Kathleen made an effort to prepare her face. She was determined that it should reveal nothing. She knew quite well what was coming.
"Lancelot Stukely is in London," her aunt went on. "He came back just in time to see his uncle before he died. His uncle has left him everything."
"Was Sir James ill a long time?" Kathleen asked.
"I believe he was," said Mrs. Knolles.
"Oh, then I suppose he won't go back to Malta," said Kathleen, with perfectly assumed indifference.
"Of course not," said Mrs. Knolles. "He inherits the place, the title, everything. He will be very well off. Would you like to drive to Bavigny this afternoon? Princess Oulchikov can take us in her motor if you would like to go. Arkright is coming."
"I will if you want me to," said Kathleen.
This was one of the remarks that Kathleen often made, which annoyed her aunt, and perhaps justly. Mrs. Knolles was always trying to devise something that would amuse or distract her niece, but whenever she suggested anything to her or arranged any expedition or special treat which she thought might amuse, all the response she met with was a phrase that implied resignation.
"I don't want you to come if you would rather not," she said with beautifully concealed impatience.
"Well, to-day I would rather not," said Kathleen, greatly to her aunt's surprise. It was the first time she had ever made such an answer.