"From Lord Hayes. I thought he had not come home yet."
Eva was standing on the lowest step of the flight of stairs.
"Yes; he came home with me to-day," she said.
"Was he with you at the Brabizons?"
"Yes; we travelled together."
Eva went up to her room, not wishing to see the note opened in her presence. What it would contain she knew, or, at least, guessed. Five minutes later, Mr. Grampound also came upstairs and tapped at the door of his wife's room. She had not begun to dress, and he came in with the note in his hand. His cold, clean-shaven face showed a good deal of gentlemanly and quiet satisfaction.
"Of course there is only one answer," he said when she had finished reading it. "It is a splendid match for her."
"Eva spoke to me about it this afternoon," said his wife.
"Well?"
"She does not want to be hurried. She wants to have time to decide."