"Your dear daughter is fast asleep, and so is her infant."
Lady Wetheral reseated herself.
"A few minutes may find her awake. I may be fortunate enough to remain till she wakes."
"I don't think you will. Anna Maria has fallen into her first sleep to-day, and I hope it will last. The child is asleep with her, and Tom watches over them."
"Her sleep is quiet and refreshing, I hope?"
"We take great care of our invalids at Hatton. We don't leave them a fortnight to be nursed by other people."
Lady Wetheral affected innocence of all covert meanings. She addressed Sir John Spottiswoode.—
"My daughter tells me you saw the Ennismore party at Florence. Did you see my daughter, Lady Ennismore, to speak? Did she trouble you with any letters or messages for her friends?"
"I saw Lady Ennismore—your Lady Ennismore—twice; each time she was accompanied by the Countess and Colonel Neville, and our interview was short. Lady Ennismore was looking very lovely."
"You mentioned your intended return to England to her."