"He has just been with father," said Mrs. Eldridge; but Colonel Eldridge stopped her. "I don't think that anything ought to be said," he began.
Mrs. Eldridge laughed. "You didn't promise to say nothing, I suppose," she said.
"No; but—"
"He came to father, Pam, to ask if he had any objection to his marrying you, supposing you had no objection."
Pamela blushed deeply, but after a glance at her father said calmly: "I hope you told him that you had, Daddy."
Colonel Eldridge, standing in front of the fire, straightened himself, and smiled. "I told him it wasn't the sort of marriage I expected for you," he said, "but it was for you to decide and not me. I say, I didn't mean to discuss it like this, ten minutes afterwards, with him actually in the house."
"Perhaps we had better wait until he has gone," said Mrs. Eldridge. "Were you going back to the schoolroom, Pam?"
"Well, I wasn't," said Pam; "but I can, if you like."
"There!" said Mrs. Eldridge. "Now I think you can go back to your room, dear, and wait a little, without too much anxiety."