'Is it?' she said, and laughed musically, Then, moving her skirt to show him that he might sit down, 'Well, I suppose it is. You have no experience of that, I hope, sir?'
He nodded.
'The gaming-table?' she said.
'Not this time,' he answered, wondering why he told her. 'I had a grandfather, who made a will. He had a fancy to wrap up a bombshell in the will. Now--the shell has burst.'
'I am sorry,' she said; and was silent a moment. At length, 'Does it make--any great difference to you?' she asked naïvely.
Sir George looked at her as if he were studying her appearance. Then, 'Yes, child, it does,' he said.
She hesitated, but seemed to make up her mind. 'I have never asked you where you live,' she said softly; 'have you no house in the country?'
He suppressed something between an oath and a groan. 'Yes,' he said, 'I have a house.'
'What do you call it?'
'Estcombe Hall. It is in Wiltshire, not far from here.'