"And what do you propose to do, Peter?" Craven's sudden question was startling, for he had not appeared to be listening to the conversation.
Peters lit a cigarette and smoked for a few moments before answering. "I shall listen to all Alex has to say," he said at last, "then I shall tell her a few things I think she ought to know, and I shall persuade her to ask Horringford to take her with him to Egypt next winter."
"Why?"
"Because Horringford in Egypt and Horringford in England are two very different people. I know--because I have seen. It's an idea, it may work. Anyhow it's worth trying."
"But suppose her ladyship does not succumb to your persuasive tongue?"
"She will--before I've done with her," replied Peters grimly, and then he laughed. "I guessed from what she said this morning that she was a little frightened at the hornet's nest she had raised. I imagine she won't be sorry to run away for a while and let things settle down. She can ease off gently in the meantime and give Egypt as an excuse for finally withdrawing."
"You think Alex is more to blame than Horringford?" said Miss Craven, with a note of challenge in her voice.
Peters shrugged. "I blame them both. But above all I blame the system that has been responsible for the trouble."
"You mean that Alex should have been allowed to choose her own husband? She was such a child--"
"And Horringford was such a devil of a good match," interposed Craven cynically, moving from his chair to the padded fireguard. Gillian was sitting on the arm of Miss Craven's chair, sorting the patience cards into a leather case. She looked up quickly. "I thought that in England all girls choose their own husbands, that they marry to please themselves, I mean," she said in a puzzled voice.
"Theoretically they do, my dear," replied Miss Craven, "in practice numbers do not. The generality of girls settle their own futures and choose their own husbands. But there are still many old-fashioned people who arrogate to themselves the right of settling their daughters' lives, who have so trained them that resistance to family wishes becomes almost an impossibility. A good suitor presents himself, parental pressure is brought to bear--and the deed is done. Witness the case of Alex. In a few years she probably would have chosen for herself, wisely. As it was, marriage had never entered her head."