Diana's _vis-à-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.

"Miss Lermontof!" she exclaimed. "I had no idea that you lived here."

Miss Lermontof nodded a brief greeting.

"How d'you do? Yes, I've lived here for some time. But I didn't know
that you were coming. I thought you had rooms somewhere?"

"So I had. But I was obliged to give them up, and Signor Baroni
suggested this instead."