"Oh, good day, Mrs. Chandos," said Captain Haig; "I am so awfully sorry I was not able to come to tiffin. I was—prevented," here Jimmy gave him an approving nudge, "from accepting your kind invitation."
"Aye, and so you have come to tea instead. All right, come in—come in——"
"I am afraid we cannot wait, thank you."
"Oh, my! but why not? The girls are at home," and she put her hand on the wheel of the cart as if she would detain them by physical force.
Captain Haig merely shook his head.
"And poor Verona will be so disappointed," urged the persistent matron.
"I am sorry, Mrs. Chandos," interposed Jimmy, leaning across, "but I must really take him away. We have an important engagement."
"Ah, but here is Dominga!" cried her mother in a tone of triumph, as Dom, in a French muslin costume, came flitting to the gate.
"You know my daughter, Dominga, Captain Haig?"
Dominga immediately took her mother's place, and began to converse with Jimmy, whilst Mrs. Chandos stood aside and contemplated the scene with a bursting heart. She had hoped for a mere captain, but here was "the Honourable" talking away to Dom as if he had known her all his life! And the Trotters were staring over the wall, like so many stuck pigs.