Neaera acquiesced, merely adding that the valuables had better be locked up. "And when? We had better say some afternoon, I suppose." "I am engaged every afternoon for a fortnight." "My dear," said Lord Tottlebury, "business must take precedence." Neaera did not see it; but at last she made a suggestion. "I am dining with you _en famille_ the day after to-morrow. Let them come then." "That'll do," said George. "Ten minutes after dinner will settle the whole business." Lord Tottlebury made no objection. George had suggested that a couple of other ladies should be present, to make the trial fairer; and it was decided to invite Isabel Bourne, and Miss Laura Pocklington, daughter of the great Mrs. Pocklington. Mrs. Pocklington would come with her daughter, and it was felt that her presence would add authority to the proceedings. Maud Neston was away; indeed, her absence had been thought desirable, pending the settlement of this unpleasant affair. Lord Tottlebury always made the most of his chances of solemnity, and, if left to his own bent, would have invested the present occasion with an impressiveness not far short of a death sentence. But he was powerless in face of the determined frivolity with which Neaera treated the whole matter. Mrs. Pocklington found herself, apparently, invited to assist at a farce, instead of a melodrama, and with her famous tact at once recognised the situation, her elaborate playfulness sanctioned the hair-brained chatter of the girls, and made Gerald's fierce indignation seem disproportionate to the subject. Dinner passed in a whirl of jokes and gibes, George affording ample material; and afterwards the ladies, flushed with past laughter, and constantly yielding to fresh hilarity at Neaera's sallies, awaited the coming of George and his party with no diminution of gaiety. A knock was heard at the door. "Here are the minions of the law, Mrs. Witt!" cried Laura Pocklington. "Then I must prepare for the dungeon," said Neaera, and rearranged her hair before a mirror. "It quite reminds me," said Mrs. Pocklington, "of the dear Queen of Scots." Lord Tottlebury was, in spite of his preoccupations, beginning to argue about the propriety of Mrs. Pocklington's epithet, when George was shown in. He looked weary, bored, disgusted. After shaking hands with Lord Tottlebury, he bowed generally to the room, and said, "I propose to bring Mr. Jennings, the clerk, in first; then the policeman. It will be better they should come separately." Lord Tottlebury nodded. Gerald had ostentatiously turned his back on his cousin. Mrs. Pocklington fanned herself with an air of amused protest, which the girls reproduced in a broader form. No one spoke, till Neaera herself said with a laugh, "Arrange your effects as you please, Mr. Neston."