‘Broken playing football.’
‘Poor boy. I am very sorry.’
‘It is his own fault. A rough customer, a very rough customer.’
Now she had entered again into her dim kingdom, in which she negatively reigned as Stephen’s mother-in-law. He was well disposed towards her she knew, and so was she towards him; but she also knew they were not interesting to each other except in their quality of satisfactory son-in-law, satisfactory mother-in-law. She wasn’t to Stephen a woman; Stephen was not to her a man—‘But do I remember Daisy? I don’t seem——’
‘She is my mother’s housemaid at the Rectory. She is marrying the cowman up at Tovey’s farm.’
‘Your mother will miss her.’
‘That is what I fear.’
Virginia had assured her, on becoming engaged, that he was of a distinguished mind; she knew for herself, since he had begun so unexpectedly to preach eloquently on love, that he had a tender and understanding heart; but neither of these things came to the surface and lit up his conversation when he was with her. Strange dehumanisation of a human being produced by their relationship....
‘Bathrooms did you say?’
‘In every cottage. And the new cottages are going to have lavatory basins in each bedroom.’