"What it is to live with the belle of the country-side, as they say in the story-books!"
"What it is to live with a spoilt and impertinent nephew! Very well done, Ralph! I have no patience with a man who does not know how to carve."
"Carving ought to come easy to the Gold Medallist in Anatomy, oughtn't it?" he said mischievously.
"Are you really that?"
"At your service."
"And you have not shown it to me yet!"
"Bless the old darling! I shall not see it myself till May. The object of the medal is to remind a man of the mountain of learning he has contrived to—forget!"
Mrs Hamilton laughed.
"How long a holiday can you take, Ralph?" she asked presently.
"A month. I ought to get back to hospital then, if you are—sick of my company."