"Ah!" cried Lance, "and that reminds me of old Brooke's business and the reason why he came here to-night! Do you know, Miss Lutwyche, Brooke wants to build a house, and he's been reading a paragraph in the Hauberk about a lady architect."
Melicent grew pink, and looked down.
"Captain Brooke won't want to give his work to such a complete novice," she said demurely. "Now that he has seen me, he will want to retire gracefully from his intention, and you put him in a cruel dilemma by mentioning it."
"I like trying experiments," said the Captain, with more animation than he had yet displayed.
Everyone was now crowding with interest around the music-stool where Melicent sat.
"What and where would your house be, Captain Brooke?" asked Helston.
"It would be in my—my—the place my people come from," he replied. "It's in Wiltshire."
"Wiltshire! That's a variable county; on Salisbury Plain?"
"No; it's a pretty village. Clunbury, they call it."
"What kind of house do you think of building?"