If it was not, he sent for the chef and spoke to him about it.
There was little conversation at lunch.

Lady Loudwater never spoke to her husband first, save on rare occasions about a matter of importance.

It was not that she perceived any glamour of royalty about him; she did not wish to hear his voice.

Besides, she had never found a conversational opening so harmless that he could not contrive, were it his whim, to be offensive about it.

Besides, she had at the moment nothing to say to him.
In truth, owing to the fact that she took so many practically silent meals with him, she was becoming rather a gourmet.