"What next?" said Lady Grace, still fretful. "Of course I don't mind so long as you don't get up to mischief."
"Dinah, come here!" said the Colonel suddenly.
Dinah, on the point of beating a swift retreat, stood still with obvious reluctance.
"Come here!" he repeated.
She went to him hesitatingly.
He reached up a hand and grasped her by the arm. "Were you eavesdropping just now?" he demanded.
Dinah started as if stung. "I--I--of course I wasn't!" she declared, with vehemence. "How can you suggest such a thing?"
"Quite sure?" said the Colonel, still holding her.
She wrenched herself from him in a sudden fury. "Colonel de Vigne, you--you insult me! I am not the sort that listens outside closed doors. How dare you? How dare you?"
She stamped her foot with the words, gazing down at him with blazing eyes.
The Colonel stiffened slightly, but he kept his temper. "If I have done you an injustice, I apologize," he said. "You may go."
And Dinah went like a whirlwind, banging the door behind her.
"Well, really!" protested Lady Grace in genuine displeasure.
Her husband smiled somewhat grimly. "A vixen's daughter, my dear! What can you expect?"
"She behaves like a fishwife's daughter," said Lady Grace. "And if she wasn't actually eavesdropping I am convinced she heard what I said."
"So am I," said the Colonel drily. "I was about to tax her with it. Hence her masterly retreat. But she was not deliberately eavesdropping or she would not have given herself away so openly. I quite agree with you, my dear. A match between her and Sir Eustace would not be suitable. And I also think Sir Eustace would be the first to see it. Anyhow, I shall take an early opportunity of letting him know that her birth is by no means a high one, and that her presence here is simply due to our kindness. At the same time, should the rather ludicrous little younger brother take it into his head to follow her up, so far as family goes he is of course too good for her, but I am sorry for the child and I shall put no obstacle in the way."
"All the same she shall not go to tea there unless Rose is invited too," said Lady Grace firmly.
"There," said the Colonel pompously, "I think that you are right."
Lady Grace simpered a little, and opened her novel. "It really wouldn't surprise me to find that she is a born fortune-hunter," she said. "I am certain the mother is avaricious."