desirable. The pearls did not improve the look of her rather coarse
brown skin; and her skin added nothing to the beauty of the pearls.
Sonia saw this, and so did the Duke. He looked at Sonia's white
throat. She met his eyes and blushed. She knew that the same thought
was in both their minds; the pearls would have looked infinitely
better there.

Germaine finished admiring herself; she was incapable even of
suspecting that so expensive a pendant could not suit her perfectly.

The Duke said idly: "Goodness! Are all those invitations to the
wedding?"

"That's only down to the letter V," said Germaine proudly.

"And there are twenty-five letters in the alphabet! You must be
inviting the whole world. You'll have to have the Madeleine
enlarged. It won't hold them all. There isn't a church in Paris that
will," said the Duke.

"Won't it be a splendid marriage!" said Germaine. "There'll be
something like a crush. There are sure to be accidents."

"If I were you, I should have careful arrangements made," said the
Duke.

"Oh, let people look after themselves. They'll remember it better if
they're crushed a little," said Germaine.

There was a flicker of contemptuous wonder in the Duke's eyes. But