“And you are coming nearer to it?”
“It is coming nearer to me.”
“Ah!” said Mrs. Vansittart, examining the rings with which her fingers were laden. “I thought there would be developments.”
“There are developments. Hence my presence in The Hague. Lord Ferriby et famille arrive to-morrow. Also my friend Major White.”
“The fighting man?” inquired Mrs. Vansittart.
“Yes, the fighting man. We are to have a solemn meeting. It has been found necessary to alter our financial basis——”
Mrs. Vansittart held up a warning hand. “Do not talk to me of your financial basis. I know nothing of money. It is not from that point of view that I contemplate your Malgamite scheme.”
“Ah! Then, if one may inquire, from what point of view....?”
“From the human point of view; as does every other woman connected with it. We are advancing, I admit, but I think we shall always be willing to leave the—financial basis—to your down-trodden sex.”
“It is very kind of you to be interested in these poor people,” began Cornish; but Mrs. Vansittart interrupted him vivaciously.