The season was spent in London, not
dropping the artist society on the one hand, but adding to it the
amount of intercourse into which she was drawn by the fact of her
being a rich and charming woman, having a delightful house, and a son
and daughter who might be "grands partis." Allen liked high life for
her, so she did not refuse it; but probably her social success was
all the greater from her entire indifference, and that of her
daughter, to all the questions of exclusiveness and fashion. If they
had been born duchesses they could not have been less concerned about
obtaining invitations to what their maid called "the first circles,"
and they would sometimes reduce Allen to despair by giving the
preference to a lively literary soiree, when he wanted them to show
themselves among the aristocracy at a drum.
Engagements of all kinds grew on them with every season, and in this
one especially, Caroline had grown somewhat weary of the endeavour to
satisfy both him and Janet, and was not sorry that her two eldest
sons were starting on a yacht voyage to Norway, where Allen meant to
fish, and Bobus to study natural history. She had her interview with
the housekeeper, and proceeded to her own place in Popinjay Parlour,
a quiet place at this time of day, save for the tinkling of the
fountain and the twitterings of the many little songsters in the
aviary, whom the original parrot used patronisingly to address as
"Pretty little birds.
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