"Don't boast," she said sharply, "you might find yourself in a very unpleasant position when the wedding was over. And you will, too, if you don't mind."
The dialogue was interrupted at this point. A little brougham rattled past the window on its way from the stable-yard to the front-door, and a servant came in with tea.
Mrs. Reade looked at her watch, and her guest's face fell.
"Is it five o'clock?" he exclaimed testily; "and you have not given me any advice!"
"Will you have a cup of tea?" she inquired, coolly.
"No, thank you. Must you go out this afternoon?"
"Well, I could hardly countermand the carriage now, because you are here, could I? We'll have a drive somewhere before we go in to town, and I'll give you advice as we go along."
She drank her tea standing in the middle of the room, and then leaving him to fret and fume by himself, went away to dress, and in the retirement of her own apartment to concoct a definite scheme of action.
In a few minutes she came back alert and bright, in a very charming French bonnet, and with yards of silken train behind her. She was ready for him in every sense of the word.
As soon as they were out upon the road, and she had finished buttoning a refractory glove, she said gravely, with an air of having solved all doubts,