wall.

"I suppose the dear lady has a hundred slaves of the lamp, as usual,"
said Ashe. "You advise her about her house--somebody else helps her to
buy her wine--"

"Not at all, my dear fellow," said Harman, offended--"as if I couldn't
do that!"

"Hullo!" said Darrell, as they neared the drawing-room door. "What a
crowd there is!"

For as the butler announced them, the din of talk which burst through
the door implied indeed a multitude--much at their ease.

They made their way in with difficulty, shaping their course towards
that corner in the room where they knew they should find their hostess.
Ashe was greeted on all sides with friendly words and congratulations,
and a passage was opened for him to the famous "blue sofa" where Madame
d'Estrées sat enthroned.

She looked up with animation, broke off her talk with two elderly
diplomats who seemed to have taken possession of her, and beckoned Ashe
to a seat beside her.

"So you're in? Was it a hard fight?"

"A hard fight? Oh no! One would have had to be a great fool not to get
in."