But all this was a matter of the merest
speculation, for he was well aware--as he said to himself a dozen
times--that his niece had blundered strangely in her reading of Miss
Dunstable's character.
When the Gresham party entered the ante-room into which the staircase
opened, they found Miss Dunstable standing there surrounded by a few
of her most intimate allies. Mrs. Harold Smith was sitting quite
close to her; Dr. Easyman was reclining on a sofa against the wall,
and the lady who habitually lived with Miss Dunstable was by his
side. One or two others were there also, so that a little running
conversation was kept up in order to relieve Miss Dunstable of the
tedium which might otherwise be engendered by the work she had in
hand. As Mrs. Gresham, leaning on her husband's arm, entered the
room, she saw the back of Mrs. Proudie, as that lady made her way
through the opposite door, leaning on the arm of the bishop. Mrs.
Harold Smith had apparently recovered from the annoyance which she
must no doubt have felt when Miss Dunstable so utterly rejected her
suit on behalf of her brother. If any feeling had existed, even for a
day, calculated to put a stop to the intimacy between the two ladies,
that feeling had altogether died away, for Mrs.
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