s were distributing to each guest
silver soup-plates which had been the gift of Sarah, Duchess of
Marlborough, in some moment of generosity or calculation, to the
Wendover of her day.

'Oh dear, no!' said Rose carelessly. 'I don't know how it is, I think I
must have been born for a palace.'

Langham looked at her, at the daring harmony of colour made by the
reddish gold of her hair, the warm whiteness of her skin, and the
brown-pink tints of her dress, at the crystals playing the part of
diamonds on her beautiful neck, and remembered Robert's remarks to him.
The same irony mingled with the same bitterness returned to him, and the
elder brother's attitude became once more temporarily difficult. 'Who is
your neighbour?' he inquired of her presently.

'Lady Charlotte's husband,' she answered mischievously, under her
breath. 'One needn't know much more about him I imagine!'

'And that man opposite?'

'Robert's pet aversion,' she said calmly, without a change of
countenance, so that Mr. Longstaffe opposite, who was studying her as he
always studied pretty young women, stared at her through her remark in
sublime ignorance of its bearing.

'And your sister's neighbour?'

'I can't hit him off in a sentence, he's too good!' said Rose laughing;
'all I can say is that Mrs. Bickerton has too many children, and the
children have too many ailments for her ever to dine out.'

'That will do; I see the existence,' said Langham with a shrug. 'But he
has the look of an apostle, though a rather hunted one. Probably nobody
here, except Robert, is fit to tie his shoes.'

'The squire could hardly be called _empresse_,' said Rose, after a
second, with a curl of her red lips. Mr. Wynnstay was still safely
engaged with Mrs. Darcy, and there was a buzz of talk largely sustained
by Lady Charlotte.

'No,' Langham admitted; 'the manners I thought were not quite equal to
the house.'

'What possible reason could he have for treating Robert with those
airs?' said Rose indignantly, ready enough in girl fashion to defend her
belongings against the outer world. 'He ought to be only too glad to
have the opportunity of knowing him and making friends with him.'

'You are a sister worth having;' and Langham smiled at her as she leant
back in her chair, her white arms and wrists lying on her lap, and her
slightly flushed face turned towards him. They had been on these
pleasant terms of _camaraderie_ all day, and the intimacy between them
had be