They often motored in the afternoon to various resorts not too far distant, and there took tea; and for two whole days it had been wet and, except at meals, the ladies had lain _perdues_.
However fate was kind on a Saturday morning, and allowed Lord Fordyce to chance upon Mrs. Howard, right up at the Belvedere in the far woods, looking over the valley. She was quite alone, and her slender figure was outlined against the bright sunlight as she leaned on the balustrade gazing down at the exquisite scene.
Henry could have cried aloud in joy, "At last!" but he restrained himself, and instead only said a casual "Hullo!" Mrs. Howard turned and looked at him, and answered his greeting with frank cordiality.
"Have you never been here before? I think it is one of the most lovely spots in the whole woods, and at this time there is never any one--what made you penetrate so far?"
"Good fortune! The jade has been unkind until now."
"I always like being up on a high mountain and looking down at things, don't you?" she said.
"No, not always--one feels lonely--but it is nice if one is with a suitable companion. How have you, at your age, managed to become self-sufficing?"
"Circumstance, I expect, has taught me the beauty of solitude. I spend months alone in Brittany."
"And what do you do--read most of the time?"
He was so enchanted that she was not turning the conversation into banal things, he determined not to say anything which would cause her again to draw down the blind of bland politeness.
"Yes, I read a great deal. You see, Moravia and I were at a convent together, and there, beyond teaching us to spell and to write and do a few sums and learn a garbled version of French history, a little music, and a great deal of embroidery, they left us totally ignorant--one must try to supply the deficiencies oneself. It is appalling to remain ignorant once one realizes that one is."
"Knowledge on any subject is interesting--did you begin generally--or did you specialize?"
"I always wanted to be just--and to understand things. The whole of life and existence seemed too difficult--I think I began trying to find some key to that and this opened the door to general information, and so eventually, perhaps, one specializes."