"My dear," she said, one morning, to her lord, "I am afraid Colonel
Wilders is very intimate with that Madame Cyprienne."

"Our eccentric Cousin Bill! You don't say so? Well, there's no fool
like an old fool," said Lord Essendine, who was a very matter-of-fact,
plain-spoken peer.

"I always thought she was an adventuress," cried Lady Essendine,
angrily.

"Then why did you take her up so hotly? But for you, no one would ever
have heard of the woman, least of all Cousin Bill."

"Well, I have done with her now. I shall drop her."

"The mischief's done. Unless I am much mistaken, she won't drop Cousin
Bill."

Lord Essendine, who was, perhaps, behind the scenes, was not wrong in
his estimate of the influence Madame Cyprienne exercised. Before six
months were out, Colonel Wilders came, with rather a sheepish air, to
the head of the house, and informed him of his approaching marriage to
the Countess de Saint Clair.

"That's a new title to me, Bill. Foreign, I suppose?" Lord Essendine
had the usual contempt of the respectable Briton for titles not
mentioned in Debrett or Burke.

"It's French, I fancy; and for the moment it is in abeyance. Madame
Cyprienne tells me--"