Shall I see you to-morrow night at Mainsail Haul ?" "Lady Cranston has asked me to dine," was the somewhat reserved reply.
His inquisitor nodded and cantered away.

Lessingham looked after him until he had disappeared, then he turned his face towards Dreymarsh and walked steadily into the lowering afternoon.

Twilight was falling as he reached Mainsail Haul, where he found Philippa entertaining some callers, to whom she promptly introduced him.

Lessingham gathered, almost in the first few minutes, that his presence in Dreymarsh was becoming a subject of comment.
"My husband has played bridge with you at the club, I think," a lady by whose side he found himself observed.

"You perhaps didn't hear my name--Mrs.Johnson ?" "I congratulate you upon your husband," Lessingham replied.