"Horrible!" I said. "I'd a thousand times sooner have to deal with a banshee."
"Well, yes," he replied, "they only sit outside the window and howl and wail; but they will never wail for _you_, as you are not Irish."
"Do you, my dear girl?" said Mrs. Soames. "How very amusing!"
"They are an attractive nation, a most happy-go-lucky lot," resumed my partner. "I sometimes go over there to hunt with a friend. The very last time I crossed I told the porter to label my luggage for Bristol. Luckily, I caught him just in time as he was pasting on 'London.' I asked him what the dickens he meant? 'Shure, yer honour,' he replied quite calmly, 'I'm bound to put _something_ on--and these is the only ones I have!' He seemed to think he was doing his duty, and looked so genial and so pleased with me that I believe I gave him sixpence."
"It's wonderful how _you_ get Captain Falkland to talk," said Mrs. Mills when we forgathered in the drawing-room; "with me he is generally as dumb as a fish."
"He is an example of a man who makes a little conversation go a long way," said Mrs. Soames. "Rather a drawback for an aide-de-camp. However, what he does say is generally to the point, and he has the most beautiful manners. He must have learnt them from his mother Lady Louisa--she belongs to the old school, and is as proud as Lucifer! I don't envy the unfortunate girl who will be her daughter-in-law. I do not think that in her eyes anyone short of a princess will be a fitting match for her dear Brian; however, he is a nice fellow, and one of those rare, unselfish individuals who enjoy listening to other people."
"Then I should imagine he has a thoroughly happy time with Mrs. Wolfe," said the major's wife. "She must nearly talk his head off, and with her great black eyes, enormous mouth and flashing teeth, she sometimes looks as if she were going to _eat_ him!"
It was painfully evident that this lady was no favourite with Mrs. Mills.
"Oh, she just talks as easily as she breathes," declared Mrs. Soames good-naturedly. "It's her second nature. She is a brilliantly clever woman, and _so_ amusing."
"Well, I much prefer her cousin Miss Payne," declared Mrs. Mills; "she is really unique; so original, independent, and interested in the whole world. Mrs. Wolfe is merely interested in herself and her admirer for the time being; she cannot exist without some attaché. Whether he likes it or not she has a way of annexing a man that there is no resisting. Her tactics are excessively bold and open. If she takes a fancy to any particular individual his struggles are useless; he is condemned to dance, to ride, to boat, and to play tennis with her, until she is tired of his society."