Parry, who was understood to be shut up
downstairs with cases full of gems, while his wife enjoyed herself
in the drawing-room. "Not that I believe what people say against
her--although she hints, of course--" Upon which Mrs. Flushing cried out
with delight:
"She's my first cousin! Go on--go on!"
When Mrs. Flushing rose to go she was obviously delighted with her new
acquaintances. She made three or four different plans for meeting or
going on an expedition, or showing Helen the things they had bought,
on her way to the carriage. She included them all in a vague but
magnificent invitation.
As Helen returned to the garden again, Ridley's words of warning came
into her head, and she hesitated a moment and looked at Rachel sitting
between Hirst and Hewet. But she could draw no conclusions, for Hewet
was still reading Gibbon aloud, and Rachel, for all the expression she
had, might have been a shell, and his words water rubbing against her
ears, as water rubs a shell on the edge of a rock.
Hewet's voice was very pleasant. When he reached the end of the period
Hewet stopped, and no one volunteered any criticism.
"I do adore the aristocracy!" Hirst exclaimed after a moment's pause.
"They're so amazingly unscrupulous. None of us would dare to behave as
that woman behaves."
"What I like about them," said Helen as she sat down, "is that they're
so well put together.
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