"However did it happen?"
"The water in Maine is so cold one dare hardly go in. Nina was a little
girl, she got a cramp, and clutched me around the neck."
"The water cold! How very odd! I had a friend in St. Augustine, who said
the water was positively hot. I am sure it must have been, as my friend
has rheumatism and could never have ventured into a cold bath."
Lady Dorothy lighted a fresh cigarette and waved the old one helplessly
around in her fingers. Nina, afraid that she would let it fall upon the
trail of ashes down the front of her dress, went to take it from her.
"Oh, thanks." She threw herself even further back into the cushions and
now addressed her remarks to the Countess Kate. She was glad to get away
from home. She declared London was overrun this season with enormously,
disgustingly, rich Americans. No offense to her hostess was meant, but
it was really quite shameful whom one got down to associating with, and
yet they were so overloaded with dollars that one might as well, she
supposed, gather in some of the surplus! Then she coolly asked Nina's
name, which she had not caught. Its announcement had the effect of an
electric battery. She raised herself on her elbows.
"The Earl of Eagon is looking for a wife," she announced, and then as
though the idea of Nina's wealth were still more felt, she continued
almost with enthusiasm, "And there is the Duke of Norchester--his
estates need a fortune to keep up, but there are none finer in England.
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