Going back to her seat, she arranged more safely the vast overcoat which he had thrown carelessly down on her mother's rocking- chair.

It was inordinately heavy, and would have outweighed a dozen of her skimpy little jackets; she, who would have been lost in it like a cat in a rug, enjoyed the thought of the force of the creature capable of wearing it lightly for a garment.

Withal the rough, soft surface of it was agreeable to the hand.

Out of one of the immense pockets hung the end of a coloured silk muffler, filmy as anything that she herself wore.
Then they were all definitely seated, and Mr.Cannon accepted his tea from the hand of Mrs.Lessways.The whiteness of his linen, the new smartness of his suit, the elegance and gallantry of his gestures--these phenomena incited the women to a responsive emulation; they were something which it was a feminine duty to live up to.

Archness reigned, especially between the hostess and the caller.