“Then he will assay the mine, act as the engineer to the company?”
“Precisely.”
“Has he promised?”
“Not yet, but my impression is that he will do it.”
“What does assaying the mine mean?”
Mrs. Ogilvie knitted her pretty dark brows, and looked as inquisitive and childish at that moment as Sibyl herself.
“To assay a mine means to find out accurately what it contains,” said Lord Grayleigh. Once again his eyes turned away from his questioner. He had very little respect for Mrs. Ogilvie’s conscience, but he did not want to meet anyone’s gaze at that instant.
“Nevertheless,” he continued, after a pause, “your husband has not definitely promised, and it is on the cards that he may refuse.”
“He will be a madman if he does,” cried Mrs. Ogilvie, and she stamped her pretty foot impatiently.
“According to Sibyl’s light, he will be the reverse of that; but then, Sibyl, and your husband also, believe in such a thing as conscience.”