"Gone  to  the  East  End,  I  believe,  to  one  of  her  com-
mittees."

It  would  have  been  nearer  the  truth  for  the  eldest
flower,  who  was  dealing  with  a  recalcitrant  fragment  of
lobster  in  a  masterful  manner,  to  have  said  that  Muriel
had  gone  to  luncheon  at  Hayes  with  the  Penarths.  But
Sarah,  whc  did  not  approve  of  Muriel,  and  still  less  of
the  Penarths,  was  content  with  a  general  statement  whose
flagrant  inaccuracy  somehow  crystallized  her  attitude
towards  them  both.  Muriel  had  become  frankly  impos-
sible. The  higher  expediency  could  no  longer  take  her
seriously.
But  there  are  degrees  of  wisdom,  even  among  the  elect.
Sarah's  place  was  assured  at  Minerva's  Court,  but  Mar-
jorie and  Blanche  were  wiser  perhaps  in  matters  equine
than  in  other  things.  Where  angels  feared  to  tread
Blanche,  at  any  rate,  for  reasons  of  her  own,  had  some-

92


BRIDPORT  HOUSE


times  been  known  to  butt  in.  A  classical  instance  was
about  to  be  furnished.
"Do  tell  me."  Blanche  suddenly  looked  Sarah
straight  in  the  eyes.  "Has  Sir  Dugald  been  to  see
father?"

There  was  a  long  moment's  pause  in  which  Sarah
maintained  a  stranglehold  upon  the  lobster,  while  Lady
Wargrave  and  the  Duke,  who  knew  they  were  being
"ragged"  by  a  past  mistress  in  the  art,  glared  daggers
down  the  table.
"I  believe  so,"  said  Sarah  in  an  exceedingly  dry  voice,
followed  by  a  hardly  perceptible  glance  at  the  servants.
ra

Over  the  coffee  cups,  in  the  solemn  privacy  of  the
blue  drawing-room,  the  Dinneford  ladies  grew  a  little
less  laconic.  They  were  in  a  perfect  hurricane  of  great
events.  Even  they,  who  seldom  use  two  words  if  one
would  suffice,  had  to  make  some  concession  to  the  pres-
sure of  history.
