Margaret looked puzzled, for she did not understand the phrase employed; but she turned to her uncle.
"Did you, Uncle Grey?" she said.
"He does not know what he is talking about, my dear," said Mr. Grey.
"Don't I?" said Mr. Casement. "You thought, little woman, that I did not know any of your proceedings with Master Hubert."
"I did not think about it, Sir," said Margaret, turning away.
"I suppose Elizabeth Gage has quite cut you now?" pursued Mr. Casement.
"No, she has not, Sir; for I dine at Chirke Weston to-morrow."
"Then give my love to her," said Mr. Casement; "and tell her that I have held her engaged to me for the last ten years. I don't know when I shall claim her, but it is as well to remind her occasionally."
When she arrived at Captain Gage's next day, Elizabeth was alone in the drawing-room, dressed with her usual costly simplicity.
She was seated reading in an arm-chair by the open window, and Margaret could not help being newly struck with the grand and statuesque style of her beauty. From her height, the calm regularity of her features, the plain arrangement of her abundant hair, and the dignity of her attitude, she might have served as a model for Minerva.