'And I, the very reverse of one?'
'Well, I really do think, Mr. Egremont, that you are taking up things for which you are not—not exactly suited, you know.'
She said it with the prettiest air of patronage, looking at him for a moment, then, as usual, letting her eyes wander about the room.
'Miss Tyrrell,' he replied, with gravity that was half genuine, 'tell me for what I am exactly suited, and you will do me a vast kindness.'
She reflected.
'Oh, there are lots of things you do very nicely indeed. I've seen you play croquet beautifully. But I've always thought it a pity you weren't a clergyman.'
Walter laughed.
'Well, a local preacher is next to it.'
Both were at once carried back to the evening at Ullswater. Paula kept silence; her eyes were directed towards Dalmaine, who almost at the same moment looked towards her. She played with her fan.
'You know that my uncle has been ill?' she said.