'You darling, I was sure you would be glad. But you must find me awfully changed—awfully.'
For worlds Lady Maulevrier could not have denied this truth. Happily Lady Kirkbank did not wait for an answer.
'Society is so wearing, and George and I never seem to get an interval of quiet. Kirkbank is to be full of men next week. Your granddaughter will have a good time.'
'There will be a few women, of course?'
'Oh, yes, there's no avoiding that; only one doesn't reckon them. Sir George only counts his guns. We expect a splendid season. I shall send you some birds of my own shooting.'
'You shoot!' exclaimed Lady Maulevrier, amazed.
'Shoot! I should think I do. What else is there to amuse one in Scotland, after the salmon fishing is over? I have never missed a season for the last thirty years, unless we have been abroad.'
'Please, don't innoculate Lesbia with your love of sport.'
'What! you wouldn't like her to shoot? Well, perhaps you are right. It is hardly the thing for a pretty girl with her fortune to make. It spoils the delicacy of the skin. But I'm afraid she'll find Kirkbank dull if she doesn't go out with the guns. She can meet us with the rest of the women at luncheon. We have some capital picnic luncheons on the moor, I can assure you.'
'I know she will enjoy herself with you. She has been accustomed to a very quiet life here.'