She led the way into the parlour on the right—a cosy and charming little room, spotlessly clean and bright.
“I shall be delighted to accommodate you, to the extent of my very humble menace. As you may remember, my dear Miss—I mean, Mrs. Carling—I retain no domestic during the winter months, when I so seldom have any guests, though I am very glad when they do come, like you and Mr. Armitage. And, do you know, I still think of that delicious jambon he sent me for Christmas, just after you left. As I wrote to him at the time, a more delicious bird was never brought to table! Now perhaps you would like to see the sleeping apartment—the large one over this; it is not quite ready, of course, as I did not expect you, but can be dérangered in a very few minutes.”
“We don’t want to put you about in the very least,” Grace explained. “We can go and get lunch somewhere in the village—we shall have to find a garage for the motor-car anyhow; it’s waiting there in the road—and we can come back at any time you like. Oh, you darling! Why, is this Cæsar?”
A magnificent black Persian cat stalked into the room, and stared gravely at Grace with its inscrutable amber eyes.
The question seemed to embarrass little Miss Culpepper, who, after a deprecating glance at Roger’s back—he was looking out of the window—mysteriously beckoned Grace out of the room.
She followed, cuddling the cat, which she had picked up, and which lay quite quietly in her arms without evincing any emotion whatever.
“It’s the same animal, my dear, whom you were so fond of as a kitten,” Miss Culpepper explained in a discreet whisper; “but unfortunately she proved to be a—a female; very embarrassing! So she is now inconnu as ‘Cleopatra.’ Perhaps I should not have said unfortunate though, for a lady near possesses a most beautiful Persian with whom Cleopatra—er—mates; and the provender are exquisite, and provide quite a nice little source of additional income. She has two now, that I expect to dispose of for quite a large sum, though I do hate parting with them; it seems so sordid.”
“Oh, do let me see them,” Grace pleaded, and was graciously invited into the kitchen, where the two kittens, an adorable pair, pranced to meet them. Cleopatra jumped down and crooned over her offspring, and Grace promptly sat on the floor and gathered all three of them into her lap.
“Most extraordinary,” murmured Miss Culpepper, “Cleopatra evidently remembers you, after all this time. As a rule she never allows anyone but myself to caress her or the kittens; in fact, she usually swears at and attempts to bite any stranger who has the timidity to approach her. So unladylike!”
“I feel quite honoured,” laughed Grace. “Of course you remember me and love me, don’t you, Cleopatra, darling? And you’ll let me have one of your babies. We must take one home with us, Miss Culpepper, if it’s old enough.”