She had always been alarmingly candid, Hugh recalled. He found her interesting on that account, but he could imagine that many eligible bachelors would be intimidated by her. Men liked women to be a little shy and not too clever.
As he exchanged small talk with her, he wondered whether Augusta still wanted to make a match between the two of them. It hardly mattered: the only man Rachel had ever shown any real interest in was Micky Miranda. Even now she was taking care to include Micky in the conversation with Hugh. He had never understood why girls found Micky irresistible, and Rachel surprised him more than most, for she was intelligent enough to realize that Micky was a rotter; yet it was almost as if he fascinated them more on that account.
He moved on and shook hands with Young William and his wife. Beatrice greeted Hugh warmly, and he concluded that she was not as much under Augusta's influence as the other Pilaster women.
Hastead interrupted them to give Hugh an envelope. "This just arrived by messenger," he said.
It contained a note in what looked to Hugh like a secretary's handwriting:
123, Piccadilly
London, W.
Tuesday
Mrs Solomon Greenbourne requests the pleasure of your company at dinner tonight
Below, in a familiar scrawl, was written:
Welcome home!--Solly.
He was pleased. Solly was always amiable and easygoing. Why could the Pilasters not be as relaxed, he wondered? Were Methodists naturally more tense than Jews? But perhaps there were tensions he did not know about in the Greenbourne family.
Hastead said: "The messenger is waiting for a reply, Mr. Hugh."
Hugh said: "My compliments to Mrs. Greenbourne, and I shall be delighted to join them for dinner."
Hastead bowed and withdrew. Beatrice said: "My goodness, are you dining with the Solomon Greenbournes? How marvelous!"
Hugh was surprised. "I don't expect it to be marvelous," he said. "I was at school with Solly and I've always liked him, but an invitation to dine with him was never a coveted privilege."
"It is now," said Beatrice.
"Solly married a fireball," William explained. "Mrs. Greenbourne loves to entertain, and her parties are the best in London."
"They're part of the Marlborough Set," Beatrice said reverently. "They're friends with the Prince of Wales."
Clementine's fiance, Harry, overheard this and said in a resentful tone: "I don't know what English society is coming to, when the heir to the throne prefers Jews to Christians."
