Wilmington-Fairchilds sat down
beside her. "You know I never meddle with scandal."

Mrs. Fairchilds nodded brightly.

"Never. I never repeat anything I hear. The Archibald affair was
enacted right under my very nose; but did I circulate what I saw? I
think not! That woman!--but there! I pray for her every night."

"Was it really true, then?" asked Mrs. Fairchilds, breathless. She
knew something about the Archibald affair, but not enough.

"I saw it all with these eyes," flatly. "But, as I said, I keep my
hands clean of scandal." Her hands were white and flabby. "I consider
it not only wicked to start a scandal, but positively bad taste. The
lightest word sometimes ruins a reputation."

"Mrs. Archibald--" began Mrs. Fairchilds.

"Not another word, my dear. I've said nothing at all; I haven't even
told you what I saw. But an actress is different. Think of it, my
dear! She will live among us and we shall have to meet her. Think of
the actors who have kissed her in their make-believe love affairs! It
is so horribly common. I have heard a good many things about her. She
has romped in studios in male attire and smokes cigarettes. I should
not want any son of mine to be seen with her. I'm not saying a single
word against her, mind you; not a single word. You know as well as I
do what a wild fellow Warrington is. Well, she has been going around
with him."

"But they took him up in London," said Mrs. Wilmington-Fairchilds.

"London! London society, indeed! It's the greatest jumble in the
world: nobility hobnobs with jockeys, piano-players, writers and
actors."

Mrs. Fairchilds shook her head sadly. She had always believed London
society quite the proper thing, and she had followed the serials of
"The Duchess" with reverent awe. But Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene ought to
know; she had traveled in Europe several seasons. Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene
was one of the prominent social leaders, and Mrs. Fairchilds
had ambitions. The ready listener gets along very well in this old
world of ours.

"I always knew that some time or other the plebeian Bennington blood
would crop out," went on Mrs. Haldene. "But we must not criticize the
dead," benignly.

"We shall have to receive her."

"After a fashion," replied Mrs. Haldene, opening her prayer-book. Her
tone implied that things would not go very smoothly for the
interloper. "All this comes from assimilating English ideas," she
added.

Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene was one of those fortunate p