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Presently she saw two men walking slowly toward her from the direction of Westminster. One was tall and slight, handsome and distinguished in appearance; in the other she recognized the rugged awkward man whom she had met at Lady Evenswood's. He was talking hard, hitting his fist into the palm of his other hand sometimes. The handsome man listened with deference, but frowned and seemed troubled.
She exchanged a despairing glance with Southend; she could not tell whether or not he was sincere in saying that he did not understand. Southend grew weary of the diplomacy which he had advocated; after all it had turned out to be Lady Evenswood's, not his, which may have had something to do with his change of mood toward it. He took up the task with a brisk directness. "It's like this, Harry.
It was a shock to find that, all along, in Lady Evenswood's mind Cecily had been a step toward the peerage rather than the peerage the first step toward Cecily. "And Flora Disney has quite taken him up," Lady Evenswood pursued. "George tells me he's been to lunch there twice. George is a terrible gossip." "What does Lady Flora Disney want with him?"
"What's the matter?" asked Mina, checked in her excited gayety. "What will Harry care about anything they can give him without Blent?" Mina flushed. The conspiracy was put before her not by one of the conspirators but by her who was the object of it. She remembered Lady Evenswood's question and Southend's. She had answered that it might not much matter whether Harry liked his cousin or not.
The poor old chap doesn't know whether he's on his head or his heels; but as they're of about equal value, I should imagine, for thinking purposes, it doesn't much matter. Ah, here's Neeld. He came up with me." The advent of Neeld produced more discussion. Yet Southend said nothing of the matter which he had brought to Lady Evenswood's attention. Discretion was necessary there.
"Oh, yes." His voice sounded a little disappointed. "I met you at ?" "At Lady Evenswood's, Mr Disney." Taking courage she added, "I sent what you wanted?" "What I wanted?" "Yes. What you wanted me to write, about about the Tristrams." "Yes." The voice sounded now as if he had placed her. He smiled a little. "I remember it all now. I read it the other morning."
Who was he, and how did he come there? Harry heard Lady Evenswood's laughter; he heard her murmur to herself with an accent of pleasure, "A beastly new viscounty!" Then the man in the doorway came a little farther in, saying: "That's exactly what I think about it, Mr Tristram. I've heard what you said and I agree with you. There's an end, then, of the beastly new viscounty!"
The next moment the maid brought it to her a long envelope with "First Lord of the Treasury" stamped on the lower left-hand corner. She noticed that it was addressed to Lady Evenswood's house, and must have been sent on post haste. She tore it open. It was headed "Private and Confidential."
The next day found her at Lady Evenswood's. They nodded wise heads. "I was always inclined to think that Robert would take that view." "He fears that the Bearsdale case won't carry him all the way. Depend upon it, that's what he feels." "Well, there was the doubt there, you see." Mina was rather tired of the doubt in the Bearsdale case.
"You must bring Lady Tristram to see me," said Lady Evenswood. "Cecily? Oh well, I'll try." Lady Evenswood smiled and Southend laughed outright. It was not quite the way in which Lady Evenswood's invitations were generally received. But neither of them liked Mina less. It was something to go back to the tiny house between the King's and Fulham Road with the record of such adventures as these.
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