She lifted her screen, and pointed with it to a seat at the farther end of the room.
'Be so good as to take that chair,' she said.
Helpless under her first bewildering sense of failure--not knowing what to say or what to do next--Mrs.Ferrari mechanically obeyed.

Lady Montbarry, rising on the sofa for the first time, watched her with undisguised scrutiny as she crossed the room--then sank back into a reclining position once more.

'No,' she said to herself, 'the woman walks steadily; she is not intoxicated--the only other possibility is that she may be mad.' She had spoken loud enough to be heard.

Stung by the insult, Mrs.
Ferrari instantly answered her: 'I am no more drunk or mad than you are!' 'No ?' said Lady Montbarry.

'Then you are only insolent?
The ignorant English mind (I have observed) is apt to be insolent in the exercise of unrestrained English liberty.