In reality there were but a baker's dozen of them, and they all
painstakingly abstained from glancing in her direction lest they might be
thought guilty of rudely staring at a newcomer.
Diana's _vis-a-vis_ at table was the redoubtable Miss Jenkins of coal-box
fame, and her neighbours on either hand two students of one of the
musical colleges. Next to Miss Jenkins, Diana observed a vacant place;
presumably its owner was dining out. She also noticed that she alone
among the boarders had attempted to make any kind of evening toilet. The
others had "changed" from their workaday clothes, it is true, but a light
silk blouse, worn with a darker skirt, appeared to be generally regarded
as a sufficient recognition of the occasion.
Diana's near neighbours were at first somewhat tongue-tied with a nervous
stiffness common to the Britisher, but they thawed a little as the meal
progressed, and when the musical students, Miss Jones and Miss Allen, had
elicited that she was actually a pupil of the great Baroni, envy and a
certain awed admiration combined to unseal the fountains of their speech.
Just as the fish was being removed, the door opened to admit a tall, thin
woman, wearing outdoor costume, who passed quickly down the room and took
the vacant place at the table, murmuring a curt apology to Mrs. Lawrence
on her way. To Diana's astonishment she recognised in the newcomer Olga
Lermontof, Baroni's accompanist.
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