" It was to Lady Susan Condit that they owed
this inestimable benefit; an advantage ranking in Miss Pinsent's opinion
above even the lawn tennis courts and the resident chaplain. It was the
fact of Lady Susan's annual visit that made the hotel what it was. Miss
Pinsent was certainly the last to underrate such a privilege:--"It's so
important, my dear, forming as we do a little family, that there should be
some one to give _the tone_; and no one could do it better than Lady
Susan--an earl's daughter and a person of such determination. Dear Mrs.
Ainger now--who really _ought_, you know, when Lady Susan's away--
absolutely refuses to assert herself." Miss Pinsent sniffed derisively. "A
bishop's niece!--my dear, I saw her once actually give in to some South
Americans--and before us all. She gave up her seat at table to oblige
them--such a lack of dignity! Lady Susan spoke to her very plainly about
it afterwards."
Miss Pinsent glanced across the lake and adjusted her auburn front.
"But of course I don't deny that the stand Lady Susan takes is not always
easy to live up to--for the rest of us, I mean. Monsieur Grossart, our
good proprietor, finds it trying at times, I know--he has said as much,
privately, to Mrs. Ainger and me. After all, the poor man is not to blame
for wanting to fill his hotel, is he? And Lady Susan is so difficult--so
very difficult--about new people. One might almost say that she
disapproves of them beforehand, on principle.
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