Constance again smiled assent. But suddenly her face stiffened. It was like a flower closing, or a light blown out.
Mrs. Mulholland thought—“She has lost a father and a mother within a year, and I have reminded her. I am a cruel, clumsy wretch.”
And thenceforward she roared so gently that Miss Wenlock, who never said a malicious thing herself, and was therefore entirely dependent on Sarah Mulholland’s tongue for the salt of life, felt herself cheated of her usual Sunday entertainment. For there were few Sundays in term-time when Mrs. Mulholland did not “drop in” for tea and talk at Beaumont before going on to the Cathedral service.
But under the gentleness, Constance opened again, and expanded. Mrs. Mulholland seemed to watch her with increasing kindness. At last, she said abruptly—
“I have already heard of you from two charming young men.”
Constance opened a pair of conscious eyes. It was as though she were always expecting to hear Falloden’s name, and protecting herself against the shock of it. But the mistake was soon evident.
“Otto Radowitz told me you had been so kind to him! He is an enthusiastic boy, and a great friend of mine. He deals always in superlatives. That is so refreshing here in Oxford where we are all so clever that we are deadly afraid of each other, and everybody talks drab. And his music is divine! I hear they talk of him in Paris as another Chopin. He passed his first degree examination the other day magnificently! Come and hear him some evening at my house. Jim Meyrick, too, has told me all about you. His mother is a cousin of mine, and he condescends occasionally to come and see me. He is, I understand, a ‘blood.’ All I know is that he would be a nice youth, if he had a little more will of his own, and had nicer friends!” The small black eyes under the white hair flamed.
Constance started. Miss Wenlock put up a soothing hand—
“Dear Sarah, are you thinking of any one?”
“Of course I am!” said Mrs. Mulholland firmly. “There is a young gentleman at Marmion who thinks the world belongs to him. Oh, you know Mr. Falloden, Grace! He got the Newdigate last year, and the Greek Verse the other day. He got the Ireland, and he’s going to get a First. He might have been in the Eleven, if he’d kept his temper, and they say he’s going to be a magnificent tennis player. And a lot of other tiresome distinctions. I believe he speaks at the Union, and speaks well—bad luck to him!”