It had been, in fact, a sharp knock, and she needed to recover herself.

This was done, however, promptly enough.

"Where are the young people ?" she asked.
"They are spending the evening with my mother." "Is not the thing very sudden ?" Acton looked up.

"Extremely sudden.

There had been a tacit understanding; but within a day or two Clifford appears to have received some mysterious impulse to precipitate the affair." "The impulse," said the Baroness, "was the charms of your very pretty sister." "But my sister's charms were an old story; he had always known her." Acton had begun to experiment again.
Here, however, it was evident the Baroness would not help him.