“Would you be pleased to accept of a pair, Miss Geraldine?” said Wyn.
“You don’t think Apollo would eat them? He has eaten my German exercises and half a sheet of music.”
“There now, you’d better bring him up to me, Missy, and only have him out sometimes,” said Granny.
“He likes German—I don’t,” said Geraldine. “Wyn, if you like you can take Florence Whittaker to see the peacocks.”
“Thank you, ma’am, I will,” said Wyn, while Florence grinned and sniggered.
Geraldine went off in a whirlwind as she had come, and after tea Wyn and Florence went out together, leaving daughter and mother-in-law for a comfortable chat.
“That’s a fine girl of poor Jane Whittaker’s, but she don’t seem to have no manners at all,” said Granny.
“She hasn’t,” said Mrs Warren. “She don’t seem to know how to behave to anyone, except as if they were girls like herself. Liza Stroud wants to get her into good service, but she ain’t anyhow fit for it. No lady, nor no lady’s housekeeper, would put up with her for a week with them manners. But I’m in hopes to stroke her down gradually and unconscious-like, for she’s very like her poor brother, and ’tis no manner of use driving her. Miss Geraldine’s a fine young lady too, and favours poor Mr Alwyn remarkably.”
“Yes, there it is again,” said the old lady. “Miss Geraldine’s kept so strict in the schoolroom that she don’t know what to do when she gets out of it. She ought to be with ladies in the drawing-room, as would bring her on to receive company like her dear mamma, and sit down nice with her needlework. Oh, dear! that was a sore time, that there unlucky night at Ravenshurst.”
“Granny,” said Mrs Warren, “I’ve often wondered what you thought became of the jewels.”