The earl glanced at his daughter. Lady Dora rose, and, accompanied by the ladies and her children, left the three gentlemen to themselves.
Then the squire made another attempt to introduce the subject so abruptly interrupted, by saying—
"I suppose the living of Briarsleigh is not already given away?"
"No indeed," was the reply, "although you are correct in your surmises, colonel, respecting the letters I have received; but I never decide hastily on such matters. Come, squire, help yourself, and pass the decanter," added the earl, in a tone far less serious; "and tell me how you have arranged about Henley's farm."
This reference stirred up the squire to descant on a personal matter with great gusto, and changed the subject.
The gentlemen did not delay to join the ladies in the drawing-room; indeed, very little time elapsed before the visitors had taken their departure. A drive of four or five miles is not very pleasant after ten o'clock on a cold spring night even in a close carriage. And yet how often is a visit of this kind followed by a drive home of even more than ten miles during a night in winter!
Lady Dora had taken leave of her guests, and finding herself alone in the drawing-room with her father, she approached him as he stood with his back to the fire in true English fashion, and said—
"Papa, I believe I understand why you dismissed me so suddenly from the table this evening."
The earl smiled as he replied—
"Well, my daughter, and what is it you understand?"