The scene was ablaze
with uniforms, for the Speaker had been giving a dinner, and Royalty was
expected. But, as Lady Tranmore perceived at once, very few members of
the House of Commons were present. A hot debate on some detail of the
naval estimates had been sprung on ministers, and the whips on each side
had been peremptorily keeping their forces in hand.
"I don't see either William or Kitty," said Mary, after a careful
scrutiny not, in truth, directed to the discovery of the Ashes.
"No. I suppose William was kept, and Kitty did not care to come alone."
Mary said nothing. But she was well aware that Kitty was never
restrained from going into society by the mere absence of her husband.
Meanwhile Lady Tranmore was lost in secret anxieties as to what might
have happened in Hill Street. Had there been a quarrel? Something
certainly had gone wrong, or Kitty would be here.
"Lady Kitty not arrived?" said a voice, like a macaw's, beside her.
Elizabeth turned and shook hands with Lady Parham. That extraordinary
woman, followed everywhere by the attentive observation of the crowd,
had never asserted herself more sharply in dress, manner, and coiffure
than on this particular evening--so it seemed, at least, to Lady
Tranmore.
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