DUCHESS.

[_To herself, closing her eyes._] _Couleur de rose_--[_to_ SOPHY]
er--that pink rag. Take off my collarette.

[SOPHY _lays the tea-gown and the robe over the back of the settee and
proceeds to unfasten the_ DUCHESS'S _pearl collarette._

MRS. EDEN.

[_Startled, by some passage in the book she is reading._] Oh, I _say_!

DUCHESS.

What, dear Mrs. Eden?

MRS. EDEN.

[_Bethinking herself--soberly._] Ah, yes, the style is excellent, isn't
it?

DUCHESS.

[_To_ SOPHY, _while the collarette is in process of removal._] Have you
everything you require for the night, child?

SOPHY.

Yes, thank you, your Grace. Miss Gilchrist, Mrs. Eden's maid, has lent