"Much amiss! I don't know whether she's not the prettiest woman I ever
saw," said Greystock.

"Yes; but I mean in conduct, and all that. She is making herself queer;
and Camperdown, our lawyer, means to jump upon her; but it's only because
she doesn't know what she ought to be at, and what she ought not. You
could tell her."

"It wouldn't suit me at all to have to quarrel with Camperdown," said the
barrister, laughing.

"You and he would settle everything in five minutes, and it would save me
a world of trouble," said Eustace.

"Fawn is your man; take my word for it," said Greystock, as he walked back
into the House.

* * * * *

Dramatists, when they write their plays, have a delightful privilege of
prefixing a list of their personages; and the dramatists of old used to
tell us who was in love with whom, and what were the blood relationships
of all the persons. In such a narrative as this, any proceeding of that
kind would be unusual, and therefore the poor narrator has been driven to
expend his four first chapters in the mere task of introducing his
characters. He regrets the length of these introductions, and will now
begin at once the action of his story.