But Mrs. Halford, the Clara Marston of olden times, was more calm and self-possessed in cases of emergency than her erudite husband. She had heard from Kate of the arrival of a gentleman on horseback, and from Thomas the name on the card.
Giving orders at once for lunch to be prepared in the private dining-room, she made some trifling addition to her dress, and waited for a summons from her husband.
As he left the drawing-room she met him on the stairs.
"Lord Rivers is here, Clara," was his flurried remark.
"I know it, my dear; everything is ready. Whither are you going?"
"To send Thomas out to the groom about the horses. You go up to the visitor; he is going to lunch with us."
"Do not be long," she said, as she continued her way upstairs and entered the room.
Lord Rivers started forward with pleasure to receive her, and in a very few minutes they were talking eagerly of old times at Englefield, when the earl, then Lord Woodville, a youth in his teens, had been sometimes a troublesome intruder on the school hours or music and drawing lessons of his two young sisters, Miss Marston's pupils.
Presently Dr. Halford joined them; he was more able to touch upon family sorrows with his wife for an ally, and a great amount of the sad part of the details was got over before the summons to lunch.
In one point, however, Lord Rivers did some real good.