could not confide in him. The gossips of Blentmouth were beneath her
lordly notice. She was bubbling over with undiscussed impressions. And
now even Mr Neeld had gone off on a visit to town!

Yet things needed talking about, hammering out, the light of another
mind thrown upon them; for they were very difficult. There was no need
to take account of Mr Gainsborough; as long as he could be kept in the
library and out of the one curiosity-shop which was to be found in
Blentmouth, he could not do himself or the house much harm. He was still
bewildered, but by no means unhappy, and he talked constantly of going
back to town to see about everything--to-morrow. There was nothing to
see about--the lawyers had done it all--and he was no more necessary or
important in London than he was at Blent. But Cecily's case was another
matter altogether, and it was about her that Mina desired the
enlightening contact of mind with mind, in order to canvass and explain
the incongruities of a behavior which conformed to no rational or
consistent theory.

Cecily had acquiesced in all the lawyers did, had signed papers at
request, had allowed herself to be invested with the property, saluted
with the title, enthroned in the fullest manner. So far then she had
accepted her cousin's sacrifice and the transformation of her own life.
Yet through and in spite of all this she maintained, even to the extreme
of punctiliousness, the air of being a visitor at Blent. She was not
exactly apologetic to the servants, but she thanked them profusely for
any special personal service they might perform for her; she made no
changes in the order of the household; when Mina--always busy in her
friend's interest--suggested re-arrangement of furniture or of curios,
Cecily's manner implied that she was prepared to take no such liberties
in another man's house. It would have been all very well-bred if Harry
had put his house at her disposal for a fortnight. Seeing that the place
was her own and that she had accepted it as being her own, Mina declared
that her conduct was little less than an absurdity. This assertion was
limited to Mina's own mind; it had not been made to the offender
herself. The fear she had felt of Harry threatened to spread to his
successor; she did not feel equal to a remonstrance. But she grew
gradually into a state of extreme irritation and impatience. This
provisional, this ostentatiously provisional, attitude could not be
maintained permanen