“Will you come into the hall?” she said. “This lady is my mother, and I want to see to her comforts. If you will stay in the hall I will come back to you presently.”
Mrs. Ives nodded.
Barbara conveyed Mrs. Evershed up-stairs.
“Why do you talk to that sort of person, Barbara? It’s not at all good taste,” said Mrs. Evershed.
“Oh, mother, where does the bad taste come in? She’s such a little character, quite an oddity, and I enjoy her,” said Barbara. “I wonder where Dick is!”
A servant, who had been hovering about, now came forward with Dick’s note.
“Sir Richard said you were to receive this immediately on your return, my lady,” he remarked.
Barbara opened the note, read the contents, and her face turned white.
“What can be the matter?” she said aloud.
“Is anything wrong, dear?” asked Mrs. Evershed.