been described as a suppressed giggle, Mrs. Brown-Smith rose, then turning, ‘Post the page to me, Mr. Merton,’ she said.  Merton bowed, and, folding up the page of the time-table, he consigned it to his cigarette case.

* * * * * *

Mrs. Malory received, with a blending of emotions, the invitation to the party of Mrs. Brown-Smith.  The social popularity and the wealth of the hostess made such invitations acceptable.  But the wealth arose from trade, in soap, not in coal, and coal (like the colza bean) is ’a product of the soil,’ the result of creative forces which, in the geological past, have worked together for the good of landed families.  Soap, on the other hand, is the result of human artifice, and is certainly advertised with more of emphasis and of ingenuity than of delicacy.  But, by her own line of descent, Mrs. Brown-Smith came from a Scottish house of ancient standing, historically renowned for its assassins, traitors, and time-servers.  This partly washed out the stain of soap.  Again, Mrs. Malory had heard the name of Mrs. Brown-Smith taken in vain, and that in a matter nearly affecting her Matilda’s happiness.  On the other side, Merton had given the lady a valuable testimonial to character.  Moreover, the Vidame would be at her party, and Mrs. Malory told herself that she could study the ground.  Above all, the girls were so anxious to go:  they seldom had such a chance.  Therefore, while the Early Victorian moralist hesitated, the mother accepted.

They were all glad that they went.  Susan, the younger Miss Malory, enjoyed herself extremely.  Matilda danced with the Vidame as often as her mother approved.  The conduct of Mrs. Brown-Smith was correctness itself.  She endeared herself to the girls:  invited them to her place in Perthshire, and warmly congratulated Mrs. Malory on the event approaching in her family.  The eye of maternal suspicion could detect nothing amiss.  Thanks mainly to Mrs. Brown-Smith, the girls found the season an earthly Paradise:  and Mrs. Malory saw much more of the world than she had ever done before.  But she remained vigilant, and on the alert.  Before the end of July she had even conceived the idea of inviting Mrs. Brown-Smith, fatigued by her toils, to inhale the bracing air of Upwold in the moors.  But she first consulted Merton, who expressed his warm approval.