They chatter "small talk" and are careful to address her with deference.

With an exception to be referred to later these young men have no more thought of "flirting" with Miss Von Taer than they would with the statue of the goddess, her namesake.
Her dinner parties and entertainments are very successful.

She is greatly admired, _per se_, but has no intimate friends.
When her mother died, some years before, an aunt had come to live with Diana, and now posed as her chaperon.

Mrs.Cameron was a stolid, corpulent lady, with a countenance perpetually placid and an habitual aversion to displaying intellect.

Her presence in the establishment, although necessary, was frankly ignored.