" The old lady and the young one lived together in great
apparent amity, and certainly in the utmost material comfort; for they
probably got through more money than anyone in the town, and there
always seemed to be plenty more where that came from. Where it did
come from was, I need hardly say, a subject of keen curiosity in
social circles; and when I state that the signorina was now about
twenty-three years of age, and of remarkably prepossessing appearance,
it will be allowed that we in Whittingham were no worse than other
people if we entertained some uncharitable suspicions. The signorina,
however, did not make the work of detection at all easy. She became
almost at once a leading figure in society; her _salon_ was the
meeting-place of all parties and most sets; she received many gracious
attentions from the Golden House, but none on which slander could
definitely settle. She was also frequently the hostess of members of
the Opposition, and of no one more often than their leader,
Colonel George McGregor, a gentleman of Scotch extraction, but not
pronouncedly national characteristics, who had attained a high
position in the land of his adoption; for not only did he lead the
Opposition in politics, but he was also second in command of the army.
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