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"I have no wish to bother you," A sure to look at Mrs Marshall directly and at her secretary not at all "I’ll be out of your hair in a twinkling"

"But you’re never a bother to us" Those words, said in so sweet a tone, did not come from Mrs Marshall Amanda turned--mostly reluctantly--to take in her secretary

If Mrs Jane Marshall was a flao, her social secretary, Miss Genevieve Johnson, was a perfect little turtledove Or--to use another, not quite inappropriate example--she was like a china doll She was perfectly proportioned Her skin was a flawless porcelain, her eyes brilliantly blue If there were any justice in the world, she would be stupid or unfriendly But she wasn’t; she had always been perfectly kind to Aence was obvious to anyone who listened to her for any length of time

She was exactly the sort of woman whom Amanda would have stood in awe of, when she’d had her Season nearly a decade past--the sort of brilliant, shining social diamond that Amanda would have watched breathlessly froured out exactly why she’d watched wo why Miss Johnson made her uneasy made her feel more in doubt, rather than less

When uncertain about a conversation, ask a question requiring a long answer That hat her grand appropriate "So… Howbenefit? The last Free told me, you were up to your ears"

Miss Johnson’s perfectly shaped eyebrows rose Not so high as to be rude; it seemed an involuntary response on her part, and Amanda realized she had misstepped somehow

"We only have to send the thank-yous for attendance," Mrs Marshall said "But there was a great deal that had to be done"

Oh, God It had already happened Amanda felt herself blush fiercely Of course it had Miss Johnson would never have made so horrible a blunder If Miss Johnson was a china doll, A the shop where she was kept She was outsized and clu around her with one ainly tail She felt both aard and stupid

"But tell us why you’re in town," Miss Johnson said "Are you visiting your sisters?"

"My sisters don’t see me" Her response was too curt, too bitter

Miss Johnson drew back, and A around her, breaking to se bill," she continued "He’s been circulating it, trying to get anyone else to sign on"

"And how is he doing?’

About as badly as A now "The radicals hate it," she said "It li to a small minority of married woed once again "It’s a terrible bill But it’s a bill at least"