“And then of course I gave in,” she continued. “Of course, he knew I should—the wretch! And we’re to have a cottage on the river, and spend six weeks there.”
She finished with a little grimace, and Lady Bracondale observed politely:
“I’m afraid you will find it rather dull.”
“I shall find it very dull,” returned Mrs. Romayne with ingenuous frankness. “I shall be bored to death. But, then, you all know that I am really a very ridiculous woman, and if my lord and master is content, there is nothing more to be said. He’s kind enough to assure me that there are lots of nice people about! I don’t know what kind of nice people one is likely to find about the river in August and September, but I take his word for it.”
“I believe the Comptons have a house-boat somewhere,” observed Miss Pomeroy.
It was her first contribution to the conversation, and it was made apparently rather because conventionality by this time demanded a remark of some sort from her, than from any interest in the subject. Before any reply could be made, the door opened, and Marston Loring was announced.
Mrs. Romayne had been looking rather sharp-featured, and there was a great restlessness in her eyes. It seemed to leap up and then settle suddenly into comparative repose as they rested on Marston Loring, and as he turned to shake hands with her she greeted him gaily. It was their first meeting since the night of the Academy soirée, but Loring’s manner was absolutely unmoved. His greeting to her differed in nowise from his greeting to the other two ladies, and if that fact in itself involved a subtle change in his demeanour towards her, the change was observed by one pair of eyes only—a pair of demure brown eyes. Miss Pomeroy had been a good deal interested in Marston Loring’s comings and goings during the fortnight she spent in Queen Anne Street.
“I thought you were gone,” Mrs. Romayne said lightly. “What are you doing in town to-day, may one ask, when you were booked to start for Norway yesterday?”
“Business,” he returned in a tone which addressed the whole company rather than any member of it individually. “I am investing in a Scotch moor, and I can’t leave London till I have signed and sealed.”
There was a delicate implication of wealth about the statement which seemed to give a curious fillip to the conversation; and an animated discussion ensued on Scotland, its charms and its disadvantages.