"Nearly four."
"Is she here?"
"No; she is in London. I will fetch her down in a day or two."
"What do you call her?"
"Mabel—after her mother. Then it is settled, Lady Thetford, I am to fetch her?"
"I shall be delighted. But won't you dine with me?"
"No. I must catch the evening train. Farewell, Lady Thetford, and many thanks. In three days I will be here again."
He lifted his hat, and walked away. Lady Thetford watched him out of sight, and then turned slowly, as she heard her little boy calling to her with shrill impatience. The red sunset had faded out; the sea lay gray and cold under the twilight sky; and the evening breeze was chill. Changes in sky, and sea, and land, told of coming night; and Lady Thetford, shivering slightly in the rising wind, hurried away to be driven home.