She sighed, met his eyes a moment, gravely, then turned to Netta.
"Mrs. Melrose, your husband and I have an old quarrel. He wanted to marry my sister. I prevented it. She is married now—and he is married. Why shouldn't we make friends?"
"Quarrels are very foolish!" said Netta, sententiously, straightening her small shoulders. But she dared not look at Melrose.
"Well, tell him so," laughed Lady Tatham. "And come and see me at Duddon
Castle."
"Thank you! I should like to!" cried Netta.
"My wife has no carriage, Lady Tatham."
"Oh, Edmund—we might hire something," said his wife imploringly.
"I do not permit it," he said resolutely. "Good-bye, Lady Tatham. You are like all women—you think the cracked vase will hold water. It won't."
"What are you going to do here, Edmund?"
"I am a collector—and works of art amuse me."