"Directly anything happens--it may be a marriage, or a birth, or a death--on the whole they prefer it to be a death--every one wants to see you. They insist upon seeing you. They've got nothing to say; they don't care a rap for you; but you've got to go to lunch or to tea or to dinner, and if you don't you're damned. It's the smell of blood," she continued; "I don't blame 'em; only they shan't have mine if I know it!"