"That was extremely kind of Lady Northgate."
"Well, so long as it wasn't true. I've heard so much about you that I was quite anxious to see you. I am speaking to Lord Drake Selbie, am I not?"
"That's my name," said Drake.
"The nephew of Angleford?"
Drake nodded.
She looked up at him as if waiting to see how he took the mention of his uncle's name; but Drake's face could be as impassive as a stone wall when he liked.
"You know my uncle?" he asked, in a tone of polite interest.
"Yes," she said; "very well. I met him when he was in America. His wife is a great friend of mine. You know her, of course?"
"I'm sorry to say I have not had that pleasure," said Drake. "I was absent from England when the present Lady Angleford came over, after her marriage."
"Oh, yes," said the lady. "I suppose I ought not to have mentioned her?"