consulting her, should be 'one of the plaintive crew
whining about the heels of the Plaintiff for a mercy she disdained and
rejected' was bitter to her taste.

'He does not see that unless I go through the fire there is no
justification for this wretched character of mine!' she exclaimed.
Truce, treaty, withdrawal, signified publicly pardon, not exoneration
by any means; and now that she was in armour she had no dread of the
public. So she said. Redworth's being then engaged upon the canvass of
a borough, added to the absurdity of his meddling with the dilemmas of
a woman. 'Dear me, Emma! think of stepping aside from the parliamentary
road to entreat a husband to relent, and arrange the domestic
alliance of a contrary couple! Quixottry is agreeable reading, a silly
performance.' Lady Dunstane pleaded his friendship. She had to quit the
field where such darts were showering.

The first dinner-party was aristocratic, easy to encounter. Lord and
Lady Crane, Lady Pennon, Lord and Lady Esquart, Lord Larrian, Mr. and
Mrs. Montvert of Halford Manor, Lady Singleby, Sir Walter Capperston
friends, admirers of Diana; patrons, in the phrase of the time, of her
father, were the guests. Lady Pennon expected to be amused, and was
gratified, for Diana had only to open her mouth to set the great lady
laughing. She petitioned to have Mrs. Warwick at her table that day
week, because the marquis was dying to make her acquaintance, and begged
to have all her sayings repeated to him; vowed she must be salt in the
desert. 'And remember, I back you through thick and thin,' said Lady
Pennon. To which Diana replied: 'If I am salt in the desert, you are the
spring'; and the old lady protested she must put that down for her book.
The witty Mrs. Warwick, of whom wit was expected, had many incitements
to be guilty of cheap wit; and the beautiful Mrs. Warwick, being able to
pass anything she uttered, gave good and bad alike, under the impulsion
to give out something, that the stripped and shivering Mrs. Warwick
might find a cover in applause. She discovered the social uses of cheap
wit; she laid ambushes for anecdotes, a telling form of it among a
people of no conversational interlocution, especially in the circles
depending for dialogue upon perpetual fresh supplies of scandal; which
have plentiful crops, yet not sufficient. The old dinner and supper
tables at The Crossways furnished her with an abundant store; and
recollection failing, she invent