“You are rousing my curiosity to a tremendous pitch,” she returned. “How is it no one here has seen these people? They didn’t take the Hall without viewing it, I suppose?”
“They took it on Charlie’s recommendation, I believe,” he answered. “They will use it merely as a country house.”
“Oh!” Mrs Errol’s tone was slightly disappointed. “That means, I suppose, that they will live mostly in town?”
“And abroad,” he answered. “They travel a lot.”
“Well,” observed Mrs Errol brightly, “they will probably do something when they are here to liven the parish a little. We want a few modern ideas; our ideas in Moresby are covered with lichen. Lichen is picturesque, but it’s a form of decay, after all.”
John Musgrave appeared surprised. Here was another person who hungered for change; it was possibly, he decided, a feminine characteristic.
“Moresby compares, I believe, very favourably with other small places,” he said.
“I daresay it does.” She laughed abruptly. “If it didn’t it might be more gay.”
The vicar smiled at her indulgently.
“I’ve a rebel, you see, John, in my own household. Mary only requires a kindred spirit to break into open revolt. The coming of Mrs Chadwick may create an upheaval.”