Diana talked timidly of dress, of London, and the Season.

They were the subjects on which it seemed most natural to approach Miss Drake; Diana's attitude was inquiring and propitiatory.

But Alicia could find none but careless or scanty replies till Madeleine Varley came up.

Then Miss Drake's tongue was loosened.

To her, as to an equal and intimate, she displayed her expert knowledge of shops and _modistes_, of "people" and their stories.