Varbarriere picks up something about Donica Gwynn.
Drawing-room conversation seldom opens like an epic in the thick of the plot, and the introductory portions, however graceful, are seldom worth much. M. Varbarriere and Lady Alice had been talking some two or three minutes, when she made this inquiry.
"When did you last see the elder Mr. Strangways, whom you mentioned at dinner?"
"Lately, very lately—within this year."
"Did he seem pretty well?"
"Perfectly well."
"What does he think about it all?"
"I find a difficulty. If Lady Alice Redcliffe will define her question——"
"I mean—well, I should have asked you first, whether he ever talked to you about the affairs of that family—the Deverell family—I mean as they were affected by the loss of a deed. I don't understand these things well; but it involved the loss, they say, of an estate; and then there was the great misfortune of my life."
M. Varbarriere here made a low and reverential bow of sympathy; he knew she meant the death of her son.