it had taken weeks if not months to clear the matter up; and
it had been very awkward for everybody, the Eglinton Clintons included
when the truth had transpired. No, on second thoughts he would not ask
Mrs Menzies to call; he would far rather make the first venture himself
than risk a snub for this lonely defenceless stranger.

He turned into the gates of Redland Hall with a half-formed intention of
doing so immediately. He dined alone as usual; it was very rare that the
dining-room of Redland Hall extended its hospitality to anybody
nowadays; for the squire, like most men over forty, had lost the habit
of entertaining and did not know how to recover it. A bachelor friend
spent a night with him from time to time; the curate supped with him
every Sunday; and his sister came for a week or two during the summer,
when she invariably told him that the house was too uncomfortable to
live in, and he ought to have it thoroughly done up and modernised. He
invariably promised to set about it immediately, with the full
intention of doing so; but his resolution began to weaken the day on
which he saw her off at the station, and degenerated steadily for the
remainder of the year. That night, however, for the first time for many
months he made a voyage of discovery into his own drawing-room. Yes,
there was no doubt about it, Selina was quite right in calling it
draughty and uncomfortable; the gilt French furniture was shabby and
tarnished, the Aubusson carpet worn, the wall paper faded, the whole
room desolate in its suggestion of past glory. He crossed over to the
enormous grand piano, opened it and struck a yellow key gently with one
finger. Was he wrong, he wondered, in thinking its tone was lamentably
thin and poor? A rat scampered and squeaked in the wainscoting, the
windows rattled in their loose sashes; he shut the piano abruptly and
left the room. It would cost a good deal to have it thoroughly done up,
of course; but that was not the point. Who would superintend the
decorations? He did not trust his own taste and had no faith in that of
any upholsterer. Selina would come and help him if he asked her, though
she would think it strange, for she had paid her annual visit in August,
and it was now only March; besides, if she brought her delicate little
girls with her at such a time the whole house would be upset in
arranging for their comfort. Still, Selina or no, he had quite made up
his mind to have the room done up and to buy