Angela turned round again.
“Is Blanche so very bad, then?”
“You will see for yourself!”
“Ah, no,” said Mrs. Vivian, “she is not bad; she is only very light. I am so glad she is to be near us again. I think a great deal can be done by association. We must help her, Angela. I think we helped her before.”
“It is also very true that she is light, Mrs. Vivian,” Bernard observed, “and if you could make her a little heavier, I should be tremendously grateful.”
Bernard’s prospective mother-in-law looked at him a little.
“I don’t know whether you are laughing at me—I always think you are. But I shall not give up Blanche for that. I never give up any one that I have once tried to help. Blanche will come back to me.”
Mrs. Vivian had hardly spoken when the sharp little vibration of her door-bell was heard in the hall. Bernard stood for a moment looking at the door of the drawing-room.
“It is poor Gordon come to make a scene!” he announced.
“Is that what you mean—that he opposed your marriage?” asked Mrs. Vivian, with a frightened air.