After dinner,
Dyce received from her his cue for drawing-room oratory; he was led
into large discourse, and Mrs. Toplady's eyes beamed the most
intelligent sympathy. None the less did roguery still lurk at the
corner of her lips, so that from time to time the philosopher
fidgeted a little, and asked himself uneasily what that smile meant.
At nine o'clock next morning, Lashmar and Constance sat down to
breakfast alone. Mrs. Toplady rarely showed herself much before
noon.
"If the sky clears," said Constance, "Lady Ogram will drive at
eleven, and you are invited to accompany her."
"And you?" asked Dyce.
"I have work for two or three hours."
Lashmar chipped at an egg, a thoughtful smile upon his countenance.
"Can you tell me anything about Mrs. Toplady?" he inquired.
"Only what I have heard from Lady Ogram."
Constance sketched a biography. The lady had been twice married,
first in early youth to a man who had nothing, and who became
phthisical; during his illness they suffered from dire poverty and,
at her husband's death, the penniless widow received great kindness
from Lady Ogram, whose acquaintance she had made accidentally.
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