Ford made a graceful little gesture of acquiescence. “You have said it.”
“Said what?” his wife inquired, laughing. “Really, you two are quite mysterious. Are you going to play billiards this afternoon?”
“No, Di,” said her husband. “Dr. Lucian is too strong for me—at billiards.”
“I am sure you play a very good game, Ford. Then what are the plans for this afternoon, I wonder?”
The inquiry came from Lady Aviolet, and her subsequent engineering of entirely unimportant projects and half-hearted suggestions continued until lunch was over.
Afterwards the doctor approached Rose.
“Henrietta hopes that you are coming to see her very soon. Her sciatica is so bad now that she gets about very little.”
“I’m so sorry.”
There was never anything perfunctory about Rose’s emotions, and her face was eloquent.
“It was very nice of Cecil to come and see us so soon. We both appreciated that,” said the doctor tentatively.