Lilias was rather disappointed in her hopes that Miss Weston and Claude would become better acquainted. At dinner the conversation was almost entirely between the elder gentlemen; Claude scarcely spoke, except when referred to by his father or Mr. Devereux. Miss Weston never liked to incur the danger of having to repeat her insignificant speeches to a deaf ear, and being interested in the discussion that was going on, she by no means seconded Lily’s attempt to get up an under-current of talk. In general, Lily liked to listen to conversation in silence, but she was now in very high spirits, and could not be quiet; fortunately, she had no interest in the subject the gentlemen were discussing, so that she could not meddle with that, and finding Alethea silent and Claude out of reach, she turned to Reginald, and talked and tittered with him all dinner-time. In the drawing-room she had it all her own way, and talked enough for all the sisters. ‘Have you heard that Cousin Rotherwood is coming?’ ‘Yes, you said so before dinner.’ ‘We hope,’ said Emily, ‘that you and Mr. Weston will dine here on Tuesday. The Carringtons are coming, and a few others.’ ‘Thank you,’ said Alethea; ‘I daresay papa will be very glad to come.’ ‘Have you ever seen Rotherwood?’ said Lilias. ‘Never,’ was the reply. ‘Do not expect much,’ said Lily, laughing, though she knew not why; ‘he is a very little fellow; no one would suppose him to be twenty, he has such a boyish look. Then he never sits down—’ ‘Literally?’ said Emily. ‘Literally,’ persisted Lily; ‘such a quick person you never did see.’ ‘Is he at Oxford?’ ‘Oh yes! it was all papa’s doing that he was sent to Eton. Papa is his guardian. Aunt Rotherwood never would have parted with him.’ ‘He is the only son,’ interposed Emily. ‘Uncle Rotherwood put him quite in papa’s power; Aunt Rotherwood wanted to keep him at home with a tutor, and what she would have made of him I cannot think,’ said Lily; and regardless of Emily’s warning frowns, and Alethea’s attempt to change the subject, she went on: ‘When he was quite a child he used to seem a realisation of all the naughty Dicks and Toms in story-books. Miss Middleton had a perfect horror of his coming here, for he would mind no one, and played tricks and drew Claude into mischief; but he is quite altered since papa had the management of him—Oh! such talks as papa has had with Aunt Rotherwood—do you know, papa says no one knows what it is to lose a father but those who have the care of his children, and Aunt Rotherwood is so provoking.’ Here Alethea determined to put an end to this oration, and to Emily’s great relief, she cut short the detail of Lady Rotherwood’s offences by saying, ‘Do you think Faith Longley likely to suit us, if we took her to help the housemaid?’