Lord Blair, somewhat mystified, accompanied him on to the veranda; and here they chanced upon Lady Muriel again taking the air with Rupert Helsingham who was once more her partner. The couple were strolling towards them as they came out of the house.
Daniel made for the steps. “What I want you to see is over here,” he said, pointing to the gateway.
“One moment,” Lord Blair interjected, taking hold of his arm. “I want to introduce you to my daughter.”
He called Muriel to him, who replied somewhat coldly that she had already met Mr. Lane.
“Really?” exclaimed his Lordship. “Splendid, capital!”
“Yes,” said Daniel, taking his pipe out of his mouth, “when she was quite a kid; but I’m blest if I know where it was.”
He was standing again almost with his back to Muriel, his pipe between his teeth, and once more a sense of annoyance entered her mind. She would have liked to pinch him, but for all she knew he might turn round and fling her into the middle of the drive. She racked her brains for something to say, something which would show him that she was not to be ignored in this fashion.
“Ah,” she exclaimed suddenly, “now I remember. It was in the Highlands that we met. You came over to tea with us: I was staying with my cousin the Duchess of Strathness.”
Daniel scratched his head. “I’m so bad at names,” he said. “What’s she like?”
Lord Blair uttered a sudden guffaw, but Muriel did not treat the matter so lightly. A man with gentlemanly instincts, she thought to herself, would at any rate pretend he remembered.