Francesca has a
yellow gown which will drive Bertie Godolphin to madness. Salemina
has laid out a soft, dovelike grey and steel combination, directed
towards the Church of England; for you may not know that Sally has a
vicar in her train, Mr. Beresford, and he will probably speak to-
night. As for me-"
Before these shocking personalities were finished Salemina and
Francesca had fled to their rooms, and Mr. Beresford took up my
broken sentence and said, "As for you, Miss Hamilton, whatever gown
you wear, you are sure to make one man speak, if you care about it;
but, I suppose, you would not listen to him unless he were English";
and with that shot he departed.
I really think I shall have to give up the Francesca hypothesis,
and, alas! I am not quite ready to adopt any other.
We discussed international marriages while we were at our toilets,
Salemina and I prinking by the light of one small candle-end, while
Francesca, as the youngest and prettiest, illuminated her charms
with the six sitting-room candles and three filched from the little
table in the hall.
I gave it as my humble opinion that for an American woman an English
husband was at least an experiment; Salemina declared that for that
matter a husband of any nationality was an experiment.
