.

AN INTERRUPTED THEATRE PARTY.
Seated upon a roomy lounge in the foyer of the Savoy were three women who attracted more than an average amount of attention from the passers-by.

In the middle was the Duchess of Devenham, erect, stately, and with a figure which was still irreproachable notwithstanding her white hair.

On one side sat her daughter, Lady Grace Redford, tall, fair, and comely; on the other, Miss Penelope Morse.

The two girls were amusing themselves, watching the people; their chaperon had her eye upon the clock.
"To dine at half-past seven," the Duchess remarked, as she looked around the _entresol_ of the great restaurant through her lorgnettes, "is certainly a little trying for one's temper and for one's digestion, but so long as those men accepted, I certainly think they ought to have been here.