"Miss Woodville?" he inquired in his turn.
"Yes," replied the girl.
"Be good enough to follow me, Miss Woodville"; adding with a smile, "You are prompt."
"It is the custom of the theatre. Lean upon my arm, aunt."
At this moment Miss Woodville was saluted with a "good-morning" uttered by so strange, so guttural, so piercing a voice that she involuntarily started.
"Don't be alarmed," said Ralph; "it is the bird."
"What bird?"
"Sir Joshua's parrot. He was in the courtyard, but had to be removed to the dining-room because he fought with the eagle."
"An eagle! a parrot! Pray what are they doing here?"
"They pose. Miss Woodville must have noticed them in more than one of Sir Joshua's pictures. Oh, we all take our turns in sitting as models to him. Yesterday I was a shepherd; the day before, a sea-god."