"This is Madame Lenore of the Lenore Salon of which, dear Signorina, you will be aware if you spend much time in London. Lenore is a very clever business woman; and this is my brother-in-law, Drake Aldringham."

She said she was charmed. She had a faint accent which like everything else about her was charming. Her name was familiar as was her face. . . although it was many years since I had seen her.

I said: "I remember now. You had an accident and came to The Silk House."

Her face lit up. "So you remember."

"It was hardly the sort of thing one forgets."

"You were the new bride. Oh, I recall it so well. . . such a charming couple. And your husband . . . ?" She looked at Drake in puzzlement.

"Yes," I said, "Philip Sallonger. He died soon after."

"Oh . . . how sad."

Charles was giving me that speculative look which I remembered so well.

"We have just had tea," he said. "Those maids-of-honour are delicious. I was determined to introduce Signorina de' Pucci to them while she is in London."

I said: ''It all comes back to me so vividly. You left us suddenly."

"I did not think it was sudden. My brother sent for me ... and I went."

"I was furious, wasn't I, Lenore?" said Charles.

"Yes, you were."

"But why?" she asked. "Why should you be furious?"

"Because you had left us. I wanted us to get more and more acquainted. We were making good progress."

"Has Julia met the Signorina?" I asked.

Charles shook his head. "She will, though. She will be interested. We all remember your visit so well."

"I trust there were no ill effects from the injury?"

"Injury?" she murmured.

"Didn't you hurt your ankle in the carriage upset?"

"Yes ... so I did. It soon healed." She smiled charmingly at Drake. "I do not know what would have become of me but for these good friends.''

"We were glad to do what we could," said Charles. "By great good fortune I ran into the Signorina close to the house. We stared at each other. I'm afraid I was rather rude."

"No . . . no," she protested.

"I was so delighted," said Charles.

"And how long will you be in England this time?" I asked.

"It depends on my brother. He does much business. He is in your Midlands. When he comes I go back with him."

"I remember your maid . . . Maria. Is she still with you?"

"Maria is with me."

"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay."

"I shall see that she does," promised Charles. "Well... I did enjoy seeing you both." He looked from one to the other of us significantly. ''I daresay we shall see you again. I am taking the Signorina to see Julia now. Au revoir."

I watched them go. Then I said: ''That was most unfortunate. I mean . . . Charles's seeing us together here."

Drake lifted his shoulders. I thought then that he was so desperately immersed in his own unfortunate situation that he refused to see the danger. But I did not like the manner in which Charles had looked at us; nor did I like the implication of his words.

I told Drake what had happened, how the Italian had had her accident outside The Silk House and had stayed there for a few days, and how she had left to join her brother and there were only letters of thanks sent from a London hotel, so that she had completely disappeared from our lives.

"It was soon after that that Philip died," I said. "I forgot all about the incident. In fact at first I could not recall who she was, although she seemed familiar."

"It's interesting that Charles should have met her. . .just by chance."

"It seems to me that almost everything happens just by chance."

After I was back in the salon I could not help thinking about that meeting in the tea shop, and I felt rather uneasy because Charles had discovered Drake and me there together, and of the construction which I was afraid a man of his nature might put upon it.

It was Cassie who told me about Charles and Madalenna de' Pucci.

"She is staying in a hotel with her maid while she is waiting for her brother to join her.''

"Yes. She mentioned that when I met her." I had told Cassie about seeing her in the tea shop where Drake and I had decided to have some tea.

Cassie looked a little subdued. She knew about my friendship with Drake. In fact she knew a good deal. Cassie was inclined to live vicariously. She was very interested in what happened to other people. She was kindly and deeply understanding and I had always thought that this was due to her interest in people. She knew them so well that she understood their motives and that made her sympathetic towards them.

"Charles," she told me, "is very taken with her. Of course she is very beautiful . . . exceptionally so and I suppose being foreign makes her look more so. It is very sad about Charles and Helen." Helen was his wife. "He has never been a faithful husband. I think she has long accepted that. But in this case he seems to be deeply involved."

I said: "He was attracted to her when she came to the house before. I remember how angry he was when she went away without letting him know where.''

"It is very distressing. When I think of that marriage . . . and Julia and Drake ... I come to the conclusion that one is often better off single."

"It makes life less complicated," I agreed. "One is on an even keel. There are lots of ups and downs in most relationships."

"I should hate to be Helen with an unfaithful husband . . . or Julia to love so intensely and be rejected. It was different with you and Philip. That was wonderful but he died."

I nodded.

"I'm sorry," went on Cassie. "I should not have mentioned it and reminded you. Oh dear, you ought to have married Drake. It is clear that he loves you. It was what your grandmother wanted."

"Things don't always turn out as people want them to."

"I do wish Julia could be happy. But I don't think she ever will be. I am afraid she is getting worse. She is drinking all the time ... far more than we see. She was lying down when I last called and I went to her bedroom. I was sure she was intoxicated. I went to the wardrobe to get her a wrap and I saw several bottles there. She drinks in secret as well as in front of everybody. How did she get like that, Lenore? Was it unhappiness?"

''Her first husband was a great drinker. She may have learned the habit from him. I expect she found it to her liking and now it seems to be a solace. She is ruining her health and her life and her chance of happiness.''

"It is a tragedy. I often think of those days when she was coming out. Do you remember how excited she was? Then the Countess came . . . and how frightened she grew. Poor Julia. She used to eat too much then and now it is drink. She was so sure of herself at one moment and so unsure the next. And how awful it was for her during that first season when she didn't come up to expectations!''

''I remember it well.''

"Then she married that old man and he left her rich. I think if she had found someone younger before she got the feeling that she was not as attractive as some girls ... she might have been different. I feel a sort of protectiveness towards Julia."

"I think you do towards us all."

"I do want you to come with me when I go to see her. Do, Lenore. I am sure she wants to see you, too."

''I am not sure of that.''

"But she does. She is always talking about you. Do understand, Lenore, she is very unhappy."

I did go to see her. She made me very welcome. She looked much brighter. I wondered if she realized what harm she was doing to herself and was trying to reform.

She was excited. She was going to give a party. It was the fashion now to engage a pianist to give a performance. She thought that would be a wonderful idea. A number of Drake's colleagues would be invited. "A piano performance and then a buffet supper afterwards," she cried. "Don't you think that would be a good idea?''

Cassie was so glad to see her interested that she was enthusiastic.

"You will come," she said to me, and I agreed to go.

Grand'mere was rather subdued these days. She knew that I was meeting Drake and this worried her. She was very anxious. I believed she was thinking I had been celibate too long. I was young and I had tasted the joys of married life briefly. Grand'mere would like to see me respectably married to a good man. I think that was her great desire. Drake would have been ideal in her eyes if he had not been married already.

I sensed then that she had a fear that I might be carried away by my emotions. I wanted to explain to her that my feelings for Drake had never been such as to drive me into reckless action. I was fond of him in an enduring and steady way. I knew how differently one could feel about people . . . now.

Cassie and I went to the party. Cassie was pleased for she said this was exactly what Julia should be doing. "It gives her an interest," she said. "It is exactly what she needs."

Julia and Drake, side by side, received us. I was a little dismayed to see that Julia was unnaturally flushed and there was a purplish tinge in her cheeks; her eyes were bright with excitement.

"Dear Cassie! And Lenore! You look lovely. So elegant, doesn't she, Drake?"

Drake smiled at me sadly.

I said I was looking forward to the evening and hearing the pianist. Then we passed on while they greeted other guests.

As we moved away I saw Charles. Madalenna de' Pucci was with him. She looked arrestingly beautiful in a gown of red velvet which accentuated her dark Italianate looks.

Charles greeted us effusively.

"How nice to see you here. I am sure Julia is delighted to have you." He smiled slyly. "Drake, too. Quite a gathering, isn't it? Some of our most famous ... or should I say notorious politicians are here. All for Drake's benefit." He turned to his companion. ''My dear, this is a section of English society. Those who make the rules and those who obey them. I must say Drake looks very pleased with himself. . . and the company."

Again he was giving me that significant look. I was more than a little afraid of Charles.

He stayed with us, which made me uncomfortable. He had a proprietorial air as regards Madalenna, but the manner in which he kept glancing at me disturbed me.

In due course Julia came over to us.

"It's fun, isn't it? I've got a man coming to take pictures. I want it done soon ... at the beginning . . . before people start to droop. After that we'll have Signore Pontelli to play for us, and when that is over the buffet and dancing. It's been fun arranging it all with the caterers."

"You've done wonderfully," I told her.

She smiled at me warmly. "I'm so glad you think so."

"I was just saying how pleased Drake must be."

"I hope so ... oh, I do hope so. Oh look, there's the man for the pictures. I'll go and get him. Stay where you are. I'll get one or two more and you can be in one group."

So I was with Charles and Madalenna when the pictures were taken. There was a good deal of fuss while we were placed in position; the photographer told us to smile and we stood there with our lips drawn back affecting great pleasure while he hummed and hawed and the grins froze on our faces.

At length it was over.

The pianist arrived and played with great efficiency and expression-mostly Chopin-and he deserved more attention from the audience than he received.

When it was over he was quietly applauded and the musician played for dancing and after a while we went into supper. I was with Cassie and Drake joined us with a political friend. An interesting conversation ensued while we ate cold salmon washed down with champagne. I enjoyed the talk until I saw Julia at a table watching us intently. I noticed that whenever I looked her way she had a glass in her hand.

After supper there was dancing. Julia had cleverly turned one of the rooms into a ballroom; it looked very elegant with potted plants brought into the house for this evening. There was a small orchestra to play for the dancing.

I knew that Drake would seize the opportunity to dance with me. There was a recklessness about him which I thought was alien to his nature. I think he had had so much to endure that he was becoming indifferent to convention. He must have known that Julia was jealous of his feeling for me. I was sure that in one of her drunken rages she had made that clear. There were times when I thought he did not care-in fact that he was trying to bring their marriage to some sort of climax.

The dance was the waltz which had originally shocked people when it had first come into fashion. They thought it was rather bold.

Drake swept me round the floor.

"It is wonderful that you are here," he said.

"Julia has arranged a very successful occasion."

"It is successful . . . now. What do you think about Jameson's views?"

He was referring to our suppertime conversation.

"Interesting," I said.

''I think he is leaning towards Salisbury.''

"But he is one of your Liberals."

''There are a lot of waverers.''

We were silent for a while, then he said: "This is bliss . . . holding you like this."

"Drake," I begged, "please be careful."

"There are times when I can't be ... when I don't seem to care. Something has to happen soon. Why don't we go away together?"