She was a pretty woman, which, from the men's point
of view, seemed to add piquancy to her scandalous conversation, but the
fact only made Barbara's ears tingle the more. Mrs. Dearmer was in the
fashion; Barbara knew that, for even at Lady Bolsover's she had often
been made to blush, but she had never heard in St. James's Square a
tithe of the ribaldry which assailed her at the Abbey.
It was natural, perhaps, that Barbara Lanison should propound a problem
to herself. Was she foolish to resent what was little more than the
fashion of the day? These people were her uncle's guests, honoured
guests surely, since they had come to Aylingford so often. Would he
countenance anything to which there was any real objection? She would
have asked him, but found no opportunity. For two or three days after
his talk with her about Lord Rosmore she hardly saw him, and never for a
moment alone. More guests arrived, and it was during these days that
Mrs. Dearmer's conversation became more daring. On two occasions Barbara
had got up and walked away, followed by a burst of laughter--she thought
at her modesty, but it might have been at Mrs.
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