"Lord and Lady Southbourne and the Honourable Edward Lang," announced the footman, and Lady Dove became affable.
"How do you do? How very kind of you to come. Here is the young lady who has come of age to-day. The neighbourhood has responded so kindly. Do come to this sofa, Lady Southbourne."
Lord Southbourne had never seen Toney before. The family had only lately come to the neighbourhood, but this is what he heard her saying,
"I wish you hadn't come quite so early; we were having such a nice time with the tenants, but you will come and dance presently, won't you?"
"We have all come to do your bidding," said Lord Southbourne, kindly giving Toney a bow; but his son laughed.
"We heard marvellous tales of your entertainment, Miss Whitburn," said he. "My father thinks you'll make our tenants' dinners blush in future."
"Anyhow, the people are happy," said Toney; fanning herself vigorously. "They've given us four 'jolly good fellows' already, and it's hot work, I can tell you."
CHAPTER IX.
A BARN DANCE.
The dinner party which Lady Dove had arranged was very select, with a few exceptions. She meant to reap some social benefits from Toney's coming of age in order to make up for the "most unnecessary fuss over the poor people." This evening she was quite gracious and pleasant to everyone at her own dinner table. It must be owned, too, that Toney was for the moment rather tired and sleepy, and glad to sit still and almost silent between Mr. Hales and Lewis Waycott, so that the aristocratic party were quite surprised to see only a bright-haired young lady in snowy white, behaving very decorously. Strange stories had, of course, gathered round Toney's personality, one of which was that she was a terrible Socialist, a character which, in this part of the country, almost put the owner of it out of the pale of society. But to be kind to the poor was simply a duty, and an entertainment to the tenants was a time-honoured institution which no one could reasonably object to. Of course these aristocratic people had not beheld Toney's dinner table, for they would have been truly shocked to see rare flowers and shining silver set before the lower orders; moreover, they would have felt that pheasants were eternally disgraced by having appeared on that occasion. So all went well. Lady Carew took care to tell no tales to Lord Southbourne or to her own immaculate husband, who was talking county politics with Lady Southbourne whilst the dinner took its accustomed course, now and then urged on by a side remark of Toney's to Mr. Diggings not to be too long, as the ball was to begin directly dinner was over.