“I write letters to her friends asking them to chaperone me, but what more often happens is that invitations to the big dinner parties and balls come from people who are well aware of her affliction and therefore they take it for granted that they will look after me.”
“It must be very exciting for you to be such a success.”
There was a pause before Heloise continued in a hard voice,
“This is my third Season and I have to be married! No beauty, however much acclaimed, lasts forever and I intend that the Marquis shall marry me.”
She accentuated the word so that it sounded positively aggressive and Gilda said in a small voice,
“Suppose he does not?”
“I have an alternative,” Heloise replied, “but not nearly such an attractive one.”
“Who is he?”
“Nobody of great importance, except that
