"I didn't manage at all. She simply asked me."
"You must have said something. It is not the Claughton Manor way to invite people informally."
"I suppose it's her way. Now she has come to live there—"
"She has not."
"Well, anyhow, to stay for a long while—"
Penrose demurred again, and Mrs. Royston put in a word.
"Yes, dear. Mrs. Framley told me, and I forgot to mention it. Miss Vincent has lived for years with some London cousins; but the eldest daughter was lately married; and things now are not so comfortable. I fancy she and the second daughter do not much care for one another. And Mr. and Mrs. Framley have proposed that she should make the Manor her headquarters. The plan is to be tried."
"She has plenty of money. Why doesn't she live in a house of her own?"
"Too young, Pen. She is only twenty-two."
"She is the very sweetest—" began Magda rapturously, and checked herself at the sound of Pen's little laugh. Magda crimsoned.