She was looking her best, and knew it.

Nevertheless, she was just at the moment, a little _distrait_.

She was watching the brilliant scene with a certain air of abstraction, as though her interest in it was, after all, an impersonal thing.
"Jolly well every one looks tonight," her partner, who was Sir Charles, remarked.

"All the women seem to be wearing smart frocks, and some of those foreign uniforms are gorgeous." "Even the Prince," Penelope said thoughtfully, "must find some reflection of the philosophy of his own country in such a scene as this.
For the last fortnight we have been surfeited with horrors.

We have had to go through all sorts of nameless things," she added, shivering slightly, "and tonight we dance at Devenham House.