"Those opals are beautiful," said he, presently.
"O! is that a compliment? The first you have ever paid me."
"From you, yes. I was reading in Saint-Simon's Memoirs yesterday that your ancestor--Charles de Hausée--was the first swordsman, the bravest soldier, the hardest rider, and the best judge of women in France. But let us be serious. Lady Larch is wearing her brightest smile!"
"I am afraid so. You see, I have secured Pole-Knox. He has never been permitted to dine here before."
"Because I once told Lady Augusta that he was a man for the shortest part of the afternoon--not for evenings, at all. She couldn't forgive this."
"Yes. She has reached the stage when one may criticise him."
"Far from it--resignation to the worst that can be said of his character. There is no cure possible then."
"Have you had any conversation with Reckage?" he asked.
Sara coloured and put her fingers to her lips.
"Hush!" said she. "There's a deceptive quiet about him which puzzles me. But I don't think he is sorry to be rid of Agnes. A regiment of relatives drove him into the engagement. Now it has come to an end--let us thank God!"
"Your own conscience is easy, I take it?"
"You have no right to ask such a question--none at all."
"Some men, you know, can be laughed out of their loves," he continued.
"Timorous men--yes! Is Reckage timorous?"
"Thank you. Please sit between Lady Augusta and Aumerle at dinner."
The dinner passed most agreeably. As little as possible was said about the Meeting; each talked to his or her neighbour, and although the separate dialogues may have been profound, the general effect produced was one of restful flippancy. Pole-Knox remarked over his fish that England had little to fear--unless through the corruption of her religion, whereupon Penborough declared that religion in the country was a School, not a Church. To this Lady Augusta rejoined that Rome's strength depended merely on Canterbury's weakness.
"Forcing a change is a very ticklish business," said Aumerle, studying the menu, and regretting that his digestion was not all it had been.
Lord Garrow deplored the fact that Mr. Gladstone had embarked on a very vulgar and very false policy.
"But its vulgarity," he sighed, "gives it a very easy reception."