They were rich
and fashionable, perfect in etiquette, costume, and most particular
in their society; but the rank and position of the noble Lady de
Tilly made her friendship most desirable, as it conferred in the
eyes of the world a patent of gentility which held good against
every pretension to overtop it.
The stream of city talk from the lips of the two ladies had the
merit of being perfect of its kind--softly insinuating and sweetly
censorious, superlative in eulogy and infallible in opinion. The
good visitors most conscientiously discharged what they deemed a
great moral and social duty by enlightening the Lady de Tilly on all
the recent lapses and secrets of the capital. They slid over
slippery topics like skaters on thin ice, filling their listener
with anxiety lest they should break through. But Madame de
Grandmaison and her companion were too well exercised in the
gymnastics of gossip to overbalance themselves. Half Quebec was
run over and run down in the course of an hour.
Lady de Tilly listened with growing impatience to their frivolities,
but she knew society too well to quarrel with its follies when it
was of no service to do so: she contented herself with hoping it was
not so bad.
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