She said very little, but what she said was delightfully natural and gracious.
"It has been so kind of you," she said to Caroline, "to help my husband entertain his guests.

I am very much better, but I have been ill for so long that I have forgotten a great many things, and I should be a very poor hostess.

But I want to make tea for you, please, and I want you all to tell me how many pheasants you have shot." Terniloff seated himself on the settee by her side.
"I am going to help you in this complicated task," he declared.

"I am sure those sugar tongs are too heavy for you to wield alone." She laughed at him gaily.
"But I am not really delicate at all," she assured him.

"I have had a very bad illness, but I am quite strong again." "Then I will find some other excuse for sitting here," he said.