"Yes," said Millicent with forced calm; "I really think I would."
"Will you give me the key of the Indian collection?" Blake asked Challoner.
"Here it is," said the Colonel, who turned to Mrs. Keith. "That reminds me, you haven't seen my new treasures yet. Dryhurst has lately sent me some rather good things; among others there's a small Buddha, exquisitely carved. Shall we go and look at them?"
Mrs. Keith felt angry with him for a marplot, but she said: "Wouldn't it be better to wait until I'm here in the daylight? If I try to examine anything closely with these spectacles, they strain my eyes."
"I've had a new lamp placed in front of the case," Challoner persisted, and Mrs. Keith found it hard to forgive him for his obtuseness.
"Very well," she said in a resigned tone, and when Millicent and Blake had gone out walked slowly to the door with Challoner.
They were half way up the staircase which led rather sharply from the hall when she stopped and turned to her companion.
"It's obvious that you have recovered," she said.
"I certainly feel much better, but what prompted your remark?"
"These stairs. You don't seem to feel them, but if you expect me to run up and down, you'll have to make them shallower and less steep. I've been up twice since I came; Hilda insisted on my seeing the new decorations in the west wing, and I must confess to a weakness in my knee."