"When you are good," she answered.
"Ugh!" he exclaimed. "I should have had more respect for your honesty if you said 'no' at once. And it is very absurd of you, too, Evadne, because you know you are going to marry me when Colonel Colquhoun is promoted to regions of the blest. She would have married me first, only you stole a march on me, sir," he added, addressing Colonel Colquhoun. "However, I feel as if something were going to happen now, at last! There was a banshee wailing about my quarters in a minor key, very flat, last night. She had come all the way from Ireland to warn Colonel Colquhoun, and mistaken the house, I suppose."
"My dear—"
We all looked round. It was Mr. Hamilton-Wells addressing Lady Adeline in his most precise manner. He was standing in the open French window just behind us, tapping one hand with the pince-nez he held in the other.
"My dear, the cat has five kittens."
"My dear!" Lady Adeline exclaimed.
"They have only just arrived and—"
"Never mind them now," she cried hurriedly.
"But, my dear, you were anxious to know."
"I don't want to know in the least," she protested.