casion only three days before of her calling at
their hotel with her aunt and then making, for our
other two heroines, a great impression of beauty
and eminence. This impression had remained so
with Milly that, at present, and although her at
tention was aware at the same time of everything
else, her eyes were mainly engaged with Kate
Croy when not engaged with Susie. That won
derful creature's eyes moreover readily met them
she ranked now as a wonderful creature; and
it seemed a part of the swift prosperity of the
American visitors that, so little in the original reck
oning, she should yet appear conscious, charmingly,
frankly conscious, of possibilities of friendship for
them. Milly had easily and, as a guest, gracefully
generalised: English girls had a special, strong
beauty, and it particularly showed in evening dress
above all when, as was strikingly the case with
this one, the dress itself was what it should be.
That observation she had all ready for Lord Mark
when they should, after a little, get round to it.
She seemed even now to see that there might be a
good deal they would get round to; the indication
being that, taken up once for all with her other
neighbour, their hostess would leave them much to
themselves. Mrs. Lowder's other neighbour was
the Bishop of Murrum a real bishop, such as Milly
had never seen, with a complicated costume, a voice
like an old-fashioned wind instrument, and a face
all the portrait of a prelate; while the gentleman on

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p162 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p163w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p164

v?