And she knew that she must remember her position and behave very normally indeed, especially while her employer glared at her from the other side of the Duchesse’s chair.Already she had snatched away from his fiancee a certain amount of her rightful limelight, and now she was attracting fresh attention to herself.Lady Bembridge, however, seized the opportunity to beam at her, and she said in one of her penetratingly loud whispers: ‘What a surprise, my dear!... But you’ve put the Duchesse into a good humour, and at least we shall be able to enjoy our lunch. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it at all.’Celeste stole across to her and whispered, also.‘I always said you were a dark horse! Now everything’s coming out, and we shall learn the truth. He’s terribly good-looking!’ She glanced from Diana to the debonair secretary, who had provided his employer with an aperitif, and was coming across to put one into Diana’s uncertain grasp. ‘I shall want to hear the whole story!’ And she bestowed a radiant smile on Michael Vaughan.But, although Celeste had recovered her nerve—having been more or less accepted by her fiancé’s august godmother—Diana had never felt so strained and unequal to an occasion in her life, and she was glad when a silver-toned gong announced the fact that luncheon was about to be served, and they all moved into an enormous and grandiose dining-room.
