"_She'll_ be no consolation for him," said Irene.
"No--that she won't! But unless there's someone else there she'll have Inez--you've seen the Spanish _dame-de-compagnie_?--and _she'll_ enjoy a flirtation with your brother. He'll speak Spanish to her, and she'll sing Spanish songs. _He_ won't hurt for a few hours."
So Tom Kettering drove Irene away in the gig, and Adrian was guided downstairs to an empty hall by Mrs. Bailey at four o'clock, so as to get a little used to the room before anyone should return. Prophecy depicted Normal Society coming back to tea, and believed in itself. Achilles sanctioned his master's new departure by his presence, accompanying him to the drawing-room. This dog was not only tolerated but encouraged everywhere. Dogs are, when their eyes are pathetic, their coats faultless, and their compliance with household superstitions unhesitating.
"_Speriamo!_ Perhaps there's a piano in the room, Mrs. Bailey?"
"There's two. One's stood up against the wall shut. The other's on three legs in the middle of the room." That one was to play upon, she supposed, the other to sing to.
"If you will be truly obliging--you always are, you know--and conduct me to the one on three legs in the middle of the room, I will play you an air from Gluck's 'Orfeo,' which I am sure you will enjoy.... Oh yes--I can do without any music-books because I have played it before, not infrequently...."
"I meant to set upon." In fact, Mrs. Bailey regarded this as the primary purpose of music-books; and so it was, at the home of her niece, who could play quite nicely. There was only two and they "just did." She referred to this while Mr. Torrens was spinning the music-stool to a suitable height for himself. He responded with perfect gravity--not a fraction of a smile--that books were apt to be too high or too low. It was the fault of the composers clearly, because the binders had to accept the scores as they found them. If the binders were to begin rearranging music to make volumes thicker or thinner, you wouldn't be able to play straight on. Mrs. Bailey concurred, saying that she had always said to her niece not to offer to play a tune till she could play it right through from beginning to end. Mr. Torrens said that was undoubtedly the view of all true musicians, and struck a chord, remarking that the piano had been left open. "How ever could you tell _that_ now, Mr. Torrens?" said Mrs. Bailey, and felt that she was in the presence of an Artist.