The servant announced that the neighbor--an elderly lady--was then waiting in her carriage at the door.
Lady Janet's ready invention set the obstacle aside without a moment's delay.

She directed the servant to show her visitor into the drawing-room, and to say that she was unexpectedly engaged, but that Miss Roseberry would see the lady immediately.

She then turned to Julian, and said, with her most satirical emphasis of tone and manner: "Would it be an additional convenience if Miss Roseberry was not only out of the room before you disclose your secret, but out of the house ?" Julian gravely answered: "It may possibly be quite as well if Miss Roseberry is out of the house." Lady Janet led the way back to the dining-room.
"My dear Grace," she said, "you looked flushed and feverish when I saw you asleep on the sofa a little while since.

It will do you no harm to have a drive in the fresh air.

Our friend has called to take me to the committee meeting.