She"s upstairs putting on a hat, I believe.
MRS. CORTELYON.
[_Sitting comfortably._] Ah! [_She looks round:_ DRUMMLE _and_ ELLEAN _are talking together in the hall._] We used to be very frank with each other, Aubrey. I suppose the old footing is no longer possible, eh?
AUBREY.
If so, I"m not entirely to blame, Mrs. Cortelyon.
MRS. CORTELYON.
Mrs. Cortelyon? H"m! No, I admit it. But you must make some little allowance for me, _Mr. Tanqueray_. Your first wife and I, as girls, were like two cherries on one stalk, and then I was the confidential friend of your married life. That post, perhaps, wasn"t altogether a sinecure. And now--well, when a woman gets to my age I suppose she"s a stupid, prejudiced, conventional creature. However, I"ve got over it and--[_giving him her hand_]--I hope you"ll be enormously happy and let me be a friend once more.
AUBREY.
Thank you, Alice.
MRS. CORTELYON.
That"s right. I feel more cheerful than I"ve done for weeks. But I suppose it would serve me right if the second Mrs. Tanqueray showed me the door. Do you think she will?
AUBREY.
[_Listening._] Here is my wife. [MRS. CORTELYON _rises, and_ PAULA _enters, dressed for driving; she stops abruptly on seeing_ MRS.
CORTELYON.] Paula dear, Mrs. Cortelyon has called to see you.
[PAULA _starts, looks at_ MRS. CORTELYON _irresolutely, then after a slight pause barely touches_ MRS.
CORTELYON"S _extended hand._
PAULA.
[_Whose manner now alternates between deliberate insolence and a.s.sumed sweetness._] Mrs.----? What name, Aubrey?
AUBREY.
Mrs. Cortelyon.
PAULA.
Cortelyon? Oh, yes. Cortelyon.
MRS. CORTELYON.
[_Carefully guarding herself throughout against any expression of resentment._] Aubrey ought to have told you that Alice Cortelyon and he are very old friends.
PAULA.
Oh, very likely he has mentioned the circ.u.mstance. I have quite a wretched memory.
MRS. CORTELYON.
You know we are neighbours, Mrs. Tanqueray.
PAULA.
Neighbours? Are we really? Won"t you sit down? [_They both sit._]
Neighbours! That"s most interesting!
MRS. CORTELYON.
Very near neighbours. You can see my roof from your windows.
PAULA.
I fancy I _have_ observed a roof. But you have been away from home; you have only just returned.
MRS. CORTELYON.
I? What makes you think that?
PAULA.
Why, because it is two months since we came to Highercoombe, and I don"t remember your having called.
MRS. CORTELYON.
Your memory is now terribly accurate. No, I"ve not been away from home, and it is to explain my neglect that I am here, rather unceremoniously, this morning.
PAULA.
Oh, to explain--quite so. [_With mock solicitude._] Ah, you"ve been very ill; I ought to have seen that before.
MRS. CORTELYON.
Ill!
PAULA.
You look dreadfully pulled down. We poor women show illness so plainly in our faces, don"t we?
AUBREY.
[_Anxiously._] Paula dear, Mrs. Cortelyon is the picture of health.
MRS. CORTELYON.
[_With some asperity._] I have never _felt_ better in my life.