‘Ah, _ma chère_,’ she replied, ‘indeed, it must be. And you certainly have done wonders. It is not every mother who can say that her son has never given her an hour’s anxiety in his life, and ended up by marrying the very first girl that she picked out for him.’ ‘Never an hour’s anxiety,’ repeated her sister-in-law, always behindhand in a conversation. ‘No, dear Min; I can truly say that ever since Kingston had diphtheria at school he has never given me another hour’s anxiety. And they said afterwards that that was only some other kind of sore throat. But it was quite as alarming at the time, I remember. Anyhow, since then the dear boy has been everything I could wish.’ ‘It makes him sound terribly dull,’ commented Mrs. Mimburn. ‘Now, I like a boy to be a little bit naughty myself--a--well, a _bêtise_ now and then, you know.’ ‘There is nothing of _that_ kind about my son, Minna,’ protested Lady Adela in a momentary spasm of dignity. Mrs. Mimburn, as in duty bound, had, of course, suspicions that her nephew was not all he had the tact to seem. But she was anxious to hear details of his engagement, and therefore waived the question of young men’s iniquity, which she was usually inclined to treat with a wealth of illustrations and many anecdotes from the career of Marie de Lorraine. ‘But tell me about Gundred Mortimer, La-la,’ she said. ‘I have never met her. What is she like?’ Lady Adela warmed into the expression of a more positive enthusiasm than she usually showed. ‘Min,’ she answered, ‘Gundred is absolutely the dearest of creatures. Everything that is nice. I really feel that I have quite found a daughter--thoroughly well brought up, and charming manners, and truly religious, which is such a great thing nowadays. Not at all forward or fashionable, but just a steady, old-fashioned, good girl. I am sure you will love her, Min.’ Mrs. Mimburn began, on the contrary, to conceive a strong dislike for the future Mrs. Darnley--a dislike tempered only by the hope that she might be found to have had a mystery in her life. ‘Quite a bread-and-butter miss,’ she tittered. ‘Do have some more, Min,’ pleaded Lady Adela, with apparent irrelevance, exercising her usual happy power of ignoring unfavourable comment. ‘Yes, nothing could be luckier in every way. She is the very wife I should have chosen for dear Kingston. She will make him perfectly happy. And now, Min, I do really feel that my work is finished. It has been a great responsibility, you know, having sole charge of a son all these years. There are so many dangers. Mercifully, he has always had confidence in me, and I have been able to keep him away from everything undesirable. But, of course, as time goes on, one gets to feel more and more anxious. You can say what you like, but it isn’t always easy to understand young men. Even a mother’s sympathy finds it difficult sometimes.’