Aunt Jelly raised her head like an old war-horse at the sound of a trumpet.
"Otterburn! Otterburn! Who is he?" she demanded sharply. "Someone Victoria has been flirting with, I suppose. I never heard of him, though she does mention him in her letters."
"He's new to town," explained her nephew carelessly, "the eldest son of Lord Dunkeld. Angus Macjean, you know, his title is the Master of Otterburn. A very nice boy and awfully in love with Victoria."
"Oh, is he? And I daresay Victoria encouraged him."
"Rather!"
"No, no!" interposed Lady Errington, seeing a rising storm in Aunt Jelly's frown, "I don't think she went as far as that, but you know, Aunt jelly, Victoria is very pretty and the boy could hardly help admiring her."
"Oh, I daresay she wasn't blind to his admiration," said Miss Corbin viciously; "she's pretty, no doubt, but after all beauty is only skin deep."
A weak giggle coming out of the dark corner showed that Minnie agreed with her, whereupon Aunt Jelly, who never permitted any familiarities, vented her anger on Miss Pelch at once.
"What are you sniffling for, Minnie?" she called out. "Come here and show yourself. This is my niece, Lady Errington, and this is Miss Pelch, my dear. Her father was curate at Denfield."
"How do you do?" said Alizon kindly, feeling sorry for the blushing Minnie. "I've heard about you from my husband. You write poetry, do you not?"