"I never thought she would. What were you going to say when she came in?"
Lady Eynesford rose and stood by her husband.
"Willie," she said, "what is it about the Medlands? I'm tired of not knowing whether there is anything or whether there isn't."
"I don't know, my dear. There's some gossip, I believe," said Lord Eynesford discreetly.
"Do you know what Mrs. Puttock said to Eleanor? Eleanor ought to have told me at once, but she only did last night. Eleanor asked something about his wife, and Mrs. Puttock said, 'For my part, I don't believe he ever had a wife.'" Lady Eynesford repeated the all-important sentence with scrupulous accuracy.
"By Jove!" exclaimed the Governor. "That was what—" He checked himself before Kilshaw's name could leave his lips.
"Yes? Now, Willie, if that's true or—or anything like it, you know, is it right for Alicia to be constantly with Daisy Medland and—and in and out of the house, you know?"
The Governor looked grave. The thing was tangible enough now, and demanded to be dealt with more urgently than it ever had before.
"It's a pity Eleanor didn't speak sooner," he said.