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less the bold initiative shewn by this young woman and the
moment of blushing confusion between her and the pianist
which resulted from it, produced an impression that was fa-
vourable on the whole.
‘Did you see what that girl did just now, Princess?’ asked
General de Froberville, who had come up to Mme. des
Laumes as her hostess left her for a moment. ‘Odd, wasn’t it?
Is she one of the performers?’
‘No, she’s a little Mme. de Cambremer,’ replied the Prin-
cess carelessly, and then, with more animation: ‘I am only
repeating what I heard just now, myself; I haven’t the faint-
est notion who said it, it was some one behind me who said
that they were neighbours of Mme. de Saint-Euverte in the
country, but I don’t believe anyone knows them, really. They
must be ‘country cousins’! By the way, I don’t know whether
you’re particularly ‘well-up’ in the brilliant society which we
see before us, because I’ve no idea who all these astonishing
people can be. What do you suppose they do with them-
selves when they’re not at Mme. de Saint-Euverte’s parties?
She must have ordered them in with the musicians and the
chairs and the food. ‘Universal providers,’ you know. You
must admit, they’re rather splendid, General. But can she
really have the courage to hire the same ‘supers’ every week?
It isn’t possible!’
‘Oh, but Cambremer is quite a good name; old, too,’ pro-
tested the General.
‘I see no objection to its being old,’ the Princess answered
dryly, ‘but whatever else it is it’s not euphonious,’ she went
on, isolating the word euphonious as though between in-

522 Swann’s Way