"Oh my dear Lord Mayor, how can you think I should ever have the heart to do less than compliment you?" she chided him mildly. Lady Gwendolyn was extremely interested to see his timidity; his wife as well-known to have run off to Europe with her lover. Lady Gwendolyn lightly touched him on the sleeve. "Come, sir, I am not quite so heartless as all that!" Not when there was good gossip to be had.
"London goes on- there is not much to say. Katherine Rochester's fiance died, which brought great joy to everyone, the Duke of Devonshire remains the only man in London not in love with his wife, Pitt drinks still, the abolitionist Wilberforce's anti-slavery bill did not pass by six votes- oh! And! All summer a committee at the Crown and Anchor have been fundraising all summer and have astonishingly raised over sixty-one thousand pounds to pay off Mr. Fox's debts. Quite a sum, is it not? I trust all your children are well, Lord Chadwick?"