ody with the delightful "sauce
piquante" of never being quite sure what the duchess would do or say
next.

She mentally arranged her parties under three heads--"freak parties,"
"mere people parties," and "best parties." A "best party" was in
progress on the lovely June day when the duchess, having enjoyed an
unusually long siesta, donned what she called her "garden togs" and
sallied forth to cut roses.

As she tramped along the terrace and passed through the little iron
gate leading to the rose-garden, Tommy, the scarlet macaw, opened one
eye and watched her; gave a loud kiss as she reached the gate and
disappeared from view, then laughed to himself and went to sleep again.

Of all the many pets, Tommy was prime favourite. He represented the
duchess's one concession to morbid sentiment. After the demise of the
duke she had found it so depressing to be invariably addressed with
suave deference by every male voice she heard. If the butler could have
snorted, or the rector have rapped out an uncomplimentary adjective,
the duchess would have felt cheered. As it was, a fixed and settled
melancholy lay upon her spirit until she saw in a dealer's list an
advertisement of a prize macaw, warranted a grand talker, with a
vocabulary of over five hundred words.

The duchess went immediately to town, paid a visit to the dealer, heard
a few of the macaw's words and the tone in which he said them, bought
him on the spot, and took him down to Overdene. The first evening he
sat crossly on the perch of his grand new stand, declining to say a
single one of his five hundred words, though the duchess spent her
evening in the hall, sitting in every possible place; first close to
him; then, away in a distant corner; in an arm-chair placed behind a
screen; reading, with her back turned, feigning not to notice him;
facing him with concentrated attention. Tommy merely clicked his tongue
at her every time she emerged from a hiding-place; or, if the rather
worried butler or nervous under-footman passed hurriedly through the
hall, sent showers of kisses after them, and then went into fits of
ventriloquial laughter. The duchess, in despair, even tried reminding
him in a whisper of the remarks he had made in the shop; but Tommy only
winked at her and put his claw over his beak. Still, she enjoyed his
flushed and scarlet appearance, and retired to rest hopeful and in no
wise regretting her bargain.

The next morning it became instantly evident t