But on after occasions when Lesbia had been told all that could be told
to the advantage of Mr. Smithson, she accepted his homage with the same
indifference, and treated him with less favour than she accorded to the
ruined guardsmen and younger sons who were dying for her.
CHAPTER XXVI.
'PROUD CAN I NEVER BE OF WHAT I HATE.'
It was a Saturday afternoon, and even in that great world which has no
occupation in life except to amuse itself, whose days are all holidays,
there is a sort of exceptional flavour, a kind of extra excitement on
Saturday afternoons, distinguished by polo matches at Hurlingham, just
as Saturday evenings are by the production of new plays at fashionable
theatres. There was a great military polo match for this particular
Saturday--Lancers against Dragoons. It was a lovely June afternoon, and
Hurlingham would be at its best. The cool greensward, the branching
trees, the flowing river, would afford an unspeakable relief after the
block of carriages in Bond Street and the heated air of London, where
even the parks felt baked and arid; and to Hurlingham Lady Kirkbank
drove directly after luncheon.
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