“Oh, quite.” Mrs. Cloud would hesitate. “But, of course——Oh, well, you know, chapel people—and now Robin Gedge wants to marry Annabel. It’s rather hard on the vicarage.” “Chapel! We’re not living in the ’fifties! What’s that got to do with it?” “No, of course—but it isn’t only that. Annabel—I must say I’m disappointed in Annabel. Oh—no real harm, but—frivolous, you know, and such a crowd of boys about her. A girl shouldn’t make herself conspicuous. Mrs. Gedge only hinted that pale blue taffeta was _not_ suitable for a Mothers’ Meeting, and Annabel was quite rude, I believe.” “And a jolly good thing too! What has it got to do with Mrs. Gedge? I do think women are the limit, you know—not you, Mother, of course! But imagine any man—imagine me dictating to Laura what she’s to wear or not to wear! And ‘chapel people’! Isn’t it petty?” He turned to his Echo, who always stayed to dinner on party days. “I thought you didn’t like Annabel?” Echo failed him for once. “Like? Never see the girl. Don’t want to. Can’t stand her. It’s the principle. Chapel!! It’s a free country. What right have you or I, or Mrs. Gedge for that matter, to dictate to Annabel Moulde? If people are to set up their personal prejudices as a standard for their neighbours——D’you see what I mean?” Laura quite saw what he meant; but she had also seen the taffeta frock. She could not help sympathizing with Mrs. Gedge and saying so. Laura was always finding herself put into the position of defending some one to whom she was indifferent: it was depressing.... She wished she had Justin’s ready tolerance.... She was so sure of this tolerance of his that she was the more distressed by his attitude to his sister-in-law. If Justin didn’t like her there must be something radically wrong with Coral, though she herself had not detected it. She couldn’t help, guiltily, being fascinated by the vulgar little body. She liked her brisk self-confidence, her free humour, her fund of anecdote. She even liked the accent, elusive yet undeniable, lingering in her decisive public voice. It suited Coral. But it made Justin shudder behind his coffee-cup in what had once been the cloistral and dedicate silence of the breakfast-room. The most unfortunate part of the whole unfortunate business was that Coral liked Justin, liked him very much, and said so repeatedly to Laura, to Mrs. Cloud, and to Justin himself, particularly to Justin himself. He found it trying.