Saltash shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps he'll train for a jockey. Who knows?"
Mrs. Sheppard sighed. "I can't think how you can treat everything as a joke. I can't myself."
He laughed. "I don't chance to be gifted with a serious mind, you see. Besides, cui bono? Does worrying help?"
"I'm sure it ought to," sighed Mrs. Sheppard.
He laughed again derisively. "Sheer waste of time, believe me. Either fight or submit to the inevitable! Personally, I prefer to fight." He shut his teeth with a sudden click, and for a single instant his face was grim. But the next he was laughing again. "Good-bye, Lady Brian! In the name of beauty, don't fret! It can't be done with impunity, remember!" He pressed her hand and released it. "You've given me quite a lot to think about. It's been an interesting conversation. I have quite enjoyed it. Good-bye!"
He was gone. She heard him departing, light-footed as a happy boy, whistling under his breath an old, old waltz refrain.
Gradually a smile came into her own face as she turned to the glass to repair the ravages of her recent emotion.
"I wonder whether he will do anything," she murmured to her reflection. "He isn't a man to sit still. And really, the circumstances are so exceptional. It is the only solution--literally the only one." She paused a moment, drew out a hairpin, twisted back a curl and very nicely readjusted it. "And when Giles is bankrupt," she added, with a little nod to the thoughtful gaze that met hers, "there will be a home for me to go to." She heaved a pensive sigh. "I am glad he knows everything," she said. "There is nothing like telling the whole truth."
She smiled again with more assurance, and went her way.
CHAPTER XXXIII