Dinny went in search of Fleur and found her talking to the bridegroom.
As they went back to the door Fleur said: ‘I saw Wilfrid Desert in the church. How did he come there?’
Really Fleur was too sharp for anything!
‘Here you are!’ said Lady Mont. ‘Which of these three comin’ is the Duchess? The scraggy one. Ah!… How d’you do? Yes, charmin’. Such a bore, weddin’s! Fleur, take the Duchess to have some presents…. How d’you do? No, my brother Hilary. He does it well, don’t you think? Lawrence says he keeps his eye on the ball. Do have an ice, they’re downstairs.… Dinny, is this one after the presents, d’you think? – Oh! How d’you do, Lord Beevenham? My sister-in-law ought to be doin’ this. She ratted. Jerry’s in there…. Dinny, who was it said: “The drink, the drink!” Hamlet? He said such a lot. Not Hamlet?… Oh! How d’you do?… How d’you do?… How d’you do, or don’t you? Such a crush!… Dinny, your hanky!’
‘I’ve put some powder on it, Auntie.’
‘There! Have I streaked?… How d’you do? Isn’t it silly, the whole thing? As if they wanted anybody but themselves, you know…. Oh! Here’s Adrian! Your tie’s on one side, dear. Dinny, put it right. How d’you do? Yes, they are. I don’t like flowers at funerals – poor things, lyin’ there, and dyin’…. How’s your dear dog? You haven’t one? Quite!… Dinny, you ought to have pinched me…. How d’you do? How d’you do? I was tellin’ my niece she ought to pinch me. Do you get faces right? No. How nice! How d’you do? How d’you do? How d’you do?… That’s three! Dinny, who’s the throwback just comin’? Oh!… How d’you do? So you got here? I thought you were in China…. Dinny, remind me to ask your uncle if it was China. He gave me such a dirty look. Could I give the rest a miss? Who is it’s always sayin’ that? Tell Blore “the drink”, Dinny. Here’s a covey!… How d’you do?… How de do?… How do?… Do!… Do!… How?…So sweet!… Dinny, I want to say: Blast!’
On her errand to Blore Dinny passed Jean talking to Michael, and wondered how anyone so vivid and brown had patience to stand about in this crowd. Having found Blore, she came back. Michael’s queer face, which she thought grew pleasanter every year, as if from the deepening impress of good feeling, looked strained and unhappy.
‘I don’t believe it, Jean,’ she heard him say.
‘Well,’ said Jean, ‘the bazaars do buzz with rumour. Still, without fire of some sort there’s never smoke.’
‘Oh! yes, there is – plenty. He’s back in England, anyway. Fleur saw him in the church today. I shall ask him.’
‘I wouldn’t,’ said Jean: if it’s true he’ll probably tell you, and if it isn’t, it’ll only worry him for nothing.’
So! They were talking of Wilfrid. How find out why without appearing to take interest? And suddenly she thought: ‘Even if I could, I wouldn’t. Anything that matters he must tell me himself. I won’t hear it from anyone else.’ But she felt disturbed, for instinct was always warning her of something heavy and strange on his mind.
When that long holocaust of sincerity was over and the bride had gone, she subsided into a chair in her uncle’s study, the only room which showed no signs of trouble. Her father and mother had started back to Condaford, surprised that she wasn’t coming too. It was not like her to cling to London when the tulips were out at home, the lilacs coming on, the apple blossom thickening every day. But the thought of not seeing Wilfrid daily had become a positive pain.
‘I have got it badly,’ she thought, ‘worse than I ever believed was possible. Whatever is going to happen to me?’
She was lying back with her eyes closed when her uncle’s voice said:
‘Ah! Dinny, how pleasant after those hosts of Midian! The mandarin in full feather! Did you know a quarter of them? Why do people go to weddings? A registrar’s, or under the stars, there’s no other way of preserving decency. Your poor aunt has gone to bed. There’s a lot to be said for Mohammedanism, except that it’s the fashion now to limit it to one wife, and she not in Purdah. By the way, there’s a story going round that young Desert’s become a Moslem. Did he say anything to you about it?’
Dinny raised her startled head.
‘I’ve only twice known it happen to fellows in the East, and they were Frenchmen and wanted harems.’