The hostess for the time was an aunt of Lewis's, a certain Mrs.Alderson, whose husband (the famous big-game hunter) had but recently returned from the jaws of a Zambesi lion.
George's sister, Lady Clanroyden, a tall, handsome girl in a white frock, was arranging flowers in a bowl, and on the sill of the open window two men were basking in the sun.

From the inner drawing-room there came an echo of voices and laughter.

The whole scene was sunny and cheerful, youth and age, gay frocks and pleasant faces amid the old tapestry and mahogany of a moorland house.
Mr.Andrews sat down solemnly to talk of the weather with the two men, who found him a little dismal.

One--he of the Zambesi lion episode--was grizzled, phlegmatic, and patient, and in no way critical of his company.

So soon he was embarked on extracts from his own experience to which Mr.Andrews, who had shares in some company in the neighbourhood, listened with flattering attention.