"I'll wait and see," said Anstice, smiling; "I am not going to quarrel with my neighbours if I can help it."
They were soon back in their own carriage.
Mrs. Wykeham had nodded and smiled to them as they passed her.
"We shall see each other at Penrith. Have you a car meeting you, Justin, or may I take you with me?"
"I have a car, thank you."
He spoke a little curtly. He was vexed at meeting Mrs. Wykeham and knew the news of his marriage would be all over the neighbourhood, and he had wanted to get away before the fact was known.
They had little more conversation together. Anstice grew very tired, and, leaning her head back in the corner, went fast asleep. And then it was that for the first time Justin took a very long and critical inspection of her features.
He was absolutely indifferent to her personality. It was expediency that had made him marry her, and his heart was steeled against all women. Yet there was something in the tender softness of Anstice's smile, and in the vivid sparkling of her blue eyes, that made him feel glad he had chosen her to be the custodian of his children.
"She'll be good to them, and give me no trouble," was his summing up; "and she will give Mrs. Wykeham no cause for writing me one of her catty letters."
It was very late when they at length reached Penrith. The freshness and sweetness of the air struck Anstice as she got out of the heated train.