"

"Very good, my lady."

Lord Pomfret had just returned from a luncheon-party, and was preparing
to attend a _the dansant_. His mother's command was abusively
received. At length--

"Tell her I'm out, Lyveden."

Anthony hesitated.

"Her ladyship was very definite, my lord."

"D'you hear what I say?"

"Very good, my lord."

The scepticism with which his mistress received Anthony's report was
distressingly obvious. Also the faces of Mrs. and Miss Wrangle fell
noticeably. Indeed, the bell which summoned Lyveden to speed their
departure rang but a few minutes later.

As they descended the stairs, Lord Pomfret emerged from the library,
cramming cigarettes into his case with the dishevelling manipulation of
the belated swain.

The encounter was not a success.

Reason suggested to Mrs. Wrangle that the episode could be far more
effectively dealt with if and when the offender became her son-in-law.
Impulse, however, clamoured for immediate and appropriate action.
Between the two stools her display of emotion fell flat. As for
Pomfret, the knowledge that he had just induced the lady's footman to
go for a taxi did not contribute to his peace of mind, and his manners
became conspicuously devoid of that easy grace which should have gone
with his title.

After the mechanical issue and acknowledgment of a few ghastly
pleasantries, Lord Pomfret muttered something about "hearing his mother
calling" and fled with precipitate irrelevance in the direction of the
back stairs, leaving Mrs. Wrangle speechless with indignation and
bitterly repenting her recent indecision. She swept past Anthony as if
she were leaving a charnel-house. Her daughters, who took after their
father, walked as though they were being expelled....

When their mother found herself confronted with the choice of leaving
without her footman or awaiting that gentleman's successful return from
the mission upon which he had been dispatched, it required their united
diplomacy to deter her from there and then returning to lay the
outrageous facts before Lady Banff.

Mrs. Wrangle's complaint, however, was posted that evening.

By the time it arrived, Lord Pomfret had prepared his defence. This he
conducted so skilfully that the Marchioness, who believed in red
justice, sent for Lyveden and told him two things. The first was that
in future, when she sent him for anyone, he would be good enough to
look for them before returning to say they were out.