"It isn't well; it is ill," returns he, laughing. "She says she is coming to stay with us for a week or so on her way to Lady Sarah's."
"Why is she coming?"
"For our sins, I suppose. I really don't know any other reason." He casts an anxious glance at her. "I am afraid that you won't care about it."
"Well, I shan't," says Tita frankly; "but if she wants to come, there is nothing more to be said. What I am afraid of is that Marian won't like it."
"Marian?"
"Yes, Marian. It struck me that she was not very fond of your mother. Was I right?"
"I could not possibly answer for Marian."
"No?"
"Certainly not."
"Yet I thought," with a swift glance, "that you were the one person in the world who could have told me all about her."