s said； giving her a wet kiss on the ear。
Yuck。
“Oh！” Eleanor Waldorf squealed； patting her blown…out blond bob。
Blair’s mother was wearing the fitted； graphite…beaded cashmere
dress that Blair had helped her pick out from Armani； and little
black velvet mules。 A year ago she wouldn’t have fit into the dress；
but she had lost twenty pounds since she met Cyrus。 She looked
fantastic。 Everyone thought so。
“She does look thinner；” Blair heard Mrs。 Bass whisper to Mrs。
Coates。 “But I’ll bet she’s had a chin tuck。”
“I bet you’re right。 She’s grown her hair out—that’s the telltale sign。
It hides the scars；” Mrs。 Coates whispered back。
The room was abuzz with snatches of gossip about Blair’s mother
and Cyrus Rose。 From what Blair could hear； her mother’s friends
felt exactly the same way she did； although they didn’t exactly use
words like annoying； fat； or loser。
“I smell Old Spice；” Mrs。 Coates whispered to Mrs。 Archibald。 “Do
you think he’s actually wearing Old Spice？”
That would be the male equivalent of wearing Impulse body spray；
which everyone knows is the female equivalent of nasty。
“I’m not sure；” Mrs。 Archibald whispered back。 “But I think he might
be。” She snatched a cod…and…caper spring roll off Esther’s platter；
popped it into her mouth； and chewed it vigorously； refusing to say
anything more。 She couldn’t bear for Eleanor Waldorf to overhear
them。 Gossip and idle chat were amusing； but not at the expense of
an old friend’s feelings。
Bullshit！ Blair would have said if she could have heard Mrs。
Archibald’s thoughts。 Hypocrite！ All of these people were terrible
gossips。 And