Upon this Julia turned to her chaperon, her relation in whose hands all these external questions were.
"Did you know, dear Lady Herbert, that Lord Erradeen lived here?"
"Oh yes, he has a place close by. Didn't I tell you? A pretty house, with that old castle near it, which I pointed out to you on the lock," Lady Herbert said.
"How small the world is!" cried Julia; "wherever you go you are always knocking up against somebody. Fancy Walter Methven living here!"
Katie was not taken in by this little play. She was not even irritated as she had been at Burlington House. If it might so happen that some youthful bond existed between Lord Erradeen and this girl, Katie was not the woman to use any unfair means against it.
"You will be sure to meet him," she said calmly. "We hope he is not going to shut himself up as he did last year."
"Oh tell me!" Julia cried, with overflowing interest, "is there not some wonderful ghost story? something about his house being haunted; and he has to go and present himself and have an interview with the ghost? Captain Underwood, I remember, told us——"
"Did you know Captain Underwood?" said Katie, in that tone which says so much.
And then she turned to her other guests: for naturally the house was full of people, and as was habitual in Birkenbraes a large party from outside had come to lunch. The Williamsons were discussed with much freedom among the visitors from the Lodge when they went away. Sir Thomas declared that the old man was a monstrous fine old fellow, and his claret worth coming from Devonshire to drink.
"No expense spared in that establishment," he cried; "and there's a little girl, I should say, that would be worth a young fellow's while."