She rode in the mornings with Lord Calverly and Captain Archinard--who had not, as yet, put into execution the hideous economy of selling his horses. In the evening she played billiards in a manly manner, and at odd hours she flirted, but not too forcibly, with Lord Calverly, Sir John, and with Captain Archinard in the beech-woods, or by lamplight effects in the drawing-room. Peter had not forgotten Hilda and the strawberry beds, and one day Captain Archinard, who spent many of his hours at the Manor, was asked to bring his girls to tea. Hilda and Katherine found Lord Calverly and Mrs. Marchant in the drawing-room with Mrs. Odd, and their father, after a cursory introduction, left them to sit, side by side, on two tall chairs, while he joined the trio. Mrs. Marchant moved away to a sofa, the Captain followed her, and Alicia and Lord Calverly were left alone near the two children. Katherine was already making sarcastic mental notes as to the hospitality meted out to Hilda and herself, and Hilda stared hard at Mrs. Odd. Mrs. Odd was more beautiful than ever this afternoon in a white dress; Hilda wondered with dismay if Katherine could be right about her. Alicia, turning her head presently, met the wide absorbed gaze, and, with her charming smile, asked if they had brought their dogs-- "I saw such a lot of them about at your place the other day." "We didn't know that you expected them to tea. We should have liked to bring them," said Katherine, and Hilda murmured with an echo-like effect: "We _should_ have liked to; Palamon howled dreadfully." That Palamon's despair had been unnecessary made regret doubly keen. "Hey! What's that?" Lord Calverly had been staring at Hilda and heard the faint ejaculation; "what is your dog called?" "Palamon." Hilda's voice was reserved; she had already thought that she did not like Lord Calverly, and now that he looked at her, spoke to her, she was sure of it. "What funny names you give your dogs," said Alicia. "The other is called Darwin," she added, looking at Lord Calverly with a laugh; "but Palamon is pretty--prettier than the monkey gentleman. What made you call him that?" "It is out of 'The Knight's Tale,'" said Katherine; "Hilda is very fond of it, and called her dogs after the two heroes, Palamon and Arcite." Lord Calverly had been trying to tease Hilda by the open admiration of his monocled gaze; the fixed gravity of her stare, like a pretty baby's, hugely amused him. "So you like Chaucer?" Hilda averted her eyes, feeling very uncomfortable. "Strong meat that for babes," Lord Calverly added, looking at Alicia, who contemplated the children with pleasant vagueness. "Never read it," she replied briskly; "not to remember. If I had had literary tastes in my infancy I might have read all the improper books without understanding them; now I am too old to read them innocently."