'Well?' asked his wife.
'It is nothing to me. I don't know either of the parties mentioned.'
At that moment there was a knock at the door, and Mrs Gray and Miss Reed entered, having met on the doorstep. Mrs Griffith at once regained her self-possession.
'Have you heard the news, Mrs Griffith?' said Miss Reed.
'D'you mean about the marriage of Sir Herbert Ously-Farrowham?' She mouthed the long name.
'Yes,' replied the two ladies together.
'It is nothing to me.... I have no daughter, Mrs Gray.'
'I'm sorry to hear you say that, Mrs Griffith,' said Mrs Gray very stiffly. 'I think you show a most unforgiving spirit.'
'Yes,' said Miss Reed; 'I can't help thinking that if you'd treated poor Daisy in a—well, in a more Christian way, you might have saved her from a great deal.'
'Yes,' added Mrs Gray. 'I must say that all through I don't think you've shown a nice spirit at all. I remember poor, dear Daisy quite well, and she had a very sweet character. And I'm sure that if she'd been treated a little more gently, nothing of all this would have happened.'