These three gentlemen with Lord Stowmaries himself formed the little group around the table of the private parlour at the "Three Bears" at the moment that Sir John Ayloffe entered it.
CHAPTER VIII
I was a nameless man; you needed me:
Why did I proffer you my aid? there stood
A certain pretty cousin at your side.
—Browning.
With a quick glance thrown on each of the four faces, shrewd Sir John had quickly appraised the mood of this small clique. Stowmaries in sullen rage against the whole world because of this thwarting of his most cherished desire, Rochester and the Irishman, flippant and eager for sport, with Wykeham as the sobering influence, the self-constituted guardian of religious obligations.
It was also obvious to this keen observer of other people's moods that there would be no need for circumlocution. Though silence reigned in the room, the subject of Stowmaries' marriage was uppermost in the minds of his friends.