"It is very rude of you to say that--as if women had no real hospitality! No, Mr. Carew, I owe no one anything in the dancing line; and I am not making one evening party pay for a whole year's dinners. I have known that done, I assure you. No, I am turning my house out of windows, and making poor Phil utterly miserable, for the sake of a certain young half-French niece of mine, who is coming to live in this neighbourhood with my brother Bob, her thoroughly English father." "You mean General Vincent? Some one told me that he was related to you." "Related? I should think he was related to me! He used to pull my hair--we wore long plaits in those days, don't you know--with a ferocity only possible in an elder brother. Poor dear old Bob! I am monstrously pleased at the idea of having him near me in our old age. He has been tossed and beaten about the world for the last thirty years, at home and abroad, and now he is to enjoy enforced leisure, and the noble income which our country bestows upon a retired lieutenant-general. He has a little money of his own, fortunately, and a little more from his wife; so he will be able to live comfortably at Marsh House--in a very quiet, unpretentious way, _bien entendu_." "He is a widower, I conclude?" "Yes; his pretty French wife died fifteen years ago. He met her in Canada, but she was a Parisian _pur sang_, and of a very good family. She had gone to Montreal with her mother, to visit some relations--uncle, cousin, or what-not. It was a very happy marriage, and Suzette is a very charming girl. She is a Papist"--with a faint sigh--"which, of course, is a pity. But even in spite of that, she is a very sweet girl." "Worthy that you should turn your house out of window in order to introduce her to the neighbourhood in the pleasantest possible manner," said Allan. "My greenhouse is only a bachelor's idea of glass, but any flowers there shall be sent to add to your decorations--at least, if you don't despise such poor aid." "How truly nice of you! Every flower will be useful. I want to make the rooms pretty, since nothing can make them spacious. Ah, if I had only the Manor House now--those noble rooms of which Mrs. Wornock makes so little use!" Allan seized his opportunity. "Mrs. Wornock is the most singular woman I ever met!" he exclaimed quickly, lest Mrs. Mornington should diverge to another subject. "I took my mother to call upon her----" "Had she called upon Lady Emily?" asked Mrs. Mornington, surprised. "No. It was altogether out of order, my mother told me; but I rather insisted upon her going to Discombe. I wanted her to see Mrs. Wornock; and I must say that lady's manner was calculated to excite wonder rather than admiration. I never saw a woman of mature years receive a visitor so awkwardly. Her shyness would have been remarkable in a bread-and-butter miss just escaped from the schoolroom."