So Mrs Quantock put her
proposition before her, the secretary coming to the rescue on the
subject of the usual fees, and when two days afterwards Mrs Quantock
returned to Riseholme, it was to get ready the spare room and Robert's
room next to it for these thrilling visitors, whose first seance
Georgie and Piggy had attended, on the evening of the Italian
debacle....
The Quantocks had taken a high and magnificent line about the "usual
fees" for the seances, an expensive line, but then Roumanian oils had
been extremely prosperous lately. No mention whatever of these fees was
made to their guests, no offertory-plate was put in a prominent
position in the hall, there was no fumbling for change or the discreet
pressure of coins into the secretary's hand; the entire cost was borne
by Roumanian oils. The Princess and Mrs Quantock, apparently, were old
friends; they spoke to each other at dinner as "dear friend," and the
Princess declared in the most gratifying way that they had been most
intimate in a previous incarnation, without any allusion to the fact
that in this incarnation they had met for the first time last week at a
vegetarian restaurant. She was kind enough, it was left to be
understood, to give a little seance after dinner at the house of her
"dear friend," and so, publicly, the question of money never came up.
Now the Princess was to stay three nights, and therefore, as soon as
Mrs Quantock had made sure of that, she proceeded to fill up each of
the seances without asking Lucia to any of them.
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