“Where, in Heaven’s name, did you ‘corral’—word of his own—the dear boy, Edith? How did he get to Osdene Park, or in fact anywhere, just as he is, fresh as from Eden?” 

 “Thought I’d let him take you by surprise, dearest. Where’d you find Dan?” 

 “Down by the garden house feeding the rabbits, on his knees like a little boy, his hands full of lettuces. I’d just come a cropper myself on the mare. She fell, I’m sorry to say, Edie, and 4 hacked her knees quite a lot. One of those disguised ditches, you know. I was coming along leading her when I ran on your friend.” 

4

 The young duchess was slender as a willow, very brunette, with a beautiful, discontented face. 

 “I’m going to show Dan Blair off,” Lady Galorey responded, “going to give the débutantes a chance.” 

 Placidly nodding, the duchess lit a cigarette and began to quote from Dan Blair’s conversation: “I fancy he won’t let them ‘worry him’; he’s too ‘busy!’” 

 “You mean that you’re going to keep him occupied?” 

 The duchess didn’t notice this. 

 “Is he such a catch?” 

 Neither of the women had walked out with the guns. The duchess had a bad foot, and Lady Galorey never went anywhere she could help with her husband. She now drew her chair up to the table in the morning-room, to which they 5 had both gone after the departure of the guns, and regarded with satisfaction a quantity of stationery and the red leather desk appointments. 

5

 “Sit down and smoke if you like, Lily; I’m going to fill out some lists.” 

 “No, thanks, I’m going up to my rooms and get Parkins to ‘massey’ this beastly foot of mine. I must have fallen on it. But tell me first, is Mr. Blair a catch?” 

 Lady Galorey had opened an address book and looked up from it to reply: 

 “Something like ten million pounds.” 

 “Heavens! Disgusting!” 

 “The richest young man ‘west of some river or other.’ At any rate he told me last night that it was ‘clean money.’ I dare say the river is responsible for its cleanliness, but that fact seemed to give him 

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