They planned it all out, and at dinner that evening, after the servants left the room, Mrs. Urquhart again mentioned her coming visitors.
"They are such charming people. Surely you have met them? She is a niece of Lord Berrydown's, and her sister, who lives with her, is quite one of Society's beauties. I met them abroad a few years ago, and we were the greatest friends. They have just let their flat in town. He is ordered into the country for a rest. He has had a kind of nervous breakdown—so sad for a man! But he is a scholar, and has been working too hard at deciphering some old Persian books. I thought you would let him have the run of your study, Vernon. He will enjoy your library, and he will be able to lie on your couch by the window, and read and smoke by the hour together, looking out on that lovely peep of the river."
The Admiral smiled; he could not help it. It was his turn now, he felt, to be ousted from his quiet retreat, which had hitherto been monopolised solely by himself and his daughter.
Sidney never betrayed a sign of vexation. Her father marvelled at her perfect self-control.
"That will be very pleasant for him," she said, meeting Mrs. Urquhart's eyes with serene equanimity. "I hope the change down here will do him good, poor man! It will fit in very well, for father and I are going up to town the end of this week."
"To town!" the Major blurted out. "Why, Vernon, you hate it! You never told me you meant to go. I—I don't see how we're to get on without you here to entertain these people."
He looked helplessly at his wife. If Sidney's statement was news to her, she never showed her surprise, but went on peeling her walnuts with an unconcerned air.
"My dear Ted," she said, "I would not think of troubling Vernon to entertain my friends. That is the last thing I should wish or expect. If Sidney wants her father to go to town with her, I should not dream of raising any objections to it."
"The fact is," the Admiral said pleasantly, "we have come to the conclusion that we would like a little change. Sidney has been such a thorough housekeeper that she was always chary of leaving her duties up to now, but she is free from that, and Ethel and you, Ted, will be quite equal to run the house in our absence. It is good for me to be routed out of my quiet groove. And I think Sidney and I will get much enjoyment out of our little jaunt together."
"I should think we would!" murmured Sidney, smiling contentedly to herself.