"Willie, be just to him. I was thinking how nice it would be if Alicia could join him for a little while. She"s looking pale and wants a change."
"Does she want to go?"
"Well, I don"t know."
"Haven"t you asked her?"
"No, dear."
Lord Eynesford knew his wife"s way. He rose and stood with his back to the fireplace.
"You"ll be sending me away next, Mary," he remarked. "What"s wrong with Alicia? She doesn"t show signs of relenting about your friend c.o.xon, does she? If so, she shall go by the next boat, if I have to exert the prerogative."
"Mr. c.o.xon? Oh, dear, no! Poor man! There"s no danger from him."
"What"s in the wind then?"
"She"s too intimate with these Medlands."
"My dear Mary! Forgive me, but you"re in danger of becoming a monomaniac. The Medlands are not lepers."
Lady Eynesford shut her lips close and made no answer.
"What harm can they do her?" pursued the Governor. "Daisy"s a nice girl, and Medland--well, the worst he can do is to make her a Radical, and it doesn"t matter two straws what she is."
Lady Eynesford"s foot tapped on the floor.
"I suppose you"ll laugh at me," she said. "Indeed it"s absurd enough to make any one laugh, but, Willie, I"m not quite sure that Alicia isn"t too much----"
The sentence was cut short by the entrance of Alicia herself.
"Ah! Al!" cried the Governor. "Come here. Would you like to join d.i.c.k in Australia?"
Alicia started.
"He says he"s lonely, and I thought it would be such a nice trip for you," added Lady Eynesford.
"d.i.c.k lonely! What nonsense! It only means he wants to come back, Mary."
d.i.c.k"s pathos was evidently a broken reed. Lady Eynesford let it go, and said,
"Anyhow, you might take advantage of his being there to see Australia."
"I don"t want to see Australia," answered Alicia. "I much prefer New Lindsey."
"You don"t jump at Mary"s proposal?"
"I utterly decline," laughed Alicia, and, taking the book she had come in search of, she went out.
"You see. She won"t go," remarked Lady Eynesford.
"I never thought she would. What were you going to say when she came in?"
Lady Eynesford rose and stood by her husband.
"Willie," she said, "what is it about the Medlands? I"m tired of not knowing whether there is anything or whether there isn"t."
"I don"t know, my dear. There"s some gossip, I believe," said Lord Eynesford discreetly.
"Do you know what Mrs. Puttock said to Eleanor? Eleanor ought to have told me at once, but she only did last night. Eleanor asked something about his wife, and Mrs. Puttock said, "For my part, I don"t believe he ever had a wife."" Lady Eynesford repeated the all-important sentence with scrupulous accuracy.
"By Jove!" exclaimed the Governor. "That was what--" He checked himself before Kilshaw"s name could leave his lips.
"Yes? Now, Willie, if that"s true or--or anything like it, you know, is it right for Alicia to be constantly with Daisy Medland and--and in and out of the house, you know?"
The Governor looked grave. The thing was tangible enough now, and demanded to be dealt with more urgently than it ever had before.
"It"s a pity Eleanor didn"t speak sooner," he said.
"She thought less of it because Mrs. Puttock is a vulgar old gossip."
"Yes; but I"m afraid there may be something in it. Why did Eleanor tell you now?"
"Because I was speaking to her about the way Mr. Medland monopolised Alicia in the Park the other afternoon."
"Oh, that was my fault."
"It makes no difference how it came about. Willie, she had eyes and ears for no one else," and Lady Eynesford"s voice became very earnest.
"But it"s preposterous, Mary. You must be wrong. There couldn"t possibly be anything of the kind."
"You know the sort of girl she is," his wife went on. "She"s--well, she"s easily caught by an idea, and rather romantic, and--really, dear, we ought to be careful."
"I can"t believe it. If it"s true, Medland has treated me very badly."
"What does he care?" asked Lady Eynesford. "How I wish she would go away! Nothing I say seems to make any impression on her."
"Perhaps Medland has noticed nothing, even if you"re right about Alicia."
"He couldn"t help noticing."
"What? Do you mean she makes it----?"
"I don"t want to say anything unkind, but--well, yes, I"m afraid she does."
The Governor took a pace along the room.
"Upon my word," he exclaimed impatiently, "the way we get mixed up with these people is absurdly awkward. First there"s d.i.c.k----"