‘Never, till after your poor father’s death. I attended his funeral.’
‘Was Captain Desmond present?’
‘No; but he was with your father up till the last hour of his life. I heard that from the landlady. He helped to nurse him.’
‘I thank you, aunt, with all my heart, for what you have told me. I will come and see you again in a few days, if I may.’
‘Do, my dear, and bring your husband.’ Laura shivered. ‘I should like to make his acquaintance. If you will mention the day a little beforehand, I should be pleased for you to take your luncheon with me. I have the cook who roasted that duckling for your poor mother still with me.’
‘I shall be pleased to come, aunt. We are in London upon very serious business, but I hope it will soon be ended, and when it is over I will tell you all about it.’
‘Do, my dear, I am very glad to see you again. I dare say you remember spending a week with me when your mother died. I think you enjoyed yourself. This house must have been such a change for you after that poor little place at Chiswick, and there is a good deal to amuse a child in this room,’ said Mrs. Malcolm, glancing admiringly from the monumental clock on the mantelpiece to the group of feather flowers and stuffed birds on the sepulchral cheffonier.
Laura smiled faintly, remembering those interminable days in that cheerless chamber, compared with which a dirty lane where she could have made mud pies would have been Elysium.
‘I’ve no doubt you were extremely kind to me, aunt,’ she said gently, ‘but I was very small and very shy.’
‘And you did not like going to bed in the dark; which shows that you have been foolishly brought up. Your mother was a sweet woman, but wanting in strength of mind.’