CHAPTER 11The long procession of people filing past Camilla seemed endless.
The stentorian voice of the announcer somehow deadened her mind so that she could think of nothing save the extended hand, the automatic smile, the murmured ‘thank you’ to the congratulations, all of which she had to repeat afresh as each of the notabilities was presented.
“Der Baron und Die Baronin von Luckdenner. Der Margrave und Die Margravine von Bassewitz. Der Comte und Die Comtesse de Maubeline – ”
The names jangling in her mind created a pattern represented by the tall, the short, the fat, the thin, the old and the young, all having one characteristic in common as they went past, eyes goggling at her curiously as if she was some exhibit in a zoo.
After the first quarter of an hour Camilla became used to
