'You are mistaken, Reginald,' said Urania; 'my father is going to join us by-and-by. I hope he won't be considered an interloper. I told him that it was to be a young party, and that I was sure he would be in the way; but he wouldn't take my advice. He is going to ride over in the broiling sun. Very foolish, I think.'
'I thought Dr. Rylance was in London?'
'He was till last night. He came down on purpose to be at your picnic.'
'I am sure I feel honoured,' said Bessie.
'Do you? I don't think you are the attraction,' answered Urania, with a cantankerous glance at Miss Palliser.
Ida's dark eyes were looking far away across the hills. It seemed as if she neither heard Miss Rylance's speech nor saw the sneer which emphasized it.
Dr. Rylance's substantial hunter came plodding over the turfy ridge behind them five minutes afterwards, and presently he was riding at a measured trot beside the carriage door, congratulating Bessie on the beauty of the day, and saying civil things to every one.
'I could not resist the temptation to give myself a day's idleness in the
Hampshire air,' he said.
Reginald felt unutterably savage. What a trouble-feast the man was. They would have to adapt the proceedings of the day to his middle-aged good manners. There could be no wild revelry, no freedom. Dr. Rylance was an embodiment of propriety.
Half-an-hour after dinner they were all scattered upon the hills.